The sampled parts of this song are from the King James version of the Bible. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 says:
To every thing there is a season,
and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to luck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate;
a time of war, and a time of peace.
Notice that there are seven sets of four uses of "a time" in that, as there are in the song. This probably explains why they used "there is no new thing under the sun" for the last sample of the song: They had run out of "a time and a time"s.
You'll also notice these as the lyrics to the Byrds' "Turn, Turn, Turn":
The two odd samples out, "There is no remembrance of former things" and "there is no new thing under the sun" are also from Ecclesiastes, at 1:11 1:9 respectively.
I think this song is a meditation on time, and how best to use it. The scripture quoted here is all about not getting caught up in the rat race. "It's all been done before, get over it." That could be a distressing thought but The Books remind us that, instead of obsessing about keeping up with the Joneses, we should instead Take Time to have fun with friends and family. This is where all the samples of uproarious laughter come in.
The sampled parts of this song are from the King James version of the Bible. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 says:
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to luck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
Notice that there are seven sets of four uses of "a time" in that, as there are in the song. This probably explains why they used "there is no new thing under the sun" for the last sample of the song: They had run out of "a time and a time"s.
You'll also notice these as the lyrics to the Byrds' "Turn, Turn, Turn":
songmeanings.net/lyric.php
The two odd samples out, "There is no remembrance of former things" and "there is no new thing under the sun" are also from Ecclesiastes, at 1:11 1:9 respectively.
I think this song is a meditation on time, and how best to use it. The scripture quoted here is all about not getting caught up in the rat race. "It's all been done before, get over it." That could be a distressing thought but The Books remind us that, instead of obsessing about keeping up with the Joneses, we should instead Take Time to have fun with friends and family. This is where all the samples of uproarious laughter come in.
What a fantastic song.