Wow I reckon this song is Maynard at his best! Damn that man can write. Here is my interpretation.
“Nature, nurture, heaven and home. Sum of all and by them driven to conquer every mountain shown. But have never crossed the river.”
These form the fundamentals of what motivates us. nature = land/chattels/resources. nurture = love/family/offspring, heaven = religions/beliefs, home = what we identify as ours/a man’s castles/patriarchy. They are what motivates us to overcome adversity/obstacles/challenges, or to grow/bring about positive change. We generally accept that mountain = obstacle (for example, consider the saying “mountains out of molehills”). So, we have these motivations that drive us to overcome obstacles we face. These obstacles can be physical but could also be spiritual/intellectual/emotional.
The river is the next obstacle we as a human race must face. It is less rigid and more fluid than the mountain. It is new territory for us. The human race has yet to conquer this.
“Braved the forest braved the stone. Braved the icy winds and fire. Braved and beat them on my own. Yet I'm helpless by the river.”
Listed here are examples of the elements the human race has faced throughout our existence. These appear to all be physical however, these may all be have an emotional, spiritual, etc — depends on your interpretation or where you are at when you listen to this song. (For me right now, these also represent emotional states and unique experiences that I have personally overcome). The human race has gotten through all of these hardships, used them to our advantage even. But we have done all of this from an egotistical standpoint (“Braved and beat them on my own”). We still have this lack of connectedness from our neighbours. We look after ourselves and what’s ours and our familes. We do not bend to a sense of connectedness with outgroups (ie: foreign countries, other races).
We need to be equipped to cross the river, there are new tools we need to acquire. But until we realise this, we are helpless in passing this objective.
“Angel, angel what have I done? I've faced the quakes the wind, the fire. I've conquered country, crown, and throne. Why can't I cross this river?”
Here, the author is reflecting on his achievements/successes and asking himself / his God (a prayer if you will) what he is missing. Why have I been able to achieve all of this yet this simple damn river is uncrossable?
“Pay no mind to the battles you've won. It'll take a lot more than rage and muscle. Open your heart and hands my son. Or you'll never make it over the river. It'll take a lot more that wars and guns. A whole lot more than riches and muscle. The hands of the many must join as one. And together we'll cross the river.”
Here the higher power speaks back. As I am not a religious person, I prefer to think of this as the moment of enlightenment. The author comes to the realisation that all the tools acquired in the past and what he considered were most valuable are actually useless for this next obstacle. You cannot cross a river with a violence, aggression, wealth or power. Rather, the tools needed are love, compassion, empathy. The human race needs to open their hearts and join hands with all of humanity. Consider the Tool song — Reflection, from the Lateralus album (If I had to pick a favourite Tool song, I guess Reflection speaks to me like no other). We need to realise we are all one race and we are all connected to each other and to the Cosmos. Love thy neighbour. When we finally come together, then we can move on — over this obstacle.
I think that crossing the river is the next step in our evolutionary chain. An evolution in consciousness. This is a much more fluid concept than our earlier obstacles, being more along the lines of energy sources, land ownership, war, power, wealth. We are at a point in time where there is much turmoil, inequality, capitalisation, marginalisation, poverty, turmoil, hopelessness. To truly overcome these new adversities, we need to look deep into our hearts and souls. We have to find a new way of thinking. We have to start looking out for one another. We need to join hands and become the one race that we are meant to be.
I’m not saying my interpretation is right or wrong for everyone, it is a subjective thing. Like any interpretation should be, it just fits in with where my head is at these days. Hope you guys enjoyed it.
Btw, I also love what LostInTheRapture had to say about this song.
Wow I reckon this song is Maynard at his best! Damn that man can write. Here is my interpretation.
“Nature, nurture, heaven and home. Sum of all and by them driven to conquer every mountain shown. But have never crossed the river.”
These form the fundamentals of what motivates us. nature = land/chattels/resources. nurture = love/family/offspring, heaven = religions/beliefs, home = what we identify as ours/a man’s castles/patriarchy. They are what motivates us to overcome adversity/obstacles/challenges, or to grow/bring about positive change. We generally accept that mountain = obstacle (for example, consider the saying “mountains out of molehills”). So, we have these motivations that drive us to overcome obstacles we face. These obstacles can be physical but could also be spiritual/intellectual/emotional.
The river is the next obstacle we as a human race must face. It is less rigid and more fluid than the mountain. It is new territory for us. The human race has yet to conquer this.
“Braved the forest braved the stone. Braved the icy winds and fire. Braved and beat them on my own. Yet I'm helpless by the river.”
Listed here are examples of the elements the human race has faced throughout our existence. These appear to all be physical however, these may all be have an emotional, spiritual, etc — depends on your interpretation or where you are at when you listen to this song. (For me right now, these also represent emotional states and unique experiences that I have personally overcome). The human race has gotten through all of these hardships, used them to our advantage even. But we have done all of this from an egotistical standpoint (“Braved and beat them on my own”). We still have this lack of connectedness from our neighbours. We look after ourselves and what’s ours and our familes. We do not bend to a sense of connectedness with outgroups (ie: foreign countries, other races).
We need to be equipped to cross the river, there are new tools we need to acquire. But until we realise this, we are helpless in passing this objective.
“Angel, angel what have I done? I've faced the quakes the wind, the fire. I've conquered country, crown, and throne. Why can't I cross this river?”
Here, the author is reflecting on his achievements/successes and asking himself / his God (a prayer if you will) what he is missing. Why have I been able to achieve all of this yet this simple damn river is uncrossable?
“Pay no mind to the battles you've won. It'll take a lot more than rage and muscle. Open your heart and hands my son. Or you'll never make it over the river. It'll take a lot more that wars and guns. A whole lot more than riches and muscle. The hands of the many must join as one. And together we'll cross the river.”
Here the higher power speaks back. As I am not a religious person, I prefer to think of this as the moment of enlightenment. The author comes to the realisation that all the tools acquired in the past and what he considered were most valuable are actually useless for this next obstacle. You cannot cross a river with a violence, aggression, wealth or power. Rather, the tools needed are love, compassion, empathy. The human race needs to open their hearts and join hands with all of humanity. Consider the Tool song — Reflection, from the Lateralus album (If I had to pick a favourite Tool song, I guess Reflection speaks to me like no other). We need to realise we are all one race and we are all connected to each other and to the Cosmos. Love thy neighbour. When we finally come together, then we can move on — over this obstacle.
I think that crossing the river is the next step in our evolutionary chain. An evolution in consciousness. This is a much more fluid concept than our earlier obstacles, being more along the lines of energy sources, land ownership, war, power, wealth. We are at a point in time where there is much turmoil, inequality, capitalisation, marginalisation, poverty, turmoil, hopelessness. To truly overcome these new adversities, we need to look deep into our hearts and souls. We have to find a new way of thinking. We have to start looking out for one another. We need to join hands and become the one race that we are meant to be.
I’m not saying my interpretation is right or wrong for everyone, it is a subjective thing. Like any interpretation should be, it just fits in with where my head is at these days. Hope you guys enjoyed it.
Btw, I also love what LostInTheRapture had to say about this song.
=)
@sinnamonsins, that was the best way to describe this awesome song.. for the longest time i was wondering what the river was.
@sinnamonsins, that was the best way to describe this awesome song.. for the longest time i was wondering what the river was.
I always had a very strong impression this was about Julius Caesar ????♀️
I always had a very strong impression this was about Julius Caesar ????♀️