Notes on Theme, Music
-Blossoming of Technology (esp. social), alienation this causes
-A society in which we have exchanged deep gifts for immediate sensation
-The impossibility of reversal, futility of reminiscence
-Urgency ‘superceding’ aimlessness, oppressiveness of this ‘progression’
-The steady build-up of the string section mirrors the various forms of proliferation addressed in the lyrics: blossoming of technology, associated mounting feelings of alienation, (ironic) struggle to articulate the loss of communication, difficulty in describing the past as it is in the process of being paved over (obscured)
First Verse
-In the first stanza, our narrator reminisces about the satisfaction of personal communication, as he remembers it as a child
-By the time he has matured, this phenomenon has seemingly vanished (symbolic example: letters vs. email)
-He feels like his generation has been robbed of authentic means of communication, reflects on the resulting alienation
-Further still, when he attempts to disassociate himself from this social trend, he is lost ‘in the dark’ (ie. without technology, in this case electricity, he find he cannot navigate his surroundings.)
-Times have changed and he finds he cannot go back. Social technology is entrenched in our lives.
-For dramatic effect, our narrator uses ‘wilderness’, the natural that has been sacrificed, to symbolize the technology that has ‘blossomed’ in its place, esp in densely populated urban areas. The analog speaks to the irrepressible proliferation of technology as resembling the natural in its patterns of growth
First Chorus
-Our narrator feels that, with culture advancing so rapidly, it will soon cease to bear any resemblance to our ‘natural’ roots
-Change is not progression. We sacrifice emotional depth for immediacy. The capitalist system does not have the capacity for patience and thus profits off of our fickleness, laziness
Second Verse
-While our narrator distinctly remembers a time in which natural communication (in this case letters) was the norm, he cannot quite fathom a society that could handle (in retrospect) the unreliability and tediousness associated with this. This is strange.
-Furthermore, though he can recognize how essential this for of communication used to seem, he cannot articulate exactly why (This may be because a modern analog no longer exists). This is disturbing.
-He reflects on youthful aimlessness, erased by a relentless sense of urgency (read: pragmatist ideology).
-For him, this boundless need to be productive is (ironically) the true waste
Second Chorus
-Our narrator reminisces about the joy of uncertainty, human error/ imperfection that has been ‘overcome’
Third Verse
-Our narrator frames himself as a victim, crippled by this aforementioned shift
-He declares his intention to overcome this emotionally paralyzing environment (or at least its psychological effect on him) by ‘regressing’, if not by physically returning to more primitive forms of communication, then returning to an antiquated mentality (relating to patience and its difficult rewards)
-After being presented with a bleak scene, the listener is presented with a strikingly up-beat message
-The source of this optimism seems to be in grasping the willpower to control ones attitude/ rather than allowing his/her environment (culture) to determine it.
-The narrator suggests that, though many relate to the issue he is illustrating, most accept it by responding with cool apathy. This could be the heart of the problem.
-‘Gonna move through the pain’: Modern society teaches us to avoid pain (including that associated with hard work). We are trained to ignore difficult problems. The hard choice is to acknowledge, even embrace difficulty, uncertainty. There is treasure hidden beneath it.
Third Chorus
-In the final chorus, our narrator walks through the fire, reacting to the burn by screaming his convictions louder and louder.
Notes on Theme, Music -Blossoming of Technology (esp. social), alienation this causes -A society in which we have exchanged deep gifts for immediate sensation -The impossibility of reversal, futility of reminiscence -Urgency ‘superceding’ aimlessness, oppressiveness of this ‘progression’ -The steady build-up of the string section mirrors the various forms of proliferation addressed in the lyrics: blossoming of technology, associated mounting feelings of alienation, (ironic) struggle to articulate the loss of communication, difficulty in describing the past as it is in the process of being paved over (obscured)
First Verse -In the first stanza, our narrator reminisces about the satisfaction of personal communication, as he remembers it as a child -By the time he has matured, this phenomenon has seemingly vanished (symbolic example: letters vs. email) -He feels like his generation has been robbed of authentic means of communication, reflects on the resulting alienation -Further still, when he attempts to disassociate himself from this social trend, he is lost ‘in the dark’ (ie. without technology, in this case electricity, he find he cannot navigate his surroundings.) -Times have changed and he finds he cannot go back. Social technology is entrenched in our lives. -For dramatic effect, our narrator uses ‘wilderness’, the natural that has been sacrificed, to symbolize the technology that has ‘blossomed’ in its place, esp in densely populated urban areas. The analog speaks to the irrepressible proliferation of technology as resembling the natural in its patterns of growth
First Chorus -Our narrator feels that, with culture advancing so rapidly, it will soon cease to bear any resemblance to our ‘natural’ roots -Change is not progression. We sacrifice emotional depth for immediacy. The capitalist system does not have the capacity for patience and thus profits off of our fickleness, laziness
Second Verse -While our narrator distinctly remembers a time in which natural communication (in this case letters) was the norm, he cannot quite fathom a society that could handle (in retrospect) the unreliability and tediousness associated with this. This is strange. -Furthermore, though he can recognize how essential this for of communication used to seem, he cannot articulate exactly why (This may be because a modern analog no longer exists). This is disturbing. -He reflects on youthful aimlessness, erased by a relentless sense of urgency (read: pragmatist ideology). -For him, this boundless need to be productive is (ironically) the true waste
Second Chorus -Our narrator reminisces about the joy of uncertainty, human error/ imperfection that has been ‘overcome’
Third Verse -Our narrator frames himself as a victim, crippled by this aforementioned shift -He declares his intention to overcome this emotionally paralyzing environment (or at least its psychological effect on him) by ‘regressing’, if not by physically returning to more primitive forms of communication, then returning to an antiquated mentality (relating to patience and its difficult rewards)
-After being presented with a bleak scene, the listener is presented with a strikingly up-beat message -The source of this optimism seems to be in grasping the willpower to control ones attitude/ rather than allowing his/her environment (culture) to determine it. -The narrator suggests that, though many relate to the issue he is illustrating, most accept it by responding with cool apathy. This could be the heart of the problem. -‘Gonna move through the pain’: Modern society teaches us to avoid pain (including that associated with hard work). We are trained to ignore difficult problems. The hard choice is to acknowledge, even embrace difficulty, uncertainty. There is treasure hidden beneath it.
Third Chorus -In the final chorus, our narrator walks through the fire, reacting to the burn by screaming his convictions louder and louder.
Just wanted to give you a shoutout, even though 2 years later, this song is just as fresh and so is your post. Good interpretation.
Just wanted to give you a shoutout, even though 2 years later, this song is just as fresh and so is your post. Good interpretation.