PJ Song of the Week Analysis:Insignificance

Flannel Shirt

all in all, it's no one's fault
excuses turn to carbon walls
blame it all on chemical intercourse
the swallowed seeds of arrogance
breeding in the thoughts of ten thousand fools that fight irreverance
the full moon is dead skin
the one down here's wearing thin
so set are the ten pins as the human tide rolls in
like a ball that's spinning
bombs dropping down
overhead, underground
it's instilled...to wanna live
bombs dropping down, please forgive
our hometown in our insignificance
turn the jukebox up he said
dancing in irreverance
play c3, let the song protest
the plates began to shift
perfect lefts come rolling in
i was alone and far away, hey..
when i heard the band start playin'
on the lip...late take off
bombs dropping down
overhead, underground
it's instilled...to wanna live
bombs dropping down, please forgive
our hometown in our insignificance
feel like resonance of distance
in the blood...the iron lies
it's instilled...
to wanna live
bombs dropping down, please forgive
our hometown in our insignificance
oh in our insignificance

Riverrunner

In general, I know that this song was written because Ed was upset that Boeing or McDonald-Douglass has a facility in Seattle (his home-town) that builds bombs. Thus, the reference to bombs and forgiving the home town.

In one of the Canadian concerts (I think) he talked about Boeing building bombs for foreign countries and then telling this country that they have to build bigger and better bombs so they can out-do the other countries that Boeing has supplied the old bombs to. He said this as an intro to this song.

Anyway, I need to think about specific lyrics a little longer as I have never taken time to think about this song except as to over-all meaning.

Gremmie95

Riverrunner wrote:

In general, I know that this song was written because Ed was upset that Boeing or McDonald-Douglass has a facility in Seattle (his home-town) that builds bombs. Thus, the reference to bombs and forgiving the home town.

In one of the Canadian concerts (I think) he talked about Boeing building bombs for foreign countries and then telling this country that they have to build bigger and better bombs so they can out-do the other countries that Boeing has supplied the old bombs to. He said this as an intro to this song.

Anyway, I need to think about specific lyrics a little longer as I have never taken time to think about this song except as to over-all meaning.

Kitchener 9-11-05

Riverrunner

Gremmie95 wrote:

Kitchener 9-11-05

I really should have known that. Especially since I was there AND I have listened to the boot a kazillion times. However, I have listened to a lot of other boots too and I get confused in my old age.

likepilateihaveadog

hey, good choice.
Funny story on the Boeing thing. In downtown Lancaster, there's a building with no windows. It opened as a department store in 1972, the same week a big mall opened in the suburbs two miles away. The store lasted 27 months, partly because of the mall, partly becuase it's the ugliest building ever.
Now, there's a firm in there that builds fuses for bombs, and there was a push around Christmastime to put a Casino in there to stimulate business downtown.
However, the far right knocked it down, claiming the Casino was immoral.

But a factory that builds bomb fuses is OK.

Off the soapbox. Never knew soap made you taller
(PS) We should do this for Ghost someday...

I always wondered about the "iron's in the blood" line.

Is that a shout out to Jack Irons?
Or something more along the lines of a more figurative American blood, that we need industry and factories and bombs?

restlesssoul

interesting guys i knew none of this........

its funny that this thread came up , cuz its one song im REALLY diggin on right now specially the build at the end...it rocks hard.....

bombs arent good.

likepilateihaveadog

restlesssoul wrote:

im REALLY diggin on right now specially the build at the end...

bombs arent good.

that's it. that's it musically.
Listen to the HOB show, Chicago w/ boom...it's the best version of that build ever.
why they don't jam out on the interlude there like RVM, I don't know.

Riverrunner

likepilateihaveadog wrote:

I always wondered about the "iron's in the blood" line.
Is that a shout out to Jack Irons?
Or something more along the lines of a more figurative American blood, that we need industry and factories and bombs?

It would be cool if it was a reference to Jack Irons, but I don't think a reference to him fits the song. I think it is a reference to American blood. We have iron in our blood that is necessary to life. In America we depend on manufacturing and industry (iron also) for our life blood.

I cannot figure out the line "excuses turn to carbon walls." I presume that carbon is used to make bombs or something. Anybody have any ideas?

Flannel Shirt

Riverrunner wrote:

It would be cool if it was a reference to Jack Irons, but I don't think a reference to him fits the song. I think it is a reference to American blood. We have iron in our blood that is necessary to life. In America we depend on manufacturing and industry (iron also) for our life blood.

I cannot figure out the line "excuses turn to carbon walls." I presume that carbon is used to make bombs or something. Anybody have any ideas?

Any scientist in the hizzle?

likepilateihaveadog

Well, when you burn something, it turns black - carbon. Charcoal, etc.
So, what does excuses mean?
As far as late 90s/2000 goes...um, Iraq sanction bombing, Kosovo?
Some excuse lead to bombings and burnings - carbon walls...
that's what I'm thinking right now...

Flannel Shirt

likepilateihaveadog wrote:

Well, when you burn something, it turns black - carbon. Charcoal, etc.
So, what does excuses mean?
As far as late 90s/2000 goes...um, Iraq sanction bombing, Kosovo?
Some excuse lead to bombings and burnings - carbon walls...
that's what I'm thinking right now...

I heard something about your shadow being burnt onto the wall in a nuclear explosion and its the only thing left? Gross, I know. maybe not even true?

likepilateihaveadog

yeah, there's pictures of hiroshima of the reflections of clocks burned into walls and things capturing the second of implosion. So that's a thought too...not a very nice one...but...

darthvedder88

For me, this song is about a country full of careless ppl and what would happen to them. I mean, there's a lot of young ppl out there today that don't have any political voice, and they don't use their right to become politically involved or even care about world issues. If everyone in a single country was like that, their own country would fall to destruction, due to their insignificance...

Flannel Shirt

I think its kinda like this...

"turn the jukebox up he said
dancing in irreverance
play c3, let the song protest"

Nobody uses thier voice, nobody does anything, nobody protests, nobody stands up to the man, and things happen because of it. So, just forgive us. Its not our fault. Its just the way it is.

irreverance

looking back at the WHOLE WORLD (which will be different, soon the whooooooooole world will be different) the past few years, I dont think people are as irreverent as they were.

This is one of my absolute favorite Pearl Jam songs. One of my favorite songs period. It is one of the most inspirational songs they have. Get off your fucking ass and do something about something. To me, its Ed's way of saying, "Its one thing to listen to me sing about this shit, but actions speak louder than words".

thanks for the insight this week.

likepilateihaveadog

If there's one thing your vote is not, it's insignificant

Something like that...

Yeah, it's a call to action thing too, I guess.

Riverrunner

Overall I think it is a diatribe against inaction. Nobody takes responsibility for what is wrong with the world. I always sort of related to environmental issues despite the bomb references, until I heard Ed's explanation. I looked at it as we refuse to take responsibility for our destruction of the world because we blame it on "modern society" as a whole, our lifestyle that we are forced to lead because we leave in a society that uses natural resources to excess and we don't know how to live otherwise. After hearing Ed's explanation and Googling "carbon walls bombs" yesterday I understand it as a reference to bomb building and the fact that we don't take responsibility for that either. We say we have to for defense, stability, whatever and those excuses turn into the industry of building bombs for destruction. Then we blame it on "chemical intercourse" which is reflective of our society's dependence on science and technology as opposed to [edit] trying to solve things with diplomacy or doing without some modern "conveniences" in order to halt the destruction of the planet.

Dancing and playing the jukebox reference reflects that we ignore what is going on around us and go on our merry way despite the destruction (that we are responsible for). Thus, we are irreverant. "Let the song protest" means "let someone else protest." We are too busy, we may care some, but not enough to take responsibility. Let someone else do something about it.

As far as forgiving our home town and our insignificance, we as individuals are insignificant - we are one piece of sand in the scheme of the world, and we overstate our importance. Thus, forgive us for our self-inflated importance in this world.

I don't know what "the plates began to shift" and "perfect lefts come rolling in" means. I think of earthquakes for plates began to shift, and someone hitting someone with a "left" fist - like in Jeremy, "he hit me with a surprise left."

likepilateihaveadog

The plates shifting to me, sums up a big, radical, quick, but long-in-coming change. Like an earthquake, the pressure builds up for years and years and years and in two minutes all the pressure is released.
The plates begin to shift?
Maybe we're right on that verge?

Riverrunner

likepilateihaveadog wrote:

The plates shifting to me, sums up a big, radical, quick, but long-in-coming change. Like an earthquake, the pressure builds up for years and years and years and in two minutes all the pressure is released.
The plates begin to shift?
Maybe we're right on that verge?

That is a great interpretation - works well. I am going to adopt that one.