[ This poem is about how the speaker has lost all sense of meaning, or perhaps he has always lacked meaning and is only now coming to terms with the fact that it shall never be otherwise. He sees that anything there is to latch on to is just a lie to comfort a willing mind. Contrast with the opening of the album, where the speaker was young and passionate about every cause his young generation had to offer. Now he is 'old' and sees no meaning in anything. He is faced with simple apathy, and he is unable to ignore or otherwise escape (except, in some small measure, through alcohol and drugs) his knowledge that life has no meaning. ]
One hand on this wily comet, [ dysphemism for “earth” ]
Take a drink just to give me some weight, [ alcohol to numb the intellectual sense of disconnect ]
Some überman I'd make,
I'm barely a vapor [ the author cannot overcome the self (in the Nietzschean sense) and barely amounts to anything ]
They shone a chlorine light on, [ pale green; either showing his sins for their true grotesqueness, or distorting them to look worse than they are ]
A host of individual sins,
Let's carve my aging face off,
Fetch us a knife,
Start with my eyes, [ remove the windows of knowledge ]
Down so the lines,
Form a grimacing smile, [ and now form a fake happiness through willing ignorance of the truth ]
Close your eyes to corral a virtue, [ bring back perception of value via ignorance ]
Is this fooling anyone else? [ but it's still just self delusion ]
Never worked so long and hard to
Cement a failure. [ it all amounts to nothing ]
We can blow on our thumbs and posture, [ opposable thumbs and upright posture; we can try to disown the meaninglessness inherent to our natural origins ]
But the lonely are such delicate things,
The wind from a wasp could blow them,
Into the sea,
With stones on their feet,
Lost to the light and the loving we need. [ but, as hard as we try to put a better face on things, it's so easy to become disillusioned, drowned in understanding, and no longer with any hope of meaning, despite the basic human need for it ]
Still to come,
The worst part and you know it,
There is a numbness,
In your heart and it's growing, [ the apathy that comes with disillusion and/or the fading of life into death ]
With burnt sage and a forest of bygones, [ reflecting his whole past (perhaps turning to narcotics) ]
I click my heels,
Get the devils in line. [ sort out the mental burdens ]
A list of things I could lay the blame on,
Might give me a way out. [ he tries to escape responsibility by looking for excuses ]
But with each turn,
It stays front and center,
Like a dart stuck square in your eye, [ but it's not possible to shutout what you've realized is true ]
Every post you can hitch your faith on,
Is a pie in the sky,
Chock full of lies,
A tool we devise,
To make sinking stones fly. [ all sense of life's purpose is just an opiate ]
And still to come,
The worst part and you know it,
There is a numbness
In your heart, and it's growing. [ this knowledge leads to a consuming indifference and / or there is death looming on the horizon ]
What many of you have posted is right, I think. Uber-man is a blatant reference to Nietzsche. No longer are we grounded, but we are boats out at sea. Here's a passage from Nietzsche's parable of "The Madman":
What many of you have posted is right, I think. Uber-man is a blatant reference to Nietzsche. No longer are we grounded, but we are boats out at sea. Here's a passage from Nietzsche's parable of "The Madman":
The madman jumped into their midst and pierced them with his eyes. "Whither is God?" he cried; "I will tell you. We have killed him---you and I. All of us are his murderers. But how did we do this? How could we drink up the sea? Who gave us the sponge to wipe away the entire horizon? What were we doing when we unchained this earth from its sun? Whither is it moving now? Whither are we moving? Away from all suns? Are we not plunging continually? Backward, sideward, forward, in all directions? Is there still any up or down? Are we not straying, as through an infinite nothing? Do we not feel the breath of empty space? Has it not become colder? Is not night continually closing in on us? Do we not need to light lanterns in the morning? Do we hear nothing as yet of the noise of the gravediggers who are burying God? Do we smell nothing as yet of the divine decomposition? Gods, too, decompose. God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. (fordham.edu/halsall/mod/nietzsche-madman.html)
In this parable, the planet is unhinged. No longer is God, or, as Heidegger suggested, metaphysics, an option for us. We are without a ground to stand out, like a boat out at sea with no compass. To Nietzsche, this should be freeing for the uber-man, but the speaker in "A Comet Appears" is not an uber-man. He is not comforted by nihilism. Instead, he sees a comet (the title of the song), a ground on which to stand, perhaps, but he can't hold on. Every attempt is another attempt at believing in God or some other external metaphysic to justify a certain type of behavior: "Every post you can hitch your faith on / Is a pie in the sky / Chock full of lies / A tool we devise / To make sinking stones fly." The post is the comet is God-- there is nothing to anchor us, but we keep attaching ourselves to finite things "to make sinking stones fly," or in other words, to do what we know is impossible.
"And still to come, / The worst part and you know it," sings the speaker-- This is death, but the speaker can't even mention the word. It only reaffirms our limits. How do we overcome nihilism, the song asks, but it doesn't know the answer.
I think you're dead-on, and that's a very insightful analysis... but I also see a few more overt references to religion, and the author's disillusionment with religion (which really just ties in to the rest of what you've written).
I think you're dead-on, and that's a very insightful analysis... but I also see a few more overt references to religion, and the author's disillusionment with religion (which really just ties in to the rest of what you've written).
The "they" in "They shone a chlorine light one..." is "the church," or I suppose just organized religion in general. The church makes a huge fuss about "a host of individual 'sins' " (homosexuality, pre-marital sex, etc.), but ignore the real problems in the world.
The "they" in "They shone a chlorine light one..." is "the church," or I suppose just organized religion in general. The church makes a huge fuss about "a host of individual 'sins' " (homosexuality, pre-marital sex, etc.), but ignore the real problems in the world.
Close your eyes to corral a virtue (a reference to prayer)
Is this fooling anyone else? (author's realization what a crock at all is, and wondering how people could seriously buy into this stuff)
Never worked so long and hard
To cement a failure
(A lot of kids growing up cling to the stuff they are taught in church, because it is the only "meaning" they can see. As they grow up they start to see it all for what it is, but try "long and hard" to cling to it anyways, because it's all they've got. But the author has obviously not held on, despite how "long and hard" he tried).
We can blow on our thumbs and posture, (Another reference to prayer, and just religious gestures in general [one's thumbs would typically be near one's mouth during prayer, especially if you're silently speaking into your hands, thinking you're speaking to God] Author is saying - hey, you can pray and otherwise "posture" as if you've got the answer all you want - )
But the lonely are such delicate things
The wind from a wasp could blow them
Into the sea
With stones on their feet
Lost to the light and the loving we need.
[But the human condition is such a lonely one, that it's easy to push people into religion or for them simply to fall into it - people are so desperate for answers that "the wind from a wasp" could blow them into it. But, clearly the author believes that religion is not the answer people need - and once they're in and they THINK they have THE ANSWER - one they can cling to....they are forever 'sunk' so to speak ("stones on their feet") - forever lost to the quest for a legitimate answer to the human condition, and forever lost to the "loving" that humanity really needs)
But yeah, like I said.....I see a few more references to religion thrown in here and there throughout the song....but either way, this is a fantastic analysis of a very beautiful and very sad song.
Why does everything have to be about the church? He is obviously attacking religion in this song, but organized religion? I think that is a bit of a stretch.
Why does everything have to be about the church? He is obviously attacking religion in this song, but organized religion? I think that is a bit of a stretch.
But, to each their own. Any interpretation is just as good as another.
But, to each their own. Any interpretation is just as good as another.
Personally, this song reminds me a lot of the poem "Thanatopsis" by William Cullen Bryant.
Personally, this song reminds me a lot of the poem "Thanatopsis" by William Cullen Bryant.
Is it possible that "this wiley comet" could be some reference to the "universe" and not the earth? It seems he is talking here about his allegiance to the infinite as opposed to man-made religion. This is possibly the moment where he truly embraces, and begins to struggle with, the idea that he is alone in the universe, and that it is the only real force in this life. That would explain the use of the term "wiley" as well as "having one hand on" it.
Is it possible that "this wiley comet" could be some reference to the "universe" and not the earth? It seems he is talking here about his allegiance to the infinite as opposed to man-made religion. This is possibly the moment where he truly embraces, and begins to struggle with, the idea that he is alone in the universe, and that it is the only real force in this life. That would explain the use of the term "wiley" as well as "having one hand on" it.
Is it possible that "this wiley comet" could be some reference to the "universe" and not the earth? It seems he is talking here about his allegiance to the infinite as opposed to man-made religion. This is possibly the moment where he truly embraces, and begins to struggle with, the idea that he is alone in the universe, and that it is the only real force in this life. That would explain the use of the term "wiley" as well as "having one hand on" it. The next line, "Take a drink just to give me some...
Is it possible that "this wiley comet" could be some reference to the "universe" and not the earth? It seems he is talking here about his allegiance to the infinite as opposed to man-made religion. This is possibly the moment where he truly embraces, and begins to struggle with, the idea that he is alone in the universe, and that it is the only real force in this life. That would explain the use of the term "wiley" as well as "having one hand on" it. The next line, "Take a drink just to give me some weight" seems to tie in as well - it gives the feeling of floating in the ether, as it were.
It's 2014, which means it's been seven years since you made this comment, and I don't give a fuck.
It's 2014, which means it's been seven years since you made this comment, and I don't give a fuck.
I heard this on Pandora, and while I've heard of the Shins and vaguely remember the video for "Phantom Limb," I never properly got into them. Obviously that's changed right quick, thanks to this song and your amazing interpretation!
I heard this on Pandora, and while I've heard of the Shins and vaguely remember the video for "Phantom Limb," I never properly got into them. Obviously that's changed right quick, thanks to this song and your amazing interpretation!
I had to at least try and let you know how much I dig what you've written here. Of course for all I know, you've completely forgotten about this site or even this particular song, but I couldn't let it be. So although I may only be speaking into the faceless, unfeeling oblivion of the internet, it still doesn't make it any less true...
So yeah. Thanks for the insight. You gave someone a little something to think on in the middle of the void when you wrote this, all the way back in 2007 :)
[ This poem is about how the speaker has lost all sense of meaning, or perhaps he has always lacked meaning and is only now coming to terms with the fact that it shall never be otherwise. He sees that anything there is to latch on to is just a lie to comfort a willing mind. Contrast with the opening of the album, where the speaker was young and passionate about every cause his young generation had to offer. Now he is 'old' and sees no meaning in anything. He is faced with simple apathy, and he is unable to ignore or otherwise escape (except, in some small measure, through alcohol and drugs) his knowledge that life has no meaning. ]
One hand on this wily comet, [ dysphemism for “earth” ] Take a drink just to give me some weight, [ alcohol to numb the intellectual sense of disconnect ] Some überman I'd make, I'm barely a vapor [ the author cannot overcome the self (in the Nietzschean sense) and barely amounts to anything ]
They shone a chlorine light on, [ pale green; either showing his sins for their true grotesqueness, or distorting them to look worse than they are ] A host of individual sins, Let's carve my aging face off, Fetch us a knife, Start with my eyes, [ remove the windows of knowledge ] Down so the lines, Form a grimacing smile, [ and now form a fake happiness through willing ignorance of the truth ]
Close your eyes to corral a virtue, [ bring back perception of value via ignorance ] Is this fooling anyone else? [ but it's still just self delusion ] Never worked so long and hard to Cement a failure. [ it all amounts to nothing ]
We can blow on our thumbs and posture, [ opposable thumbs and upright posture; we can try to disown the meaninglessness inherent to our natural origins ] But the lonely are such delicate things, The wind from a wasp could blow them, Into the sea, With stones on their feet, Lost to the light and the loving we need. [ but, as hard as we try to put a better face on things, it's so easy to become disillusioned, drowned in understanding, and no longer with any hope of meaning, despite the basic human need for it ]
Still to come, The worst part and you know it, There is a numbness, In your heart and it's growing, [ the apathy that comes with disillusion and/or the fading of life into death ]
With burnt sage and a forest of bygones, [ reflecting his whole past (perhaps turning to narcotics) ] I click my heels, Get the devils in line. [ sort out the mental burdens ] A list of things I could lay the blame on, Might give me a way out. [ he tries to escape responsibility by looking for excuses ]
But with each turn, It stays front and center, Like a dart stuck square in your eye, [ but it's not possible to shutout what you've realized is true ] Every post you can hitch your faith on, Is a pie in the sky, Chock full of lies, A tool we devise, To make sinking stones fly. [ all sense of life's purpose is just an opiate ]
And still to come, The worst part and you know it, There is a numbness
In your heart, and it's growing. [ this knowledge leads to a consuming indifference and / or there is death looming on the horizon ]
What many of you have posted is right, I think. Uber-man is a blatant reference to Nietzsche. No longer are we grounded, but we are boats out at sea. Here's a passage from Nietzsche's parable of "The Madman":
What many of you have posted is right, I think. Uber-man is a blatant reference to Nietzsche. No longer are we grounded, but we are boats out at sea. Here's a passage from Nietzsche's parable of "The Madman":
The madman jumped into their midst and pierced them with his eyes. "Whither is God?" he cried; "I will tell you. We have killed him---you and I. All of us are his murderers. But how did we do this? How could we drink up the sea? Who gave us the sponge to wipe away the entire horizon? What were we doing when we unchained this earth from its sun? Whither is it moving now? Whither are we moving? Away from all suns? Are we not plunging continually? Backward, sideward, forward, in all directions? Is there still any up or down? Are we not straying, as through an infinite nothing? Do we not feel the breath of empty space? Has it not become colder? Is not night continually closing in on us? Do we not need to light lanterns in the morning? Do we hear nothing as yet of the noise of the gravediggers who are burying God? Do we smell nothing as yet of the divine decomposition? Gods, too, decompose. God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him. (fordham.edu/halsall/mod/nietzsche-madman.html)
In this parable, the planet is unhinged. No longer is God, or, as Heidegger suggested, metaphysics, an option for us. We are without a ground to stand out, like a boat out at sea with no compass. To Nietzsche, this should be freeing for the uber-man, but the speaker in "A Comet Appears" is not an uber-man. He is not comforted by nihilism. Instead, he sees a comet (the title of the song), a ground on which to stand, perhaps, but he can't hold on. Every attempt is another attempt at believing in God or some other external metaphysic to justify a certain type of behavior: "Every post you can hitch your faith on / Is a pie in the sky / Chock full of lies / A tool we devise / To make sinking stones fly." The post is the comet is God-- there is nothing to anchor us, but we keep attaching ourselves to finite things "to make sinking stones fly," or in other words, to do what we know is impossible.
"And still to come, / The worst part and you know it," sings the speaker-- This is death, but the speaker can't even mention the word. It only reaffirms our limits. How do we overcome nihilism, the song asks, but it doesn't know the answer.
I think you're dead-on, and that's a very insightful analysis... but I also see a few more overt references to religion, and the author's disillusionment with religion (which really just ties in to the rest of what you've written).
I think you're dead-on, and that's a very insightful analysis... but I also see a few more overt references to religion, and the author's disillusionment with religion (which really just ties in to the rest of what you've written).
The "they" in "They shone a chlorine light one..." is "the church," or I suppose just organized religion in general. The church makes a huge fuss about "a host of individual 'sins' " (homosexuality, pre-marital sex, etc.), but ignore the real problems in the world.
The "they" in "They shone a chlorine light one..." is "the church," or I suppose just organized religion in general. The church makes a huge fuss about "a host of individual 'sins' " (homosexuality, pre-marital sex, etc.), but ignore the real problems in the world.
Close your eyes to corral a virtue (a reference to prayer) Is this fooling anyone else? (author's realization what a crock at all is, and wondering how people could seriously buy into this stuff) Never worked so long and hard To cement a failure (A lot of kids growing up cling to the stuff they are taught in church, because it is the only "meaning" they can see. As they grow up they start to see it all for what it is, but try "long and hard" to cling to it anyways, because it's all they've got. But the author has obviously not held on, despite how "long and hard" he tried).
We can blow on our thumbs and posture, (Another reference to prayer, and just religious gestures in general [one's thumbs would typically be near one's mouth during prayer, especially if you're silently speaking into your hands, thinking you're speaking to God] Author is saying - hey, you can pray and otherwise "posture" as if you've got the answer all you want - ) But the lonely are such delicate things The wind from a wasp could blow them Into the sea With stones on their feet Lost to the light and the loving we need. [But the human condition is such a lonely one, that it's easy to push people into religion or for them simply to fall into it - people are so desperate for answers that "the wind from a wasp" could blow them into it. But, clearly the author believes that religion is not the answer people need - and once they're in and they THINK they have THE ANSWER - one they can cling to....they are forever 'sunk' so to speak ("stones on their feet") - forever lost to the quest for a legitimate answer to the human condition, and forever lost to the "loving" that humanity really needs)
But yeah, like I said.....I see a few more references to religion thrown in here and there throughout the song....but either way, this is a fantastic analysis of a very beautiful and very sad song.
Why does everything have to be about the church? He is obviously attacking religion in this song, but organized religion? I think that is a bit of a stretch.
Why does everything have to be about the church? He is obviously attacking religion in this song, but organized religion? I think that is a bit of a stretch.
But, to each their own. Any interpretation is just as good as another.
But, to each their own. Any interpretation is just as good as another.
Personally, this song reminds me a lot of the poem "Thanatopsis" by William Cullen Bryant.
Personally, this song reminds me a lot of the poem "Thanatopsis" by William Cullen Bryant.
Is it possible that "this wiley comet" could be some reference to the "universe" and not the earth? It seems he is talking here about his allegiance to the infinite as opposed to man-made religion. This is possibly the moment where he truly embraces, and begins to struggle with, the idea that he is alone in the universe, and that it is the only real force in this life. That would explain the use of the term "wiley" as well as "having one hand on" it.
Is it possible that "this wiley comet" could be some reference to the "universe" and not the earth? It seems he is talking here about his allegiance to the infinite as opposed to man-made religion. This is possibly the moment where he truly embraces, and begins to struggle with, the idea that he is alone in the universe, and that it is the only real force in this life. That would explain the use of the term "wiley" as well as "having one hand on" it.
Is it possible that "this wiley comet" could be some reference to the "universe" and not the earth? It seems he is talking here about his allegiance to the infinite as opposed to man-made religion. This is possibly the moment where he truly embraces, and begins to struggle with, the idea that he is alone in the universe, and that it is the only real force in this life. That would explain the use of the term "wiley" as well as "having one hand on" it. The next line, "Take a drink just to give me some...
Is it possible that "this wiley comet" could be some reference to the "universe" and not the earth? It seems he is talking here about his allegiance to the infinite as opposed to man-made religion. This is possibly the moment where he truly embraces, and begins to struggle with, the idea that he is alone in the universe, and that it is the only real force in this life. That would explain the use of the term "wiley" as well as "having one hand on" it. The next line, "Take a drink just to give me some weight" seems to tie in as well - it gives the feeling of floating in the ether, as it were.
It's 2014, which means it's been seven years since you made this comment, and I don't give a fuck.
It's 2014, which means it's been seven years since you made this comment, and I don't give a fuck.
I heard this on Pandora, and while I've heard of the Shins and vaguely remember the video for "Phantom Limb," I never properly got into them. Obviously that's changed right quick, thanks to this song and your amazing interpretation!
I heard this on Pandora, and while I've heard of the Shins and vaguely remember the video for "Phantom Limb," I never properly got into them. Obviously that's changed right quick, thanks to this song and your amazing interpretation!
I had to at least try and let you know how much I dig what you've written here. Of course for all I know, you've completely forgotten about this site or even this particular song, but I couldn't let it be. So although I may only be speaking into the faceless, unfeeling oblivion of the internet, it still doesn't make it any less true...
So yeah. Thanks for the insight. You gave someone a little something to think on in the middle of the void when you wrote this, all the way back in 2007 :)