Steam Engine Lyrics - Interpretation?

[marino13]

I unfortunately was not yet a fan of MMJ when It Still Moves came out.  Has anyone seen Jim's interpretation of the lyrics to "Steam Engine"?  If not, does anyone have their own opinion as to what this song's about?

[tomEisenbraun]

Love.

(caring deeply for someone kind of love)

[aMillionDreams]

I think that Jim is sending us secret messages through that song that Jesus is either the savior of all mankind or a child molesting bowler.   But that's what I think they're all about.

But seriously, I think Eisey summed it up.  Do you have an opinion Marino?

[Easy Morning Rebel]

Yeah, it's definitely about Love

[tomEisenbraun]

i had typed something else out, but my computer froze, so i lost it all.

i think the most important thing about this song is that it captures something completely beyond words, and that it's real meaning lies in that. i think the song is best summed up in the last line "the fact that my hearts beatin, is all the proof you need" bot lyrically and emotionally. from there, the way the song explodes says absolutely everything that needs to be said and more. the tricky thing is, there are no words that can describe the feeling at the end of that song. you can just feel it.

but to me, it sounds like its about a true kind of love, with the "none of this is physical" line and "the fact that my heart's beatin is all the proof you need".

but if you want to delve deeper, please let's do it. just let's not drag bush or anything completely obtuse into this one.

[tomEisenbraun]

and might i add that i love the fact that i'm still "Eisey" here, even though i definitely changed my name :)

I love this board :)

[saki]

but to me, it sounds like its about a true kind of love, with the "none of this is physical" line and "the fact that my heart's beatin is all the proof you need".

but if you want to delve deeper, please let's do it. just let's not drag bush or anything completely obtuse into this one.

excuse me, but, are you sayin' that anyone who has compared an MMJ lyric to anything about Bush is making an "obtuse" statement?  

I'm sorry but if I happen to think that "Old Jeezub" is really just Tony Blair then I have every right to say that that's what the song is about for me

And besides, isn't that what these discussions with regards to lyric interpretation are all about?  What you think is what you think?  Nobody is right or wrong?  I happen to think that weird intrepretations are more interesting regardless of whether I agree with it or not.  

sorry, but I didn't want this discussion to become "obtuse" by keeping it within certain parameters of interpretation.

[ycartrob]

Steam Engine is not about George Bush.

Steam Engine is about James Watt and being in Greenock, Scotland.

[tomEisenbraun]

here's my beef with the Bush stuff in the Gideon thread.

We've been given two sources continually from Jim in interviews (and I've even heard it straight from the band) that the song was written half about his frustration with organized religion and also about a story about a parrot who became so defensive of his owner that he attacked her own children.

Bush isn't a part of the song, no matter how you look at it. Bush is not part of the interpretation.

However, if you find something in there that you find relatively inspiring and makes you think about something Bush has done or something not related to the song, then by all means, that's great...but that's personal meaning. I'm not sayign it's invalid, but it's pretty important to not confuse what you get out of the song with what the song is about. It's two different things.

Now, look up there. I said the song is about love. I don't have any information from Jim on this, but the imagery of the song evokes an imagery of that emotion.

Hell, this song is above Bush bashing. I think i'm just pretty sick of "oh its about Bush" because they mentioned somewhere that Z is more about the state of the world than the other albums. That doesn't mean they put anything directly about Bush in the music, and it doesn't mean we need to dig for it.

I forget who's profile its in, but "love a song for the way it makes you feel." Steam Engine is one of those. There are no words that you can ascribe to the sheer dynamic of the end of this song, and i think it's so far above any kind of political analyzation, particularly because it doesn't seem to appeal to any such senses.

I'm not slamming you if you hate Bush. I'm partial to him. I don't love him, he's no great president, but he is president and I respect that fact. I'm not going to go into detail about what I think of the man, because i will be dessimated by those who believe I am blind. I think it's a waste of brain power to play what-ifs and go into semantics about something that we have no control over, especially when it will run its course in two years. Well crap, there's my opinion again.

Back to Steam Engine, just feel the song. Don't try and tear it apart, but appreciate it for what it makes you feel. Maybe we coudl get Jim to comment at some point, to find out what his intention was with it, but I think that a lot of times, over-analyzation gives you nothing but a bunch of pieces, rather than being able to truly appreciate the song as a whole.

I almost don't want to know what it was written about.

But I guess Tracy already spilt that can of beans.  8)

[saki]

listen dude,

no one was ever going to say that steam engine was about bush because how could they?  I mean it has nothing, absolutely nothing to do with Bush in any way and I don't think that anyone could say it is....but, "Gideon" on the other hand, you could say that that song is about Bush because it wasn't just me who said that...so it's totally valid.  

I was just pissed off that someone told me and whoever else that my comments and other people's comments were "obtuse" and that's total crap...because they are not!!!  

So, I do agree that the song is about love and I agree with you on that Eisey, but it's just not right to call my or anyone else's comments "obtuse" about the song "Gideon".

that's all I'm trying to say.... I think I'm pretty right on about this too

[ratsprayer]

hey saki, there have been numerous arguments about this before on this board.  some people have talked to the band about certain songs, so heaven forbid if you say something different.  personally, im one of those people who respects what an artist's vision is in writing a song, but we can all take our own specific interpretations on it.  don't let one or a few people's label of  "obtuse" put you off from speaking your mind about what you feel from a song.  all of love this band, but we're all different people, and we feel different thing and get different thoughts from the arrangements and the lyrics.  some people tend to forget that, but don't stop speaking your mind!
 :)

[tomEisenbraun]

sorry bout that, i think i made a post round here somewhere about the two different types of song interpretation.

the reason i made the bush comment in the first place was pretty much joking. i knew there was absolutely no way to bring politics into this one...so i threw that in there.

sorry for the rant, i had just woken up and my roommate was cranking some odd playlist that included "gold digger", matchbox20, and "stacy's mom," so my irritability factor was up.

readin back on the comment though (which i had remembered as being a bit more fiery, but i suppose it wasn't) that's pretty much how I feel about the stuff. I'm not saying personal interpretation isn't important. i got choked the first time i really listened to "Golden" and that has nothing to do with Jim's intent of writing the song. I just found a certain hope and beauty in it that I hadn't heard anywhere else before in a way that was completely non-cheesy. If Gideon gets you pissed at Bush--great! But it's not the meaning of the song. It's your personal interpretation. Which is completely valid, but a different thing altogether.

So end of ragging. I don't hate you, would love to hear your opinion on this song. No hard feelins, Saki or Rats, i was just tired of reading about bush in the other thread.

(where's tracy when you need him ;))

[ratsprayer]

i think its just difference of opinion about music in general.  almost immediately after posting and thinking about this topic, i read an interview with elbow where guy garvey (the lead singer) was talking about hearing some fan's personal story about one of his songs, and he said one you put a song out there, it's almost like it's not yours anymore.  thats the sort of mindset i have.  i don't think it's taking away from the songwriter's intent or ideas, but people morph certain songs and get those feelings inside that may have nothing to do with the original idea.  basically, i think if music speaks to you well enough to make you wonder, that already says a lot about the song itself.  we all agree in some way that a lot of mmj songs make us ponder, so let's just marvel at the power of a band that can do that with so many songs.

 :-*

[SMc55]

I agree, ratsprayer. I believe that once any work of art, including a song, becomes released to the air, the hearer becomes part of the process. What the writer means by his/her words is of course interesting, but ultimately means less that what the hearer perceives or feels about it. I don't know how Jim or any other song writer feels about that but I think that, on one level, once you let other people appreciate your work then they are in on the act whether you like it or not.

An example for me is when I mis-hear the lyrics of a song and it still has meaning for me.

I'm not sure if any of this makes sense.

(But that never stopped any of us posting before  ;))

[aMillionDreams]

I have a hard time believin that my interpretation of the song (being about Jesus Christ and Jesus Quintana) is somehow more valid than what Jim believes the song is about.  This issue of the subjectivity of lyrics interpretation  has been discussed on this board already and most seemed to believe that their interpretations were more valid than Jim's intent.  I think that does Jim and the music a disservice.   Oh, and I think you're wrong (how's that for objectivity)!?

Perhaps that is why all the song interpreation threads on this board don't really go anywhere.  People begin to fight and then everyone agrees that all music is subjective so essentially the song doesn't mean anything, and we go on discussing Pat's beard.  If the songs don't really mean anything then we all might as well be listening to the Mary Poppins soundtrack and waxing philosophical about freewill.  

But if someone wants to attempt to actually pay attention to the music, here's a question for those still attempting to interpret  this song.  I agree that the song is about love, a certain kind of love, that isn't physical.  But how does the title of the song fit into that interpretation?

[sweatboard]

Steam Engine -

"The Fact That My Hearts Beating Is All The Proof You Need"

It's almost as if the love is what physically makes his heart beat.  The same way that steam makes a steam engine run.  Right at the end of that line you can almost see a huge Steam Engine coming around a Mountain with huge white billowing smoke streams rising from it.  Then the rest of the song just feels like when your standing to close to the railroad track and the train is racing by you.  I used to go out to this spot on the lake that had a train track going right by it.  I would lay there at night with my head right next to the tracks (not in a suicidal way) but it was pretty awesome because first your looking up at the stars and then comes this Fucking FREIGHT TRAIN BLOWING THROUGH, that's some kind of intensity right there, much like the song, much like LOVE!  

[ratsprayer]

i don't think anyone is implying their interpretation is more important.  it still seems this issue is being viewed as an attack of jim for not caring what he intended for a certain piece of music.  ask most normal level-headed musicians what their songs means, and they wont answer you.  they want the fan to take their own meaning.  yeah if you don't want to sit down and really think about your favourite songs and albums and what they mean, listen to mary poppins.  i think the good challening music out there begs for questions to be asked.  

you know as far as steam engine, the lyrics 'its a voice, and it's a choice, to call you out, or stay at home'  for me, i love to get outdoors, go hiking, travel, drive just for the fuck of it.  i feel there is something calling me to see the world and enjoy it as much as possible. my dad, the crack smoker, sits  at home all day and doesn't leave the house except to go buy more crack.  so to me, that song exhibits a difference between me and my dad and leads in to many other thoughts.  did jim think about that when he wrote the song?  fuck no, but that doesn't mean im an idiot for thinking what i think.  i can't imagine someone who likes a complex, deep band like the jacket can think music is so cut and dry, but to each their own...

[CC]

to me 'steam engine' has always been about friendly alien mechanical life-forms visiting me at night and telling me secrets. that's valid to me. if you think it's about a beard, that'll be valid to you. questioning what meaning is more valid is an invalid question.

[aMillionDreams]

Okay, maybe I didn't understand the argument, but I was not trying to say that lyric interpretation should be cut and dry.  I just think that the interpretation cannot be purely subjective.  Like most things is life it's probably not black and white but some shade of gray.  My point is that artist's intentions should play SOME role in interpreting the lyrics.  My other point is that duscussions get watered down when any and every analysis is fair game. For example,  you may think that "Amazing Grace" is a song about white sumpremcy (either because you heard the words wrong or because you're an idiot) but that doesn't have anything to do with the actual meaning of the song.  Everyone's interpretation is not right.  Like the people who thought Wonderful Man was about Jesus.  That may be what the song means to you, but that is neither here nor there.  The song is about Tim Cushing on an objective level.  Subjectively, I still say it's about Jesus Quintana.

[EC]

to me 'steam engine' has always been about friendly alien mechanical life-forms visiting me at night and telling me secrets. that's valid to me. if you think it's about a beard, that'll be valid to you. questioning what meaning is more valid is an invalid question.

thank you, riny.  i have ALWAYS thought it was about a beard, and now you made me feel valid.  :)

i just realized that i've always had a really strong connection to this song, and there's a lot of images and feelings i get from it, but i just tried to type those out, and i can't do it.  because i don't think my interpretation can be typed out.  interesting....