I love this song.. all 9 minutes of it!
there's so much to interpret and a lot of symbolism..
this is what I understand but I might be way off-
--ok.. the first stanza seems to have some Shakespeare references… from Caesar’s ghost to the prince of Denmark (hamlet?)…and I was wondering if the “war-time tides” line has anything to do with the quote in Julius Caesar “there is a tide in the affairs of men…” -just a thought?
--and then there’s the whole heaven/hell theme. Ritter mentions the small line between heaven and hell, “Heavens just a thin blue line” and he appears to be the only thing saving everyone from hell, “became a thin blue wire that held the world above the fire.”
From there he questions God’s existence altogether and then concedes that God is there but not watching over us “If God’s up there… been a’walking away” I really like the lines- “Mixing with nitrogen… or raindrops go.” Nitrogen is French for lifeless so maybe that’s meant to add to the loneliness. A seraph is an angel, the highest order of angels. And seen as a caretaker of God’s throne so in those lines “Mixing with nitrogen… or raindrops go,” it seems not only did God abandon man but His caretaker left God, too.
--then Josh talks about war fought in the name of God in the next few lines: “Streets swimming with amputees… not the other way around”
--then there’s the Laurel and Hardy theme… those 2 were a comedy duo a long time ago (slapstick comedy, Hardy was fat and the Laurel was skinny) but Hardy ended up dying (Ritter addresses his death with the “It’s a hell of a heaven…” line) pretty young of a stroke after losing over a hundred pounds- “the fat man is crying…” which threw Laurel into a depression. The duo was already fading troubles and after Hardy died Laurel quit altogether: “Back in the peacetime he caught roses on the stage Now he twists indecision takes bourbon for rage” shows their success and eventually Laurels depression. Halcion, Laudanum and Opium are all drugs. The rest of the stanza talks about how our society loves to hear about tragedy
--suddenly there’s a quick tone change and he sings about happier things, “all wrongs forgotten…” “…suffering verbs put to sleep…” “…good cheer.” yet it all seems sort of fake. And the line “Oh it’s hell to believe there ain’t a hell of a chance” makes it seem like the only reason he sings about happier things is: it’s better to fool yourself into thinking things might work out than know they won’t.
--and finally there’s obviously a major reference to poker (especially in the last stanza) but I’m not sure why..
“A RUN of Three Sisters and the FLUSH of the land
And the lake was a DIAMOND in the valley’s HAND
The STRAIGHT of the highway and the scattered out HEARTS”
..not to mention the constant “royal blue” and “full house” reference.
phew.. those are just my thoughts, awesome song anyway, Josh never lets me down.
i'd love to hear others' thoughts...
Im pretty close to positive that the whole flush of the land, diamond in the valley's hand references are to point out that everything is up to luck.
Im pretty close to positive that the whole flush of the land, diamond in the valley's hand references are to point out that everything is up to luck.
This is supported by his claim in the second stanza:
"If God's up there he's in a cold dark room
The heavenly host are just the cold dark moons
He bent down and made the world in seven days
And ever since he's been a'walking away"
This is supported by his claim in the second stanza:
"If God's up there he's in a cold dark room
The heavenly host are just the cold dark moons
He bent down and made the world in seven days
And ever since he's been a'walking away"
He's saying that God just left the world and has nothing to do with what happens now, and that the only force that governs anything is pure, unbiased chance.
I love this song.. all 9 minutes of it! there's so much to interpret and a lot of symbolism.. this is what I understand but I might be way off-
--ok.. the first stanza seems to have some Shakespeare references… from Caesar’s ghost to the prince of Denmark (hamlet?)…and I was wondering if the “war-time tides” line has anything to do with the quote in Julius Caesar “there is a tide in the affairs of men…” -just a thought?
--and then there’s the whole heaven/hell theme. Ritter mentions the small line between heaven and hell, “Heavens just a thin blue line” and he appears to be the only thing saving everyone from hell, “became a thin blue wire that held the world above the fire.” From there he questions God’s existence altogether and then concedes that God is there but not watching over us “If God’s up there… been a’walking away” I really like the lines- “Mixing with nitrogen… or raindrops go.” Nitrogen is French for lifeless so maybe that’s meant to add to the loneliness. A seraph is an angel, the highest order of angels. And seen as a caretaker of God’s throne so in those lines “Mixing with nitrogen… or raindrops go,” it seems not only did God abandon man but His caretaker left God, too.
--then Josh talks about war fought in the name of God in the next few lines: “Streets swimming with amputees… not the other way around”
--then there’s the Laurel and Hardy theme… those 2 were a comedy duo a long time ago (slapstick comedy, Hardy was fat and the Laurel was skinny) but Hardy ended up dying (Ritter addresses his death with the “It’s a hell of a heaven…” line) pretty young of a stroke after losing over a hundred pounds- “the fat man is crying…” which threw Laurel into a depression. The duo was already fading troubles and after Hardy died Laurel quit altogether: “Back in the peacetime he caught roses on the stage Now he twists indecision takes bourbon for rage” shows their success and eventually Laurels depression. Halcion, Laudanum and Opium are all drugs. The rest of the stanza talks about how our society loves to hear about tragedy
--suddenly there’s a quick tone change and he sings about happier things, “all wrongs forgotten…” “…suffering verbs put to sleep…” “…good cheer.” yet it all seems sort of fake. And the line “Oh it’s hell to believe there ain’t a hell of a chance” makes it seem like the only reason he sings about happier things is: it’s better to fool yourself into thinking things might work out than know they won’t.
--and finally there’s obviously a major reference to poker (especially in the last stanza) but I’m not sure why.. “A RUN of Three Sisters and the FLUSH of the land And the lake was a DIAMOND in the valley’s HAND The STRAIGHT of the highway and the scattered out HEARTS” ..not to mention the constant “royal blue” and “full house” reference.
phew.. those are just my thoughts, awesome song anyway, Josh never lets me down. i'd love to hear others' thoughts...
About the poker reference:
About the poker reference:
Im pretty close to positive that the whole flush of the land, diamond in the valley's hand references are to point out that everything is up to luck.
Im pretty close to positive that the whole flush of the land, diamond in the valley's hand references are to point out that everything is up to luck.
This is supported by his claim in the second stanza: "If God's up there he's in a cold dark room The heavenly host are just the cold dark moons He bent down and made the world in seven days And ever since he's been a'walking away"
This is supported by his claim in the second stanza: "If God's up there he's in a cold dark room The heavenly host are just the cold dark moons He bent down and made the world in seven days And ever since he's been a'walking away"
He's saying that God just left the world and has nothing to do with what happens now, and that the only force that governs anything is pure, unbiased chance.