This is a true gem of a song. To me, it is about the conflict of science vs. religion in our everyday lives. "If we call for the proof and we question the answers only the doubt will grow." Ask any grad student and they will tell you this is dead on. Of course, this is the crux of science; to question everything. Religion is just the opposite. Faith, by definition is accepting without questioning. Too often, faith is looked down upon by scientists, and this song adresses the wrongness of that.
I especially love the significance of the title as it merges the two themes of science and religion. See if you can puzzle that one out on your own. Write me if you want my solution at parikd01@yahoo.com. (The title bugged me for several years, and I felt a great thrill when I figured it out. I want to give others a chance to do it on their own without spoiling it, so I don't want to post it here.)
@dhaval While it is true there is conflict between science and religion in our everyday lives, such conflict is absent in the lyrics of "Ammonia Avenue". The song can color our understanding of the conflict, but conflict is not the focus of the song nor its meaning. To agree with you, rather, the "we" in the second verse of the song restrain themselves categorically from criticizing others (the "they"): "And who are we to criticize or scorn the things that they do?" But to understand this does not get to the point of Woolfson''s song....
@dhaval While it is true there is conflict between science and religion in our everyday lives, such conflict is absent in the lyrics of "Ammonia Avenue". The song can color our understanding of the conflict, but conflict is not the focus of the song nor its meaning. To agree with you, rather, the "we" in the second verse of the song restrain themselves categorically from criticizing others (the "they"): "And who are we to criticize or scorn the things that they do?" But to understand this does not get to the point of Woolfson''s song.
The point of view I am suggesting, is that the subject of the song is more about technology and the application of science, not science itself. The kind of doubts that encompass technology and the application of science go far beyond the notion of Truth that you suggest and ignores totally which faith will strike closer to actual Truths. If you understand the pictures on the both the front and back covers of the "Ammonia Avenue" album, you will get my meaning about what kinds of faiths and doubts Woolfson addresses.
Finally, eveybody must disagree with your definition of "faith". It's just not so. Dictionaries have: "faith: the assent of the mind to the truth of a proposition or statement for which there is not complete evidence; belief in general." One can have faith and still have questions. Such a thing is called doubt. The point is that given your definition of faith, there is no reason why Woolfson would write the line "And who are we to criticize or scorn the things that they do?" into this song. In important circumstances, it is actually doubt that allows people of different faiths to not be in any serious conflict. (For example, who actually has enough faith to insist on compliance with every rule stated in the Bible?)
This is a true gem of a song. To me, it is about the conflict of science vs. religion in our everyday lives. "If we call for the proof and we question the answers only the doubt will grow." Ask any grad student and they will tell you this is dead on. Of course, this is the crux of science; to question everything. Religion is just the opposite. Faith, by definition is accepting without questioning. Too often, faith is looked down upon by scientists, and this song adresses the wrongness of that.
I especially love the significance of the title as it merges the two themes of science and religion. See if you can puzzle that one out on your own. Write me if you want my solution at parikd01@yahoo.com. (The title bugged me for several years, and I felt a great thrill when I figured it out. I want to give others a chance to do it on their own without spoiling it, so I don't want to post it here.)
@dhaval While it is true there is conflict between science and religion in our everyday lives, such conflict is absent in the lyrics of "Ammonia Avenue". The song can color our understanding of the conflict, but conflict is not the focus of the song nor its meaning. To agree with you, rather, the "we" in the second verse of the song restrain themselves categorically from criticizing others (the "they"): "And who are we to criticize or scorn the things that they do?" But to understand this does not get to the point of Woolfson''s song....
@dhaval While it is true there is conflict between science and religion in our everyday lives, such conflict is absent in the lyrics of "Ammonia Avenue". The song can color our understanding of the conflict, but conflict is not the focus of the song nor its meaning. To agree with you, rather, the "we" in the second verse of the song restrain themselves categorically from criticizing others (the "they"): "And who are we to criticize or scorn the things that they do?" But to understand this does not get to the point of Woolfson''s song.
The point of view I am suggesting, is that the subject of the song is more about technology and the application of science, not science itself. The kind of doubts that encompass technology and the application of science go far beyond the notion of Truth that you suggest and ignores totally which faith will strike closer to actual Truths. If you understand the pictures on the both the front and back covers of the "Ammonia Avenue" album, you will get my meaning about what kinds of faiths and doubts Woolfson addresses.
Finally, eveybody must disagree with your definition of "faith". It's just not so. Dictionaries have: "faith: the assent of the mind to the truth of a proposition or statement for which there is not complete evidence; belief in general." One can have faith and still have questions. Such a thing is called doubt. The point is that given your definition of faith, there is no reason why Woolfson would write the line "And who are we to criticize or scorn the things that they do?" into this song. In important circumstances, it is actually doubt that allows people of different faiths to not be in any serious conflict. (For example, who actually has enough faith to insist on compliance with every rule stated in the Bible?)