Education by Modest Mouse Lyrics Meaning – Unraveling the Labyrinth of Learning and Existence
Lyrics
It was somewhere in between
You gave me some sound advice
But I wasn’t listening
After we had capsized
I could tell you how you thought
Well, I’m not sure
But laid to rest on the city on the wall
Not quite conversation
It was somewhere in between
You said everything is taught
And I listened patiently
All this talking pony
Still monkies the whole time
We could not help from flinging shit
In our modern suits and ties
Our instincts, they were cringing
About how we lived our lives
It didn’t seem we’d lived enough
To even get to die
All these diss distractions
So beautifully complex
Well, I loved life’s surprises so much
I don’t want to know what’s happened
Stubborn shouting, said
“I don’t do what you do”
I don’t know
Could it really hear highly if you highly care?
And you don’t
Stubborn beauty, stubborn beauty
I’ve been away
Hardly education
It was somewhere in between
Oh, I hit the roof but I had
Aimed for the ceiling
Hardly education
All them books I didn’t
They just sat there on my shelf
Looking much smarter than me
Good old Nostradamus
He knew the whole damn time
That always being east from west
Someone is there fighting
Stubborn shouting, said
“I don’t do what you do”
I don’t know
Could it really hear highly if you highly care?
And you don’t
Stubborn beauty, stubborn beauty
I’ve been away
Stubborn beauty, stubborn beauty
I don’t know anyway
Stubborn beauty, stubborn beauty
I don’t know
Could it really hear highly if you highly care?
And you don’t
Stubborn beauty, stubborn beauty
Uh.. I fell away
Stubborn beauty, stubborn beauty
Oh, very well, then
Stubborn beauty, stubborn beauty
Oh, very well, then
Stubborn beauty, stubborn beauty
Oh, very well, then
Oh, very well, then
When you hear the pulsing drumbeats and the unorthodox strains of Modest Mouse, you anticipate a journey through the unpredictable. The track ‘Education’ from their album ‘We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank’ is not an aberration to this anticipated journey. It is an introspective voyage, a dive into the ethos of the human condition and the trials of knowledge.
Beneath the deceptively simple rock infrastructure and the crackling vocals of Isaac Brock, lies a dense lyrical quilt, patchworked with existential quandaries and societal critiques. This lyrical dissection will delve into the song’s eclectic verses and discover the nuanced teachings ‘Education’ imparts.
Between the Lines – The Blurry Borders of Education
Modest Mouse starts off with an ambiguous statement, ‘It was somewhere in between,’ setting the tone for the entire song. This ‘in-betweenness’ resonates as a theme, juggling between advice given and advice taken (or ignored), between the intended and the actual teachings of life. Such haziness reflects the often uncertain and undefined path of learning, be it in an institutionalized setting or life’s informal curriculum.
The antithesis of the song’s title, ‘Education,’ with its lyrical content, paints a striking image of cognitive dissonance. Knowledge and wisdom are seen as not being purely derived from books and lectures, but from the experience of life’s unpredictability, a stark contrast to the traditional concept of education.
Unkempt Symphonies – The Chaotic Dance of Life’s Lessons
The vigorous ‘All this talking pony’ dismisses much of conversation as noise, paralleling the way we, as ‘modern suits and ties,’ often mindlessly contribute to the cacophony. Brock’s lyrics highlight a primal, instinctive aspect of human nature that seems to be at odds with the polished facade of civilized society, revealing an underlying critique of superficial communication.
Here, Modest Mouse taps into the core struggle of human sophistication versus inherent animalistic tendencies, a battle that often leaves us feeling as if we are ‘flinging shit’ despite our sophistications. Education is thus posited as not just about the accumulation of knowledge, but also about understanding and taming our basest instincts.
The Cryptic Nostradamus – Foreshadowing and Fate
There’s a sardonic nod to the prophet ‘Nostradamus,’ known for his cryptic predictions, which the song connects to the predictability of human conflict. Such references to historical figures suggest a cycle of knowledge and ignorance that humanity replays eternally. ‘Education’ in this sense becomes a historical loop from which we struggle to evolve.
These lines are an acknowledgement of the cyclic nature of human progress and setbacks – east will always clash with west, and despite our access to the wealth of knowledge, humanity still fails to break away from the patterns identified by seers like Nostradamus.
Distractions Dressed in Beauty – The Hidden Meaning
Labelling life’s complex distractions as ‘so beautifully complex’ reveals an intriguing facet of the song’s hidden meaning. Modest Mouse seems to marvel at the intricate distractions life offers, suggesting that there’s a certain allure to ignorance and the unexpected surprises it might unveil.
This paradoxical embrace of life’s unpredictable nature versus a desire for structured education is a tension that runs heavily throughout the song. It resonates as more of an acknowledgment of the complexity of life and the beauty found within it, rather than an outright rejection of knowledge.
Reciting the Creed of Modern Existence – Memorable Lines
The repeating declarations of ‘Stubborn beauty, stubborn beauty’ and the questioning of whether one can ‘hear highly if you highly care?’ resonate as a form of modern-day creed. These lines embody the struggle between apathy and passion, a declaration of the agony of caring in a world that seems indifferent.
In this existential chant, Modest Mouse is painting a portrait of the modern human condition – encapsulating our refusal to conform, the beauty of our stubbornness, and the pain that comes with deeply caring in a loud and indifferent universe.
