Einstein On The Beach

I definitely also thought that this song was about Einstein's vision leading to the demise of mankind... nuclear winter and whatnot. But it's certainly a happier-sounding apocalyptic song than "Black Hole Sun," isn't it? I don't know, I'm sure that it was about a dog, but the lyrics were definitely written so that the song could be thought of two different ways. The song rules, and so does the band.

The song is about Einstein's reserach leading to the development of the atomic bomb: The lines "One more sun comes sliding down the sky/One more shadow leans against the wall" are a clear reference to the radiation burns or "shadows" literallty left of people who were incinerated in Hiroshima. The line "the worst things come from inside here" and "some inflated form of hit and run" refer to the desire to end the war quickly but decisively: the drive for peace leads to the development of the most catastrophic instrument of war.

I think this song is about how painful it can be to be intelligent. And how once you start seeing life in this different light you can never go back. "The world begins to disappear. The worst things come from inside here"

Just a thought: couldn't this song be about the A-bomb?

Actually, Adam wrote this song about his dog named Einstein who was tragically killed by a hit and run.

This is one of my favorite songs and the meaning is actually quite clear to me. Einstein is on the beach everyday watching the sun rise and set, "Albert's vision is blooming uncontrolled". It were these types of observations that ultimately led to his experiments with light. He was ultimately able to prove that light is the fastest entity in the universe, surpassing what was previously believed to be the fastest entity, gravity. "One more shadow leans against the wall". This led to Einstein's greatest accomplishment, the theory of relatively E=MC2, in which C is the speed of light. The song is brilliant!

Ok, I am gonna break this song down 1 line @ a time. Y u ask? Well, certainly not 2 b overly pretentious or show off. But, b-cuz I have sum interesting takes on the song meaning that tru C&C fans should find thought provoking. "Albert's always sincere, he's a sensitive type"-Well, as many of u may or may not know, Einstein wuz not alwayz considered 2 b a genius. In fact, as a child he wuz regarded as being somewut "slow". N more often than not, children considered 2 b "slow", or underachievers, or who r diagnosed wit SLD (Slow Learning Disability) develop an inferiority complex. Hence, "he's a sensitive type." Which, as a by-product would lead 2 said child being more innocent n honest than most, hence, "Albert's always sincere." "His intentions are clear, he wanna be well-liked"-Adults who were thought of as "less than" as children often become obsessed wit gaining approval, regardless of how sucessful they r in their chosen career field/avocation. Hence, "His intentions are clear, he wanna be well-liked." Thru a messy divorce, a custody battle 4 his children etc. It wuz glaringly obvious that Einstein struggled 4 approval from both his family n his peers. "If everything is nothing, then are we anything?"-If "everything" in the material world that we value (i.e. our bank accounts, our physical appearance, our I.Q.'s etc.) counts 4 "nothing". Than do we possess "anything" that can transcend this material world? In other words, do we have souls? "Is it better to be better than to be anything?"-Is it "better" 2 b richer, or better looking, or smarter than the next human being than it is 2 have a soul? Hence, "Is it better to be better" than to have a soul? "And Albert's vision is blooming uncontrolled"-This "keeping up with the Jones's"/"You can't take it with you" analogy is dawning on Einstein the more he ponders his well respected genius. "All his wings are slowly sinking"-He is overcome wit depression as he ponders his tru place in the material world vs. his tru place in the universe. "The world begins to disappear"-Everything that he as been conditioned 2 believe/want begins 2 mean very lil' 2 him. Hence, "The world begins to disappear." Or more accurately, his "world" begins 2 disappear. "The worst things come from inside here"-The most terrible loniness/isolation is produced b-tween our ears. Hence, "The worst things come from inside here." (A direct reference 2 our brain.) "All the king's men reappear"-All his defense mechanism's come in2 play, he tries 2 tell himself he is a good human being, he as led a meaningful life etc. In the same way that "all the king's men" tried 2 put humpty dumpty back 2gether again, he tries 2 repair his mind wit positive affirmations. "For an eggman, on and off the wall"-A clear indication of how intellectually tortured Einstein truly wuz. He wuz fragile like an "eggman." He wuz "on and off the wall" his whole life, back and forth from feeling emotionally comforted to feeling completely ineffectual. "Who'll never be together again"-Once u realize "the wall" (a barrior b-tween u n the outside world) exists, itz a constant battle 2 not fall off (b-come completely detached from every1). N if u should fall... u can never again relate 2 ur fellow human being in the same way u did b4 u knew about "the wall." Hence, "never be together again." "Einstein's down on the beach staring into the sand"-This is perhaps the most cut n dry lyric in the whole song. Einstein is down on the beach perhaps pondering his theory of relativity etc. while staring in2 the sand. "Cause everything he believes in is shattered"-His intelligent theories have perhaps dis proven n therefore "shattered" many beliefs he once held 2 b tru. "What you fear in the night in the day comes to call anyway"-That which we "fear" 2 b tru or desparately try 2 avoid in our youth or the beginning i.e. "the day." (In this case all Einstein's feelings of separation from the world, his fellow man etc.) Often confronts us in adulthood or the proverbial end i.e. "the night." "We all get burned as:"-Translation: We all lose something... "One more sun comes sliding down the sky"-As each day passes. We lose time, money, opportunities etc. "One more shadow leans against the wall"-This is "the day" discribed above turning in2 "the night" discribed above. A metaphor 4 the child growing up. "Albert's waiting in the sun"-Einstein is waiting, perhaps 4 a change. Or perhaps this refers 2 how he waited 4 thingz 2 change in his youth (i.e. how he longed 2 b more accepted). "On a field American"-I think this refers 2 America the country having been the catalyst, plain, i.e. "field" 4 his theory of relativity/life's fruition. Being that this is where the A-bomb wuz eventually created. "For the cause of some inflated form of hit and run"-Having 2 see his life's work b used 2 create a weapon of such increditable desruction... must have felt like "some inflated form of hit and run" 2 Einstein. It also as something of a duel meaning in that the actual attacks carried out using the A-bomb were basically "hit and run" attacks. "Albert's fallen on the sun"-The A-bomb must have seemed like the "sun" itself falling 2 the Japanese. N Einstein no doubt felt like he fell as a human being the 1st day the 1st attack wuz carried out (i.e. "Albert's fallen on the sun.") "Cracked his head wide open"-The sheer gulit associated wit having been partly 2 blame 4 the deaths of so many would from an emotionally standpoint "crack" n-e-1's "head wide open."

it may have been about a dog, but this song is based on the 1976 opera called "Einstein on the Beach."

I pretty much agree with the Albert Einstein/a-bomb/regret interpretation above, and I want to add some observations:

"Einstein's down on the beach staring into the sand Cause everything he believes in is shattered"

See how the word "shattered" follows after "sand"? It's well known that a nuclear bomb explosion generates so much heat it turns sand into glass...which can then be shattered, like one's life is shattered. Einstein is thinking about this as he's looking at the sand.

"Blooming uncontrolled": the mushroom cloud "blooms" out when an a-bomb explodes.

"All his wings are slowly sinking" The wings are his mental abilities, which have allowed him to fly above mundane life and peer into the mysteries of the universe. But they are sinking and can't carry him up high anymore because he can't get away from the consequences.

"All king's men reappear for an eggman" - Normally "eggheads" or nerdy scientists are not appreciated by the kings and generals of the world. But all the politicians were very interested in Einstein's science because it could give them the bomb, so he was highly honored. Einstein wrote a famous letter to President FDR to encourage the US to build the bomb to protect them from the Nazis. Surely the US gov't was very thankful for this. Did Einstein do it because he was "sensitive" and "wanted to be well-liked"? That may be what the song is implying. But the king's men can't put Humpty Dumpty together again...now Einstein realizes that people's approval can't give him a sense of personal worth after what he's done.

Whoa. Deep.

this is one of my favorite counting crows songs...i dunno i'm not too certain on its meaning though. the song still rocks!