xtrapop
19 You're Not Obliged
"Go without,
'Til the need seeps in
You low animal,
Collect your novel petals for the stem,
And glow,
Glow,
Melt and flow,
Eviscerate your fragile frame,
And spill it out in the ragged floor,
A thousand different versions of yourself,
And if the old guard still offend,
They got nothing left on which you depend,
So enlist every ounce
Of your bright blood,
And off with their heads,
Jump from the hook
You're not obliged to swallow anything you despise
See, those unrepenting buzzards want your life,
And they got no right--
As sure as you have eyes,
They got no right,
Just put yourself in my new shoes,
And see that I do what I do,
Because the old guard still offend,
(Their pudgy hearts and slimy hands)
They got nothing left on which we depend.
So enlist every ounce
Of your bright blood,
And off with their heads.
Jump from the hook,
You're not obliged to swallow anything you despise
That you despise."
- "Sleeping Lessons" by The Shins
------------------------------------------------
This is such an amazing song, and its meaning is so powerful. Over the last year I've been going through a lot of transformations, notably in relation to the world around me. It has made me realize how so many of the constructs that we live with everyday seem utterly absurd and antiquated to me. Religion, corporate greed, police states, tyranny, privatized health care, the list goes on. Just because something has been around for a long time doesn't mean its right. It just means its old. We need to pose more questions and demand more answers.
I came across this interpretation of the lyrics which sums up how I feel about this song very eloquently:
[ This is a song about a member of the new generation rejecting the ways and beliefs of the previous generation. The speaker advocates non-conformity, and questions the motives and values of his social predecessors. He maintains that they are unnecessary baggage for the newer generation, that they have no right to oppress the new generation's ideas, and that, should they try, rebellion is the right recourse. ]
Go without
'Til the need seeps in. [ accept your low state until simple physical necessity motivates you otherwise ]
You low animal, [ subservient to desire ]
Collect your novel petals for the stem. [ add beauty/originality to your more basic functioning ]
And glow,
Glow,
Melt and flow. [ become more, transcend your boundaries ]
Eviscerate your fragile frame,
And spill it out in the ragged floor,
A thousand different versions of yourself. [ destroy the feeble conformist version of yourself and release the possibilities that are contained within ]
And if the old guard still offend, [ if the previous generation still oppresses you ]
They got nothing left on which you depend, [ remember they have nothing you need ]
So enlist every ounce [ so become wholly motivated ]
Of your bright blood, [ of your youthful spirit ]
And off with their heads, [ and overcome them completely ]
Jump from the hook.
You're not obliged to swallow anything you despise. [ referencing the metaphoric hook/lure; you don't have to accept a set of beliefs that you oppose ]
See, those unrepenting buzzards want your life. [ ignoring their own mistakes, the older generation wants to conscript you to their purposes ]
And they got no right--
As sure as you have eyes, [ as sure as you can think for yourself ]
They got no right, [ they have no right to force their beliefs on you against your discernment of their falseness ]
Just put yourself in my new shoes, [ experience things as he does, from a new (and therefore better) perspective ]
And see that I do what I do, [ not “do what I do” but share in the understanding of what he does ]
Because the old guard still offend. [ which he does in rebellion against the established order ]
(Their pudgy hearts and slimy hands) [ emphasizes their corruption ]
They got nothing left on which we depend. [ before the pronoun was a second person; now we are talking about efforts that exceed a lone individual ]
So enlist every ounce
Of your bright blood,
And off with their heads.
Jump from the hook.
You're not obliged to swallow anything you despise.
That you despise.
------------------------------------------------
"So off with their heads"....
Enron. The Bush Administration. Exxon. BP. Phillip-Morris. Kaiser-Permanente....
"Jump from the hook" and remember that "You're not obliged to swallow anything you despise"
19 You're Not Obliged
"Go without,
'Til the need seeps in
You low animal,
Collect your novel petals for the stem,
And glow,
Glow,
Melt and flow,
Eviscerate your fragile frame,
And spill it out in the ragged floor,
A thousand different versions of yourself,
And if the old guard still offend,
They got nothing left on which you depend,
So enlist every ounce
Of your bright blood,
And off with their heads,
Jump from the hook
You're not obliged to swallow anything you despise
See, those unrepenting buzzards want your life,
And they got no right--
As sure as you have eyes,
They got no right,
Just put yourself in my new shoes,
And see that I do what I do,
Because the old guard still offend,
(Their pudgy hearts and slimy hands)
They got nothing left on which we depend.
So enlist every ounce
Of your bright blood,
And off with their heads.
Jump from the hook,
You're not obliged to swallow anything you despise
That you despise."
- "Sleeping Lessons" by The Shins
------------------------------------------------
This is such an amazing song, and its meaning is so powerful. Over the last year I've been going through a lot of transformations, notably in relation to the world around me. It has made me realize how so many of the constructs that we live with everyday seem utterly absurd and antiquated to me. Religion, corporate greed, police states, tyranny, privatized health care, the list goes on. Just because something has been around for a long time doesn't mean its right. It just means its old. We need to pose more questions and demand more answers.
I came across this interpretation of the lyrics which sums up how I feel about this song very eloquently:
[ This is a song about a member of the new generation rejecting the ways and beliefs of the previous generation. The speaker advocates non-conformity, and questions the motives and values of his social predecessors. He maintains that they are unnecessary baggage for the newer generation, that they have no right to oppress the new generation's ideas, and that, should they try, rebellion is the right recourse. ]
Go without
'Til the need seeps in. [ accept your low state until simple physical necessity motivates you otherwise ]
You low animal, [ subservient to desire ]
Collect your novel petals for the stem. [ add beauty/originality to your more basic functioning ]
And glow,
Glow,
Melt and flow. [ become more, transcend your boundaries ]
Eviscerate your fragile frame,
And spill it out in the ragged floor,
A thousand different versions of yourself. [ destroy the feeble conformist version of yourself and release the possibilities that are contained within ]
And if the old guard still offend, [ if the previous generation still oppresses you ]
They got nothing left on which you depend, [ remember they have nothing you need ]
So enlist every ounce [ so become wholly motivated ]
Of your bright blood, [ of your youthful spirit ]
And off with their heads, [ and overcome them completely ]
Jump from the hook.
You're not obliged to swallow anything you despise. [ referencing the metaphoric hook/lure; you don't have to accept a set of beliefs that you oppose ]
See, those unrepenting buzzards want your life. [ ignoring their own mistakes, the older generation wants to conscript you to their purposes ]
And they got no right--
As sure as you have eyes, [ as sure as you can think for yourself ]
They got no right, [ they have no right to force their beliefs on you against your discernment of their falseness ]
Just put yourself in my new shoes, [ experience things as he does, from a new (and therefore better) perspective ]
And see that I do what I do, [ not “do what I do” but share in the understanding of what he does ]
Because the old guard still offend. [ which he does in rebellion against the established order ]
(Their pudgy hearts and slimy hands) [ emphasizes their corruption ]
They got nothing left on which we depend. [ before the pronoun was a second person; now we are talking about efforts that exceed a lone individual ]
So enlist every ounce
Of your bright blood,
And off with their heads.
Jump from the hook.
You're not obliged to swallow anything you despise.
That you despise.
------------------------------------------------
"So off with their heads"....
Enron. The Bush Administration. Exxon. BP. Phillip-Morris. Kaiser-Permanente....
"Jump from the hook" and remember that "You're not obliged to swallow anything you despise"