Song of the Moment: Swallowed Whole

[Monkey_Driven]

a song written about Mother Earth after returning from a vision quest in which much peyote was consumed

Not helping...

[Coach]

While I've only heard the live version once in person, it was really good.

[Leatherhead]

a song written about Mother Earth after returning from a vision quest in which much peyote was consumed

I like it!

[stupidmop]

Anyone have any ideas on what this song is about. I've got a vague sense. Maybe new ideas will sell me on the song. Right now it is probably my 2nd or least favorite song on the album.

It about being so at one with the universe that you could kill yourself, release yourself into the ether and start healing, but then you hear whispered songs in the wind, breathe in forgiveness and decide that though what lies beyond the grave might be welcome change you'll stick around and see where life takes you.


Then of course comes yellow moon, wherein you decide fuck that noise, and to the moon you go.

[warehouse]

a song written about Mother Earth after returning from a vision quest in which much peyote was consumed

i was actually thinking about how some of the lyrics to this song remind me of "severed hand".

[harmless]

Anyone have any ideas on what this song is about. I've got a vague sense. Maybe new ideas will sell me on the song. Right now it is probably my 2nd or least favorite song on the album.

It about being so at one with the universe that you could kill yourself, release yourself into the ether and start healing, but then you hear whispered songs in the wind, breathe in forgiveness and decide that though what lies beyond the grave might be welcome change you'll stick around and see where life takes you.


Then of course comes yellow moon, wherein you decide fuck that noise, and to the moon you go.

This is actually a brilliant explanation. I have a different take on the "breathing in forgiveness" line. I think it's like "Hey fuckers, I don't need God to forgive me; the wind is enough. See? Look. I *just breathe", and I'm forgiven. *breathes* See?" It's kind of saying that he could die right here, right now, and he wouldn't need to be saved from no hell. Oblivion is good enough. Maybe that's not a different take, I don't know, I'm tired.

[Norah]

To be honest, I don't care what any song on this record is actually about.

[warehouse]

Anyone have any ideas on what this song is about. I've got a vague sense. Maybe new ideas will sell me on the song. Right now it is probably my 2nd or least favorite song on the album.

It about being so at one with the universe that you could kill yourself, release yourself into the ether and start healing, but then you hear whispered songs in the wind, breathe in forgiveness and decide that though what lies beyond the grave might be welcome change you'll stick around and see where life takes you.


Then of course comes yellow moon, wherein you decide fuck that noise, and to the moon you go.

This is actually a brilliant explanation. I have a different take on the "breathing in forgiveness" line. I think it's like "Hey fuckers, I don't need God to forgive me; the wind is enough. See? Look. I *just breathe", and I'm forgiven. *breathes* See?" It's kind of saying that he could die right here, right now, and he wouldn't need to be saved from no hell. Oblivion is good enough. Maybe that's not a different take, I don't know, I'm tired.

i kinda dig this idea, aside from yellow moon. nature is the religion.

[stupidmop]

Anyone have any ideas on what this song is about. I've got a vague sense. Maybe new ideas will sell me on the song. Right now it is probably my 2nd or least favorite song on the album.

It about being so at one with the universe that you could kill yourself, release yourself into the ether and start healing, but then you hear whispered songs in the wind, breathe in forgiveness and decide that though what lies beyond the grave might be welcome change you'll stick around and see where life takes you.


Then of course comes yellow moon, wherein you decide fuck that noise, and to the moon you go.

This is actually a brilliant explanation. I have a different take on the "breathing in forgiveness" line. I think it's like "Hey fuckers, I don't need God to forgive me; the wind is enough. See? Look. I *just breathe", and I'm forgiven. *breathes* See?" It's kind of saying that he could die right here, right now, and he wouldn't need to be saved from no hell. Oblivion is good enough. Maybe that's not a different take, I don't know, I'm tired.

Same take new words

[harmless]

Anyone have any ideas on what this song is about. I've got a vague sense. Maybe new ideas will sell me on the song. Right now it is probably my 2nd or least favorite song on the album.

It about being so at one with the universe that you could kill yourself, release yourself into the ether and start healing, but then you hear whispered songs in the wind, breathe in forgiveness and decide that though what lies beyond the grave might be welcome change you'll stick around and see where life takes you.


Then of course comes yellow moon, wherein you decide fuck that noise, and to the moon you go.

This is actually a brilliant explanation. I have a different take on the "breathing in forgiveness" line. I think it's like "Hey fuckers, I don't need God to forgive me; the wind is enough. See? Look. I *just breathe", and I'm forgiven. *breathes* See?" It's kind of saying that he could die right here, right now, and he wouldn't need to be saved from no hell. Oblivion is good enough. Maybe that's not a different take, I don't know, I'm tired.

Same take new words

[stupidmop]

Anyone have any ideas on what this song is about. I've got a vague sense. Maybe new ideas will sell me on the song. Right now it is probably my 2nd or least favorite song on the album.

It about being so at one with the universe that you could kill yourself, release yourself into the ether and start healing, but then you hear whispered songs in the wind, breathe in forgiveness and decide that though what lies beyond the grave might be welcome change you'll stick around and see where life takes you.


Then of course comes yellow moon, wherein you decide fuck that noise, and to the moon you go.

This is actually a brilliant explanation. I have a different take on the "breathing in forgiveness" line. I think it's like "Hey fuckers, I don't need God to forgive me; the wind is enough. See? Look. I *just breathe", and I'm forgiven. *breathes* See?" It's kind of saying that he could die right here, right now, and he wouldn't need to be saved from no hell. Oblivion is good enough. Maybe that's not a different take, I don't know, I'm tired.

i kinda dig this idea, aside from yellow moon. nature is the religion.

What do you think about yellow moon? I can't make it make sense with swallowed whole other than 'fuck that noise', but it really does sound like a suicide to me.

[warehouse]

Anyone have any ideas on what this song is about. I've got a vague sense. Maybe new ideas will sell me on the song. Right now it is probably my 2nd or least favorite song on the album.

It about being so at one with the universe that you could kill yourself, release yourself into the ether and start healing, but then you hear whispered songs in the wind, breathe in forgiveness and decide that though what lies beyond the grave might be welcome change you'll stick around and see where life takes you.


Then of course comes yellow moon, wherein you decide fuck that noise, and to the moon you go.

This is actually a brilliant explanation. I have a different take on the "breathing in forgiveness" line. I think it's like "Hey fuckers, I don't need God to forgive me; the wind is enough. See? Look. I *just breathe", and I'm forgiven. *breathes* See?" It's kind of saying that he could die right here, right now, and he wouldn't need to be saved from no hell. Oblivion is good enough. Maybe that's not a different take, I don't know, I'm tired.

i kinda dig this idea, aside from yellow moon. nature is the religion.

What do you think about yellow moon? I can't make it make sense with swallowed whole other than 'fuck that noise', but it really does sound like a suicide to me.

im not really sure to be honest w/ you. i havent listened to them enough, so i may end up agreeing w/ you lol. i just generally get turned off by any kinda art that looks at suicide as a good thing. the lyrics to swallowed whole kinda remind me of tripping, or maybe the day after a trip when you are reflecting on what happened. thats why they reminded me of severed hand.

[stupidmop]

I guess both of em could be a drug indunced oblivion rather than ...death induced lol.

[harmless]

Anyone have any ideas on what this song is about. I've got a vague sense. Maybe new ideas will sell me on the song. Right now it is probably my 2nd or least favorite song on the album.

It about being so at one with the universe that you could kill yourself, release yourself into the ether and start healing, but then you hear whispered songs in the wind, breathe in forgiveness and decide that though what lies beyond the grave might be welcome change you'll stick around and see where life takes you.


Then of course comes yellow moon, wherein you decide fuck that noise, and to the moon you go.

This is actually a brilliant explanation. I have a different take on the "breathing in forgiveness" line. I think it's like "Hey fuckers, I don't need God to forgive me; the wind is enough. See? Look. I *just breathe", and I'm forgiven. *breathes* See?" It's kind of saying that he could die right here, right now, and he wouldn't need to be saved from no hell. Oblivion is good enough. Maybe that's not a different take, I don't know, I'm tired.

i kinda dig this idea, aside from yellow moon. nature is the religion.

What do you think about yellow moon? I can't make it make sense with swallowed whole other than 'fuck that noise', but it really does sound like a suicide to me.

im not really sure to be honest w/ you. i havent listened to them enough, so i may end up agreeing w/ you lol. i just generally get turned off by any kinda art that looks at suicide as a good thing. the lyrics to swallowed whole kinda remind me of tripping, or maybe the day after a trip when you are reflecting on what happened. thats why they reminded me of severed hand.

I think Yellow Moon strongly suggests suicide. OR something like a gunman who has just instigated a high school shooting and then driven to a spot under a yellow moon to consider what he's done and maybe even kill himself (Ed has talked about gun ownership and Sandy Hook in interviews since LB). But I don't think the song is glorifying suicide -- making it a good thing -- as much as making it a neutral thing. I mean, it's not judgemental towards people who take the option, it's just a poetic description of an event. You can take your own feelings towards it. It's pretty much like some of the Ten songs in that way (except they're more likely to have intrusive-Ed(itor) commenting on their stories.

Maybe this song could pair with MYM, which *is* judgemental, of (among other things) gun ownership and bloodshed in suburbia. That's the sense I get from it, given Ed's interviews, and the artwork.

[stupidmop]

I think in one of the video interviews ed said it was about the Boston bombings, or written after he heard about them. Which doesnt really help much and is at odds with my explanation lol.

[warehouse]

I guess both of em could be a drug indunced oblivion rather than ...death induced lol.

its probably both. he address mortality quite a bit now, even in songs that have nothing to do w/ tripping. im sure it has to do w/ being a husband and a father. but some religions that use hallucinogens think they can show u an afterworld. he pretty clearly addresses his ayahuasca trip in 'severed hand', so maybe the trip had a bigger effect on his writing than just 'severed hand'.

[harmless]

I think in one of the video interviews ed said it was about the Boston bombings, or written after he heard about them. Which doesnt really help much and is at odds with my explanation lol.

Ah OK. Well, it replaces a bomb with a gun, but it still could describe the perpetrator's actions after the event. The "What the fuck have I done?" feeling. There's a sense in which it could be any of these kinds of events.

[harmless]

I know that for me, when the Boston bombings happened, my first thought was "Holy fuck, not again." And with the Aurora shooting as well. Who was it that pointed out that the MYM artwork was inspired by a scene in a Dark Knight cartoon? Remember how the Aurora shooting happened in a cinema during The Dark Knight Rises? "Yellow moon on the rise..."

I don't know, all of this is just what my mind does when I put all these things together.

[stupidmop]

It cooouuuulldd be from the perspective of a victim, in their last moments.

[harmless]

Oooh yes, maybe.