Please visit our sponsor today, click the banner below!
Click HERE to buy targeted advertising on the Ad Club Network
Synopsis
1. THE BIRDMAN
"I assume he was some kind of politician that lost it and was living on the streets and just going nuts all night," begins Maida with the easy charisma that ensures a spellbound audience for each of his effort-less tales. "It was strange. (The next morning) I just caught a few words as I passed by him, and he was one of the most intelligent people I have ever heard speak. Right then I had this enlightenment. I did not give him a chance, and there is probably times where you miss opportunities because you form opinions so quickly." (Michael 'Raine' Maida)
"We arm ourselves when there's nothing to fear- Right? Wrong!!!" "I can't see him but he's stalking my thoughts."
As Raine says, the basic message of this song is about being open-minded, a mistake Raine made when he first heard the man. The verses explore the effect the man had on Raine in the short period of time. Raine could not blot the man's ramblings out of his head. The chorus's message is basically saying we should not be so quick to judge people.
2. SUPERSATELLITE
"I've read the bible, I've read Dylan, and I'm reading people now because is It's much more chilling. But i sit, I sit on a satellite with the stars made of gold. There's life in this hollow lens. But I know, I know, I know, yeah!"
It is clear from this quote that there is a silver lining in what appears on repeated listening to be a very dark and angry record. Michael 'Raine' Maida said Our Lady Peace did not want to be another angry band that did not think. This is clear throughout the album if the listener gives the album a chance and delves into Raine's subtle brand of anger.
Raine reads a lot so I assume this song refers to this and how he looks at people and the world in an analytical way. The reference to 'seeds' might be influenced by Ken Carey's book: "You are the seed, the origin of much that is to come." The man referred to possibly Raine's example of how fake and 'transparent' people can be. There are a couple of references to 'seeds' in Chapter 10 of this book, so it is possible that this influenced Raine. The idea of 'vision' and its importance, prevalent in this song, and in Ken Carey's book.
3. STARSEED
"Well, I let go of the world that was holding a passenger that could not fly. in search of souls, in search of something. and let it go, and let it slide."
"It was based on this book by Ken Carey, The Starseed Transmissions, about a channelling experience he had. The whole chorus is about if you have had a channelling experience and during this experience you find something you believe and trying to convince everybody else is not always an easy task. I'm into a lot of meditating. My dad was Catholic and he tried to school me in that, but I never really agreed with him. I've always been interested in religion and the way it affects society. The Starseed thing is about going on a meditation journey and coming back with something tangible. Something you actually believe in. Something that means something to you. It is hard to convince people of my father's generation of anything other than the religious values in- stilled in them. (RAINE MAIDA)
There are some useful references in Ken Carey's book. A starseed is not directly referred to but I assume a stargate is similar. It is a doorway through which the meditator mentally leaves "the prison of human definition and expands into an awareness of divine perception". The starseed, in my opinion, initiates a psychological process of religious understanding.
Verse 1:The person leaves a world where people do not understand him, a world that constrains him. He leaves in search of souls ("They may seem to be insignificant, ethereal things, floating gently through your mind"). There are constant references in chapter 6 to letting all our thoughts go as we enter meditation to prepare ourselves for the discovery to come.
Verse 2:The person asks himself why the world wasn't glowing (with the enlightenment of God?). As the meditation journey ends the person finds himself back in a world of darkness. Equator=celestial equator:imaginary sphere, of any radius, of which the observer is the centre and in which celestial bodies are represented as lying.
"Oh, I'd have the starseed over." = the journey is over.
4. HOPE
This song is very difficult to understand, mainly because of the metaphors and imagery. I think this song is linked Raine's themes: spirituality, despair, and obviously hope. It is possible that the song is referring to someone's struggle to find spirituality. As a result, the woman becomes too involved in religion or loses her mind. On a deeper, more metaphorical level, this song could be about 'hope' as an abstract notion, and 'hoping' for something will never get you it. OLP's songs always seem to raise philosophical questions, and this song is definitely the most philosophical.
"If she can't be there I know it's best that nothing is denied. can't be there I know it's best that everyone changes sides." "Hope climbs atop of the piano reaching out towards the warmth of the sun." "We're the sunflowers who want." "into the dark, is there anybody there? Into the light is there anybody there? Into the dark is there anybody there? No! Into the light, to the light, to the light..."
5. NAVEED
"It's named after a friend of mine," Maida says. "His name is Naveed. He is Iranian and one day he told me the background (of the name) was a person referred to as a bearer of good news. The album title "NAVEED" kind of ties in all the lyrics. 'Naveed' talks about someone scared to die ,but at the same time interested in it. Naveed was playing with a gun and was unaware that one chamber within the gun contained a bullet. We took the concept of Naveed and placed it in the dark optimism of our music. We have forced Naveed to travel the distance between mysticism and bitter reality.." (Michael 'Raine' Maida)
" 'Naveed' is about the afterlife. But not like heaven or hell; like the afterlife as another step into your souls life; as in Buddhism. The song seems to be directed at someone who has died. And it seems to be wondering what the afterlife could possibly be like, and even wanting to die, but being torn by the instinctual fear of death." (BMseedOLP@aol.com)
6. DIRTY WALLS
The song seems to be directed at someone who offends others by his way of talking. He conversation is very false and 'without weight'. Also, the song seems to be directed at people who force their problems on others and think of no-one but themselves. He seems to speak of his own problems and not try to deal with them on his own.
"The conversation going nowhere, transparent as fuck. the conversation must be over cause all I see is mud." "And I cannot bear the shallow words they throw."
7. DENIED
BmseedOLP@aol.com says that this is about feeling insignificant in the world. I see it more as expressing how often we are not aware of the way society does not allow us complete freedom to do what we want. I see it as a comment on the way we have been brought up, or socialized, to act in a certain way. Somewhere along the way we lose our identity be-cause of society and its institutions. In other words, freedom of speech, and so on, might not actually exist. Also, it could be about wanting to be left alone sometimes.
"The telephone is ringing, disconnect the line." "The television is burning, I set it on fire." "But what about the questions we have locked up inside."
8. IS IT SAFE?
This seems to be about the universally bad opinion of men. It seems to examine the abuse of women, and the effects the abuse can have.
"I saw something there much too familiar a butterfly with a broken wing." "She's walking backwards, she's spun around. Her ears are ringing loud and loud and loud. she's on her knees. please understand, it's obvious this man must bend." "is it safe for my soul, soul?"
9. JULIA
In Kerrang's review, the theme of prostitution is mentioned. It is possible that Julia was involved in it at one time, tried to forget it, but the past kept coming back to haunt her. She won't confront the reality of her past and let it go. Redemption, a theme in Raine's writing, could be linked with Julia's feeling of guilt. The chorus seems to be implying that somebody is trying to get Julia to open up. The 'mother' figure must be the only one capable of doing it.
"And can you see her standing there? And well she's trying to find just anywhere." "Drowning in her visions, she's begging the past to stay behind. A black cat in the night, and there's a black cat in that sky." "We're digging, we're digging up the past, crossing, crossing, crossed that line to bury, to bury it one last time."
10. UNDER ZENITH
There is no doubt in my mind that this track is the standout of an album where it is very difficult to pick a favourite track. This song is the supreme example of Raine's ability to 'hypnotize the listener. The lyrics are arguably the strongest on the album because when the picture presented is clear and one feels how perfectly the music complements them the effect is breath-taking. Also important to this effect of this song is the definition of the title: under the highest point or most prosperous point in the heavens. It is when the listener delves into the meaning of titles that an enhancement of the emotional effect of the song takes place, particularly in the case of this song. Other examples are "Naveed" and "Starseed". The moment when Raine almost operatically sings "Hold me" is arguably the best moment on the album because of the heavenly effect of it.
"Under your feet, the city falls, and down so far ground is sky. We're under zenith again, it's healthy if not for long."
This seems to be about the state of the world, with reference to politician's mistakes. The politicians give a message saying that the country is becoming more prosperous, but the only people getting rich are the politicians. The theme of despair, resulting from the government's failure to help its citizens, could be important. The verses open up when consider them as the words of a politician, the lies that tells to convince the public. The second verse implies that the government is ignoring the homeless (frozen man???)
"Man, man, I love, I love how you let me fall under, under but not too far. I love, love how you let me fall, only now I see where we are" "Hold me." "Leave a little room for us to breathe."
11. NEON CROSSING
"All you people can you feel it waiting innocence and love, wrapped in the the arms of burning neon. I feel it, i feel it. It's so entertaining and so wonderful. It magically calls for you and you."
Indeed I do "feel it". This song along with many others makes for mesmerizing listening. The reason why this is so is because when you get inside Raine's seductive vocal range you realize that it is him that draws you into a lot of the songs. This is one reason why I do not think I could ever become tired of 'that' voice'. Raine Maida, with his lyrics and vocals, has the ability, unlike many others, to sink his fingers into your soul and draw you into Our Lady Peace's music. The origin of the band's name is from a poem about a fiddler. When the fiddler plays his instrument his music gets rid of the darkness that surrounds the village. This justifies the band's name as "The pied pipers of Toronto". Each member maybe so radically different in their musical tastes but somehow they manage to come together to make amazing music. It is at the point in "Julia" when the guitar, bass and drums collide in what I would call a head-on collision of noise that one realizes how talented this band is.
"I can't wait and I can't be the liar."
I originally thought of this song as looking at the way 'fame' is presented. As it is often said fame is not what it is made out to be. BMseedOLP@aol.com suggests that this is about how the afterlife is only meant for some people.
Get your own Free Home Page