Okay so alot of you guys nailed the first half of this excellent opener off the new album, but I think mostly everyone is at a loss when it comes to the second half, specifically from here on:
I want to know my fate if I keep up this way
It's hard to want to stay awake
When everyone you meet, they all seem to be asleep
You wonder if you're missing your dream
You can't see a dream
You can't see a dream
You just can't see a dream
A Dream
This passage reminds me of a quote by the late, great River Phoenix, in which he said
"Sometimes I wish I wasn't so concious."
For one, I can personally identify with this quote. Second, someone above me said something along the lines of "ignorance is bliss" in reference to this passage. In a way I would agree, but to elaborate on it, I would say that Ben Gibbard is say that he wants to know his fate if he continues on his road to seeking the truth so desperately, so passionately, so fervently. Like mathemeticians that lose their minds trying to solve complex problems over years and years of time, some artists lose their minds trying to seek the truths to human suffering, passion, inspiration, life, etc. I believe Ben Gibbard is an artist of just such a caliber. He goes on to say, "Its hard to want to stay awake." I can identify with this, Gibbard is saying that sometimes in the face of disappointment, letdown, mental/spiritual exhaustion, that it can be hard to carry on, to force yourself to continue. Especially difficult when you look around you at the opiated masses of people, content to shut themselves off to the truth, reality, the world around them, enlightenment, inspiration, and the search for it ("When everyone you meet, they all seem to be asleep"). "You wonder if you're missing your dream" Or maybe Ben, the artist, is the crazy one, not these people around him who are all blissfully ignorant, content in their mediocrity, the same mediocrity that Gibbard is plagued by. Maybe i'm missing out on a happiness I would only have known, if I had not chosen the path I am on. Finally, Gibbard speaks, maybe warns, maybe even laments over the fact that when you are so aware or so awake to reality, that "you just can't see a dream" Sometimes your "hyper-awareness," as it were, robs you of your own desired inspiration, your own disappointment. Your expectations of an experience that someone you hold in high regard(Kerouac) spoke in reverance of; what this experience could do for you(Gibbard).
Literally, that Gibbard can't see, now that he has arrived here at this figureative mecca of expectation, just what all the fuss was about for Kerouac. He's severely disappointed.
In fact though, life is about the journey, and everyone's journey is just that, their own. I think Gibbard sees that once he arrives at Bixby Canyon Bridge, he curses himself for being gullible enough to think that this place would have the same effect on him as it did on Kerouac. Gibbard realizes that he must find his own inspiration from his own metaphorical "Bixby Canyon Bridge," whatever, or wherever it may be.
The last lines based on my comments for the previous passage, are pretty self-explanatory.
This is my first post, sorry if i sound a tad pretentious, please be kind of responding!!
Brilliant! You have eloquently said exactly what i wanted to express. :] brilliant job. ..... but really the whole feeling of disconnect amongst others is alarming to me. At times it does seem as though you might be going crazy. Idk. but yes, thank you for your words.
-:]
Brilliant! You have eloquently said exactly what i wanted to express. :] brilliant job. ..... but really the whole feeling of disconnect amongst others is alarming to me. At times it does seem as though you might be going crazy. Idk. but yes, thank you for your words.
-:]
@fluorescein thank you for posting this. (I realize I'm replying some years later!) I was listening closer to the lyrics of this song after having heard it live (it was amazing) and I deeply relate. I think it is about what you've mentioned when you write even, "Some artists lose their minds trying to seek the truths to human suffering, passion, inspiration, life, etc."
@fluorescein thank you for posting this. (I realize I'm replying some years later!) I was listening closer to the lyrics of this song after having heard it live (it was amazing) and I deeply relate. I think it is about what you've mentioned when you write even, "Some artists lose their minds trying to seek the truths to human suffering, passion, inspiration, life, etc."
The lyrics, "And you wonder if you're missing your dream, you can't see a dream" are very interesting because of the parallel between "awakening," being aware of so much, searching for answers, and actually missing "the dream." You can't be asleep and awake at the same time, but you can't dream and be aware at the same time. This is really interesting…
Okay so alot of you guys nailed the first half of this excellent opener off the new album, but I think mostly everyone is at a loss when it comes to the second half, specifically from here on:
I want to know my fate if I keep up this way It's hard to want to stay awake
When everyone you meet, they all seem to be asleep You wonder if you're missing your dream You can't see a dream You can't see a dream You just can't see a dream
A Dream
This passage reminds me of a quote by the late, great River Phoenix, in which he said "Sometimes I wish I wasn't so concious." For one, I can personally identify with this quote. Second, someone above me said something along the lines of "ignorance is bliss" in reference to this passage. In a way I would agree, but to elaborate on it, I would say that Ben Gibbard is say that he wants to know his fate if he continues on his road to seeking the truth so desperately, so passionately, so fervently. Like mathemeticians that lose their minds trying to solve complex problems over years and years of time, some artists lose their minds trying to seek the truths to human suffering, passion, inspiration, life, etc. I believe Ben Gibbard is an artist of just such a caliber. He goes on to say, "Its hard to want to stay awake." I can identify with this, Gibbard is saying that sometimes in the face of disappointment, letdown, mental/spiritual exhaustion, that it can be hard to carry on, to force yourself to continue. Especially difficult when you look around you at the opiated masses of people, content to shut themselves off to the truth, reality, the world around them, enlightenment, inspiration, and the search for it ("When everyone you meet, they all seem to be asleep"). "You wonder if you're missing your dream" Or maybe Ben, the artist, is the crazy one, not these people around him who are all blissfully ignorant, content in their mediocrity, the same mediocrity that Gibbard is plagued by. Maybe i'm missing out on a happiness I would only have known, if I had not chosen the path I am on. Finally, Gibbard speaks, maybe warns, maybe even laments over the fact that when you are so aware or so awake to reality, that "you just can't see a dream" Sometimes your "hyper-awareness," as it were, robs you of your own desired inspiration, your own disappointment. Your expectations of an experience that someone you hold in high regard(Kerouac) spoke in reverance of; what this experience could do for you(Gibbard).
Literally, that Gibbard can't see, now that he has arrived here at this figureative mecca of expectation, just what all the fuss was about for Kerouac. He's severely disappointed.
In fact though, life is about the journey, and everyone's journey is just that, their own. I think Gibbard sees that once he arrives at Bixby Canyon Bridge, he curses himself for being gullible enough to think that this place would have the same effect on him as it did on Kerouac. Gibbard realizes that he must find his own inspiration from his own metaphorical "Bixby Canyon Bridge," whatever, or wherever it may be.
The last lines based on my comments for the previous passage, are pretty self-explanatory.
This is my first post, sorry if i sound a tad pretentious, please be kind of responding!!
Thanks
Brilliant! You have eloquently said exactly what i wanted to express. :] brilliant job. ..... but really the whole feeling of disconnect amongst others is alarming to me. At times it does seem as though you might be going crazy. Idk. but yes, thank you for your words. -:]
Brilliant! You have eloquently said exactly what i wanted to express. :] brilliant job. ..... but really the whole feeling of disconnect amongst others is alarming to me. At times it does seem as though you might be going crazy. Idk. but yes, thank you for your words. -:]
@fluorescein thank you for posting this. (I realize I'm replying some years later!) I was listening closer to the lyrics of this song after having heard it live (it was amazing) and I deeply relate. I think it is about what you've mentioned when you write even, "Some artists lose their minds trying to seek the truths to human suffering, passion, inspiration, life, etc."
@fluorescein thank you for posting this. (I realize I'm replying some years later!) I was listening closer to the lyrics of this song after having heard it live (it was amazing) and I deeply relate. I think it is about what you've mentioned when you write even, "Some artists lose their minds trying to seek the truths to human suffering, passion, inspiration, life, etc."
The lyrics, "And you wonder if you're missing your dream, you can't see a dream" are very interesting because of the parallel between "awakening," being aware of so much, searching for answers, and actually missing "the dream." You can't be asleep and awake at the same time, but you can't dream and be aware at the same time. This is really interesting…