To Understand a Song- - TV, Music, and Movies

Community Forum Entertainment TV, Music, and ... To Understand a Song-

11/20/2006 10:11 AM

	Katie
60 posts

To Understand a Song-

We should all post songs that we don't understand, and then analyize them and figure out what they mean.

This song is by Nirvana, and I have no clue what its meaning is. Any ideas? Assume that the song actually has a meaning and is more than a random, crack-inspired poem.

Plateau

Many a hand has scaled the grand old face of the plateau
Some belong to strangers and some to folks you know
Holy ghosts and talk show hosts are planted in the sand
To beautify the foothills and shake the many hands

The nothing on top but a bucket and a mop
And an illustrated book about birds
You see a lot up there but don't be scared
Who needs action when you got words

When you've finished with the mop then you can stop
And look at what you've done
The plateau's clean, no dirt to be seen
And the work - it was fun

Well the many hands began to scan around
for the next plateau
Some said it was in Greenland and some say Mexico
Others decided it was nowhere except
for where they stood
Those are all just guesses
Wouldn't help you if they could

I was thinking that the Plateau symbolizes fame, and the song is about how being a rising celebrity isn't all that special. Comments, anyone?

Writing, I think, is not apart from living. Writing is a kind of double living. The writer experiences everything twice. Once in reality and once in the mirror which waits always before or behind. -Catherine Dinker Bowen

11/22/2006 5:02 PM

	By-Tor
1 posts

Re: Here's an interesting tune to check out

This has nothing to do with Nirvana, but I have a song called "Xanadu", written and performed by the Canadian progressive rock trio Rush based on a poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge called Kubla Kahn. It was composed in 1798 and has been used in other
things, such as a 1980 movie called "Xanadu" starring Olivia Newton-John, best known in the 1978 musical "Grease". Rush released their fifth album called "A Farewell to Kings" in 1977 and it has "Xanadu" along with five others. The length is 11:07 and almost the first half is nothing but guitar, keyboards, bass, and drums. The singing doesn't start, but it's worth waiting for.
I have included the lyrics of the song in this post. I hope it is worth your time to check the lyrics out.

By-Tor

"Xanadu"

"To seek the sacred river Alph
To walk the caves of ice
To break my fast on honey dew
And drink the milk of Paradise..."

I had heard the whispered tales
Of immortality
The deepest mystery
From an ancient book. I took a clue
I scaled the frozen mountain tops
Of eastern lands unknown
Time and Man alone
Searching for the lost - Xanadu

Xanadu -

To stand within The Pleasure Dome
Decreed by Kubla Khan
To taste anew the fruits of life
The last immortal man
To find the sacred river Alph
To walk the caves of ice
Oh, I will dine on honey dew
And drink the milk of Paradise

A thousand years have come and gone
But time has passed me by
Stars stopped in the sky
Frozen in an everlasting view
Waiting for the world to end
Weary of the night
Praying for the light
Prison of the lost - Xanadu

Xanadu -

Held within The Pleasure Dome
Decreed by Kubla Khan
To taste my bitter triumph
As a mad immortal man
Nevermore shall I return
Escape these caves of ice
For I have dined on honey dew
And drunk the milk of Paradise

6/15/2007 1:00 PM

	Akira
20 posts

Re: To Understand a Song-

I was thinking that the Plateau symbolizes fame, and the song is about how being a rising celebrity isn't all that special. Comments, anyone?

<Many a hand has scaled the grand old face of the plateau>
<Some belong to strangers and some to folks you know>
<Holy ghosts and talk show hosts are planted in the sand>
<To beautify the foothills and shake the many hands>

This stanza discusses some sort of path/journey/event.
Many have taken/encountered/endured it before.
This thing allows people that were before to connect with those after.

<The nothing on top but a bucket and a mop>
<And an illustrated book about birds>
<You see a lot up there but don't be scared>
<Who needs action when you got words>

The first two lines of this stanza seem to confer simplicity and simplification.
The third and fourth lines say that it's easier than it seems.
And something about action not necessarily being needed, that words could carry out the task better.

<When you've finished with the mop then you can stop>
<And look at what you've done>
<The plateau's clean, no dirt to be seen>
<And the work - it was fun>

This stanza says that the action that the last paragraph refers to (involving simplification) is enjoyable, beneficial, and plainly obvious.

<Well the many hands began to scan around>
<for the next plateau>
<Some said it was in Greenland and some say Mexico>
<Others decided it was nowhere except>
<for where they stood>
<Those are all just guesses>
<Wouldn't help you if they could>

This stanza seems to talk about a desire on the part of those who performed the action from the last two stanzas to perform this action again elsewhere.
These action-performers then go perform this action where they feel that it will be useful.
Some of them decide that they would be better off repeating the action in a local situation instead.

[b]
My guess, then, is that this song is about making yourself better, or making things in general better, and then helping others to make their lives better as well.
The simplication of one's life makes each individual better and the positive effects of this are obvious to everyone. This betternent of the self also compels those people to help others to better their lives and their environment.[/b]

However, each one must decide for itself what the song means. No answers are right, and no answers are wrong.
All are equally correct and should be subjected to praise and not debunkment.

So, I agree with your opinion, Katie.

*There are two things a man must never do. One is to not make girls cry...The other is to not handle food so crudely! *Men must be cool. Boiling water is but vapor. *The sun is wonderful, it can make even the dirt shine. -Souji Tendou

1/25/2008 4:25 PM

	Highlander
22 posts

Re: To Understand a Song-

yeh, to not have a clue, i was thinking the same thing...like what does the song "here we are" by breaking benjamin mean? i think and htink but i cant seem to find a meaning...it makes no sence. either they are fighting, or one misses the other and wants them home. essplain lucy...

Page 1 of 1

Community Forum

Entertainment

TV, Music, and ...

To Understand a Song-