I think the meaning is a little broader than drugs, or soldiers, or home. Those are all correct, however, in my opinion. I think it is about our society, en masse; our need to conform and the ones who break away. There is the common theme of "... to each his own" after describing general events that can be shared among so many people.
The Garden needs sorting out.
She curls her lips on the bow,
And I don't know if I'm dead or not,
To anyone...
To me this suggests a life that needs some sorting out; it feels numb and empty. (A Fight Club kind of feeling)
Come on and get the minimum,
Before you open up your eyes.
This army has so many heads,
To analyze...
Ah, our cultural habit of waiting until one feels they have enough, until they are comfortable, to pay attention to the things around them. There is so much going on in the world right now, and nothing is what is seems. To analyze one head you must analyze them all.
Come on and get your overdose.
Collect it at the borderline,
And they want to get up in your head...
I'm curious about this line. Is is about our tendency to medicate? "...collect it at the borderline..." could certainly refer to the physical borders, as we are strongly discouraged from buying pharmaceuticals from other countries. "And they want to get up in your head..." If it is prescribed by a doctor's office, there is a paper trail a mile long. They know all about your head.
Cause they know and so do I.
The high road is hard to find.
A detour to your new life.
Tell all of your friends goodbye.
Conformity is easier. Doing the right thing isn't always as easy as going to college and finding a job. As you grow up, you find you have to remove people from your life. Sometimes it's in your children's best interest, sometimes yours. Sometimes the friend's.
The dawn to end all nights,
That's all we hoped it was.
A break from the warfare in your house,
To each his own...
Making a life-altering choice to end fighting at home, perhaps? Much in the way some couples think a baby will settle marital conflict. Each home has their own conflict, and their own resolutions, and their own bad choices.
A soldier is bailing out.
He curled his lips on the barrel.
And I don't know if the dead can talk,
To anyone...
I don't really have anything to ad to this. Maybe the soldier is metaphorical - we all soldier through every day.
This army has so many hands,
Are you one of us?
Do you conform? Are you part of society?
It's too late to change your mind,
You let loss be your guide.
Any loss. What you don't have now. What your neighbor has and you don't. What you think you should've achieved at this point in life but haven't. What you didn't have as a child. When the voids in you life take precedence over the positives, consumption takes priority over people. And a society built on conforming to numbness and consumption will blindly consume itself.
I think you're close to the meaning here, and I'm glad someone is looking past the metaphors to find what they mean. Saying this is a song about drugs doesn't do it justice.
I think you're close to the meaning here, and I'm glad someone is looking past the metaphors to find what they mean. Saying this is a song about drugs doesn't do it justice.
A few things to add. I think the Garden in the second stanza is the Garden of Eden. The formerly perfect Garden is imperfect and now needs sorting out; it needs to be fixed. I think this theme of a messed-up world carries throughout the song, making the entire song (and a number of others in this album) about the ways we cope with an imperfect world. In this song, people escape by conforming. Basically what Potatoflesh said earlier.
Then there's this stanza
Come on and get your overdose.
Collect it at the borderline,
And they want to get up in your head...
I'm not sure the overdose is traditional drugs. I think it's a metaphor, and could be a number of things. The one that first comes to mind is entertainment. You go to the border(line) between fantasy and reality to numb yourself in entertainment. Then everyone tries to get in your head. Media producers try to get in there so you watch their stuff, advertisers try to get into your head while you're numbed to sell you products, etc.
HBP, I think you've hit it the closest of all the folks who've posted. The stoners hear a pro-weed song and some others are getting WAY too deep.
HBP, I think you've hit it the closest of all the folks who've posted. The stoners hear a pro-weed song and some others are getting WAY too deep.
Totally agree with the lady and the garden. Her life is boring and sucks, out she goes, Cobain-style.
Totally agree with the lady and the garden. Her life is boring and sucks, out she goes, Cobain-style.
Good insight on what the "minimum" is.
Good insight on what the "minimum" is.
As to the overdose and borderline, I was thinking the American culture's proclivity for excess and the assimilation of other cultures into ours. When they cross the boarder, the barrage of fast food and entertainment hits them.
As to the overdose and borderline, I was thinking the American culture's proclivity for excess and the assimilation of other cultures into ours. When they cross the boarder, the barrage of fast food and entertainment hits them.
I think the dawn and the soldier go together. The dawn is him joining the military. Many soldiers join as an escape from the crap in their regular lives. Once in the military, he still finds no peace, and ends it all with his rifle.
And the end with the loss... the two people in the song have let the downside of life make a decision for them that there is no coming back from... suicide.
I think the meaning is a little broader than drugs, or soldiers, or home. Those are all correct, however, in my opinion. I think it is about our society, en masse; our need to conform and the ones who break away. There is the common theme of "... to each his own" after describing general events that can be shared among so many people.
The Garden needs sorting out. She curls her lips on the bow, And I don't know if I'm dead or not, To anyone... To me this suggests a life that needs some sorting out; it feels numb and empty. (A Fight Club kind of feeling)
Come on and get the minimum, Before you open up your eyes. This army has so many heads, To analyze...
Ah, our cultural habit of waiting until one feels they have enough, until they are comfortable, to pay attention to the things around them. There is so much going on in the world right now, and nothing is what is seems. To analyze one head you must analyze them all.
Come on and get your overdose. Collect it at the borderline, And they want to get up in your head...
I'm curious about this line. Is is about our tendency to medicate? "...collect it at the borderline..." could certainly refer to the physical borders, as we are strongly discouraged from buying pharmaceuticals from other countries. "And they want to get up in your head..." If it is prescribed by a doctor's office, there is a paper trail a mile long. They know all about your head.
Cause they know and so do I. The high road is hard to find. A detour to your new life. Tell all of your friends goodbye.
Conformity is easier. Doing the right thing isn't always as easy as going to college and finding a job. As you grow up, you find you have to remove people from your life. Sometimes it's in your children's best interest, sometimes yours. Sometimes the friend's.
The dawn to end all nights, That's all we hoped it was. A break from the warfare in your house, To each his own...
Making a life-altering choice to end fighting at home, perhaps? Much in the way some couples think a baby will settle marital conflict. Each home has their own conflict, and their own resolutions, and their own bad choices.
A soldier is bailing out. He curled his lips on the barrel. And I don't know if the dead can talk, To anyone...
I don't really have anything to ad to this. Maybe the soldier is metaphorical - we all soldier through every day.
This army has so many hands, Are you one of us?
Do you conform? Are you part of society?
It's too late to change your mind, You let loss be your guide.
Any loss. What you don't have now. What your neighbor has and you don't. What you think you should've achieved at this point in life but haven't. What you didn't have as a child. When the voids in you life take precedence over the positives, consumption takes priority over people. And a society built on conforming to numbness and consumption will blindly consume itself.
I think you're close to the meaning here, and I'm glad someone is looking past the metaphors to find what they mean. Saying this is a song about drugs doesn't do it justice.
I think you're close to the meaning here, and I'm glad someone is looking past the metaphors to find what they mean. Saying this is a song about drugs doesn't do it justice.
A few things to add. I think the Garden in the second stanza is the Garden of Eden. The formerly perfect Garden is imperfect and now needs sorting out; it needs to be fixed. I think this theme of a messed-up world carries throughout the song, making the entire song (and a number of others in this album) about the ways we cope with an imperfect world. In this song, people escape by conforming. Basically what Potatoflesh said earlier.
Then there's this stanza
Come on and get your overdose. Collect it at the borderline, And they want to get up in your head...
I'm not sure the overdose is traditional drugs. I think it's a metaphor, and could be a number of things. The one that first comes to mind is entertainment. You go to the border(line) between fantasy and reality to numb yourself in entertainment. Then everyone tries to get in your head. Media producers try to get in there so you watch their stuff, advertisers try to get into your head while you're numbed to sell you products, etc.
HBP, I think you've hit it the closest of all the folks who've posted. The stoners hear a pro-weed song and some others are getting WAY too deep.
HBP, I think you've hit it the closest of all the folks who've posted. The stoners hear a pro-weed song and some others are getting WAY too deep.
Totally agree with the lady and the garden. Her life is boring and sucks, out she goes, Cobain-style.
Totally agree with the lady and the garden. Her life is boring and sucks, out she goes, Cobain-style.
Good insight on what the "minimum" is.
Good insight on what the "minimum" is.
As to the overdose and borderline, I was thinking the American culture's proclivity for excess and the assimilation of other cultures into ours. When they cross the boarder, the barrage of fast food and entertainment hits them.
As to the overdose and borderline, I was thinking the American culture's proclivity for excess and the assimilation of other cultures into ours. When they cross the boarder, the barrage of fast food and entertainment hits them.
I think the dawn and the soldier go together. The dawn is him joining the military. Many soldiers join as an escape from the crap in their regular lives. Once in the military, he still finds no peace, and ends it all with his rifle.
And the end with the loss... the two people in the song have let the downside of life make a decision for them that there is no coming back from... suicide.