Consequence of Sound by Regina Spektor Lyrics Meaning – Deciphering the Depth of Modern Existence
Lyrics
My brain and tongue just met,
And they ain’t friends, so far,
My words don’t travel far,
They tangle in my hair,
And tend to go nowhere,
They go right back inside,
Right past my brain and eyes
Into my stomach juice
Where they don’t serve me use,
All melted calories,
Nutrition values.
And I absorb back in
The words right through my skin
They sit there festering inside my bowels
The consonants and vowels
The consequence of sounds
The consonants and vowels
The consequence of sounds
Got a soundtrack in my mind,
All the time. Kids-
Screamin’ from too much beat up
And they don’t even rhyme,
They just stand there, on a street corner,
Skin tucked in
And meat side out and shot,
And I’d like to turn them down
But there ain’t no knob.
Run into picket fences
Not into picket lines.
All this hippie-shit for the 60’s
And another cliche for our time. But,
But a one of these days your heart
Will just stop ticking,
And they sorta just don’t find you till your cubicle is reeking.
The consonants and vowels
The consequence of sounds
The consonants and vowels
The consequence of sounds
Ahh ah ah ah ahh ah ah ah
Did you know that the gravedigger’s still
Gettin’ stuck in the machine
Even tough it’s a whole other daydream.
It’s another town it’s another world,
Where the kids are asleep, where the loans are paid
And the lawns are mowed.
Whad’ya think’
All the gravediggers were gone’
Just cause one song is done
There’s always another one,
Waiting right around the bend,
Till this one ends,
Then it begins
Squeaky clean, then it starts all over again.
The weather report keeps on
Tossing and turning,
Predicting and warning,
And warning and warning of,
Possibly it could be news publications and,
Possibly it could be news TV stations. That
Very same morning right next to her coffee
She noticed some bleeding and heard hollow coughing and
National Geographic was being too graphic,
When all she had wanted to know was the traffic
The worlds got a nosebleed it said
And we’re flooding but we keep on cutting
The trees and the forests!’
And we keep on paying those freaks on the TV,
Who claim they will save us but want to enslave us.
And sweating like demons they scream through our speakers
But we leave the sound on ’cause silence is harder.
And no one’s the killer and no one’s the martyr
The world that has made us can no longer contain us
And profits are silent then rotting away ’cause
The consonants and vowels
The consequence of sounds.
The consonants and vowels
The consequence of sounds.
Ah ah ah’
My rhyme ain’t good just yet,
My brain and tongue just met,
And they ain’t friends, so far,
My words don’t travel far,
They tangle in my hair,
And tend to go nowhere,
They grow right back inside,
Right past my brain and eyes
Into my stomach juice
Where they don’t serve my juice,
All melted calories,
Nutrition values.
And I absorb back in
The words right through my skin
They sit there festering inside my bowels
The consonants and vowels
The consequence of sounds
The consonants and vowels
The consequence of sounds
Regina Spektor’s ‘Consequence of Sound’ might initially strike the ear as a melody draped in melodic whimsy, but beneath its lyrical ballet lies a profound commentary on modern societal malaise. Known for her unorthodox approach to music and storytelling, Spektor weaves complex ideas into what seems like simple verses.
Diving into the track, one discovers more than just a series of hauntingly beautiful tunes; it’s a mosaic of cultural critique, personal introspection, and abstract philosophical thought. Through her poetic grasp of language and its sounds, Spektor offers us a window into the human condition in a world awash with information, noise, and disconnection.
Linguistic Labyrinth: The Struggle with Expression
The song’s opening lines paint a picture of a universal struggle: the desire to voice thoughts and emotions tendrilled with the reality of their inefficacy. Spektor personifies her language, suggesting that words are often prisoners to their own limitations, ‘tangled in hair’ and bound to ‘go nowhere.’
A particularly resonant point of the piece is the calm admission of the artist about her imperfect rhyme and the acknowledgment of a disconnect between thought and language. It’s a humble reflection on the process of artistic creation and the challenge of communicating complex feelings or criticisms in a world that might not be receptive.
Soundscape of Society: A Critique of Modern Cacophony
Referencing the ‘soundtrack in my mind,’ Spektor touches on the omnipresent noise of contemporary life. Her description of dissonant sounds, the metaphor of kids with their ‘skin tucked in and meat side out,’ illustrates the brutality and unnaturalness of societal pressures.
In Spektor’s view, modernity is a cacophony, a chaotic blend of sounds without harmony, mirroring a civilization out of sync with itself. The absence of a volume knob implies the impossibility of escaping this societal soundtrack.
Amidst the Ghosts of Songs Past: The Continuous Cycle
While exploring the notion of repetition in life’s cycle, Spektor alludes to the ‘gravedigger’s’ plight, the epitome of routine to the point of absurdity. Every day brings similar challenges, personified by new songs that are each replaced by another, in a seemingly endless loop.
This cyclical representation of existence, both at a personal and collective level, spirals to a central question of purpose. The ‘picket fences’ versus ‘picket lines’ line is a particularly deft stroke, contrasting domestic complacency with social activism.
Unveiling the Hidden Meaning: Noise as a Distraction from Reality
Spektor unfolds the ‘consequence of sounds’ as an allegory for the distractions bombarding everyday life. From ‘news publications’ to the sensationalism of TV, she decries how the media displaces genuine substance with dramatic noise.
Underneath it all lies the harsh truth about humanity’s paradoxical relationship with its habitat: a self-destructive species enamored with the irrelevant, while the relevant (the ‘world’s nosebleed’) goes unacknowledged, continuing to bleed out unattended.
Memorable Lines: Echoes of the Too-Real World
One of the most catching phrases, ‘We leave the sound on ’cause silence is harder,’ is a brutal testament to the noise addiction of human nature. The silence speaks to the void that one must confront within, where introspection and self-awareness lie.
By pointing out that no one is exclusively the ‘killer’ or the ‘martyr,’ Spektor emphasizes the collective accountability in the worsening state of the world. Amid assonance and dissonance, she encapsulates a generation’s existential dread.
