Monday, July 7, 2008

Ego Tripping At The Gates Of Hell

There is a song that lately, for reasons I don't quite understand, I haven't been able to stop listening to. It's a song called "Ego Tripping At The Gates Of Hell" and it's by the Flaming Lips, from their album, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. The album is one of my all-time favorites. It starts off as a concept album, about a girl named Yoshimi who must fight giant pink robots to save humanity but then, halfway through, it turns into an album about the bittersweet truths in life. The song (don't be daunted by the name-I really don't see any relevance it has to the song) "Ego Tripping At The Gates Of Hell" has these lyrics that I can't get out of my head: "I was waiting on a moment/ But the moment never came/All the billion other moments/ Were just slipping all away". The lyrics sing about loss but the music is quite upbeat and happy (which being a musician myself, I can tell you that that was a conscious decision). This dichotomy of loss over a happy backbeat of acoustic guitars, violins and keyboards is (I think) the main reason I can't get it out of my head. If the singer is sad, why is the rest of the song happy? Is it because the band feels that when one loses something, they also gain something else as well? Or is it that they wanted to convey that a person can be sad while everything else around them is going well? And its led me to think a lot about other things as well. Am I just waiting on a moment that will never come? And if I am, what other moments am I missing? Sometimes, I believe we get too caught up in waiting for how things are going to be in the future that we let other opportunities slip by us because we are set on staying on our linear path to the future or whatever thing it is that we really want (I know, I know, I'm swimming in a sea of cliche right now). But sometimes I really think God tries to send us messages subtely (sp?) and he tells us in things we know, like how this has been one of my favorite songs (to me favorite songs is a big category-I probably have over 200 favorite songs) for years but only now am I really starting to contemplate its message both to what the band meant it to say to the rest of the world, and what it means to me. Hopefully I figure out what God is trying to tell me before more moments slip away.
(Below I have posted a video with the song on it...the video is apparently from the movie "Metropolis" but it has no relation to the song and the only reason I posted it was so you could hear the song-but the video is pretty cool too though)

5 comments:

Amber said...

Reminds me of a country song with the lyrics "you're gonna miss this" talking to his daughter as she's growing up and always eager for the next step, he tries to tell her that she needs to enjoy every moment because one day she will look back and miss them. So true, it's amazing that the older you get the more you realize that sometimes even some of the toughest "moments" in your life can also be some of the best.

Stacy said...

You know how I feel about the Flaming Lips but I can understand what you mean when it comes to this song

Nene said...

I think it's talking about the fact that we can't sit around waiting for things to happen, but we have to "seize the day" so to speak. We have to make the things happen ourselves. As far as your feelings, I wonder if maybe the reason you can't find a job is because you really don't want to work in that field. I have had thoughts lately that you may end up doing something that is not directly related to your degree. So branch out - apply to ANY job that peaks your interest. Think about people you know and their jobs. Anything interest you? Talk to them.

Bullet for Babs said...

Well, the blog wasn't about how I can't find a job but okay....

Native Minnow said...

Yoshimi is a fantastic album - it's one of those that opened my eyes to how good music should really sound.