Pilate" was inspired by Mikhail Bulgakov's novel The Master and Margarita. When asked about the song Jeff Ament stated:
“ I think "Pilate" was the question I was asking myself, and "Low Light " was the answer, the realization. Have you ever read The Master and Margarita [by Mikhail Bulgakov]? I just read that book, and at the end they talk about Pontius Pilate being all alone on a mountain with his dog. He couldn't sleep and he couldn't function. It really struck me hard, because at that point I was feeling very alone. I've always had this recurring dream about being old and just me and my dog sitting on the porch. It wasn't necessarily a sad dream or a premonition, but it did get me to thinking about why Pilate was so alone and freaked out. Then I realized he didn't get to finish his conversation with Jesus—that's why he can't function, because he didn't tie up the loose ends in his life. Later, I was playing the guitar, and I was hit so hard by this amazing, emotion. In that moment the words "low light" came out, and somehow those were the only words to explain what I was feeling. It was a kind of gratefulness at finding that place of calm and peace at my center and getting a glimpse of the person I could choose to be. It was the purest happiness that I've experienced in a long time, that particular emotion. God, I thought I was going to explode. I feel very lucky to have been able to put it down on tape that morning and work through it until it became a song
OK, I think I have a good understanding of the lyrics now, thanks to that. The first verse is basically about him just carrying on with what he usually does, and not making any real progress in his life. He tries to add a bit of variation to it ("Looking in," "falling up, then south, marking ground," and "talking out of turn"), but it doesn't work ("drawing circles down").
OK, I think I have a good understanding of the lyrics now, thanks to that. The first verse is basically about him just carrying on with what he usually does, and not making any real progress in his life. He tries to add a bit of variation to it ("Looking in," "falling up, then south, marking ground," and "talking out of turn"), but it doesn't work ("drawing circles down").
The chorus is him admitting he's similar to Pilate in the story, in that at this point in his life; he's lonely, but still has his dog.
I'm not exactly sure what "Walks me out of town. Still one's a crowd." means, but I gather it's just about his loneliness and his inability to find someone else. "Making angels..." is him dreaming about what his lover would be like. Next line is him searching more furiously for someone.
The chorus, which is a bit more intense this time, is him desperately trying to cope with his loneliness, using his dog's love as a substitute for a person's.
In the final verse, he's grown older and is shocked to find how much of his life he's wasted without a lover. He realizes his dog is no substitute for an actual person, and falls back into the same loneliness as before. I'm pretty sure he's comparing his dog to "a friend that politely drags you down."
The last chorus, by far the most frustrated-sounding, is him nearly losing his mind over the fact that he's come to the end of his life and his dog is still his only companion.
The question Jeff was asking himself is whether he's going to let his life end up like this or not.
I'm probably over-analyzing this a bit, but that's just my interpretation.
Pilate" was inspired by Mikhail Bulgakov's novel The Master and Margarita. When asked about the song Jeff Ament stated:
“ I think "Pilate" was the question I was asking myself, and "Low Light " was the answer, the realization. Have you ever read The Master and Margarita [by Mikhail Bulgakov]? I just read that book, and at the end they talk about Pontius Pilate being all alone on a mountain with his dog. He couldn't sleep and he couldn't function. It really struck me hard, because at that point I was feeling very alone. I've always had this recurring dream about being old and just me and my dog sitting on the porch. It wasn't necessarily a sad dream or a premonition, but it did get me to thinking about why Pilate was so alone and freaked out. Then I realized he didn't get to finish his conversation with Jesus—that's why he can't function, because he didn't tie up the loose ends in his life. Later, I was playing the guitar, and I was hit so hard by this amazing, emotion. In that moment the words "low light" came out, and somehow those were the only words to explain what I was feeling. It was a kind of gratefulness at finding that place of calm and peace at my center and getting a glimpse of the person I could choose to be. It was the purest happiness that I've experienced in a long time, that particular emotion. God, I thought I was going to explode. I feel very lucky to have been able to put it down on tape that morning and work through it until it became a song
OK, I think I have a good understanding of the lyrics now, thanks to that. The first verse is basically about him just carrying on with what he usually does, and not making any real progress in his life. He tries to add a bit of variation to it ("Looking in," "falling up, then south, marking ground," and "talking out of turn"), but it doesn't work ("drawing circles down").
OK, I think I have a good understanding of the lyrics now, thanks to that. The first verse is basically about him just carrying on with what he usually does, and not making any real progress in his life. He tries to add a bit of variation to it ("Looking in," "falling up, then south, marking ground," and "talking out of turn"), but it doesn't work ("drawing circles down").
The chorus is him admitting he's similar to Pilate in the story, in that at this point in his life; he's lonely, but still has his dog.
I'm not exactly sure what "Walks me out of town. Still one's a crowd." means, but I gather it's just about his loneliness and his inability to find someone else. "Making angels..." is him dreaming about what his lover would be like. Next line is him searching more furiously for someone.
The chorus, which is a bit more intense this time, is him desperately trying to cope with his loneliness, using his dog's love as a substitute for a person's.
In the final verse, he's grown older and is shocked to find how much of his life he's wasted without a lover. He realizes his dog is no substitute for an actual person, and falls back into the same loneliness as before. I'm pretty sure he's comparing his dog to "a friend that politely drags you down."
The last chorus, by far the most frustrated-sounding, is him nearly losing his mind over the fact that he's come to the end of his life and his dog is still his only companion.
The question Jeff was asking himself is whether he's going to let his life end up like this or not.
I'm probably over-analyzing this a bit, but that's just my interpretation.