Another INSANE Steam Engine thread

[drewsdad27us]

First off, I am writing this because I keep reading how folks think Jim wrote the lyric "god damn these shaky knee's" at the end and I just disagree, it does not fit. :-[
My position:
The whole song, to me is about stripping away all the surface crap, seeing all that God, or a Being, call him TUTU, has provided, how beautiful it is, how it is taken for granted.  The last sentence sounds to me like "got down on shaky knees", as in bowing before  God, or TUTU, or whatever and acknowledging that his(the singers) life and this world was created by our TUTU, God or whatever and he will never be alone, spiritually.  ;)
OR, some dude proposed on god damned shaky knees in Lake Patoka :                         There really is one:  :-?[url]www.weddingsolutions.com/patoka-beach-wedding-dresses.shtml

[The DARK]

I don't know about the lyric change...I think it was "God damn those shaky knees" in the ISM lyrics booklet.

But the lyrics of this song have so many levels to them, it would make sense with those ones also.  :) It's so poetic, and the music is just magical. AKA a perfect song.

[ManNamedTruth]

http://www.mymorningjacket.com/itstillmoves.html
"the brain melts in the twilight
with the boar and moving trees
your skin looks good in moonlight
and god damn those shaky knees
the fact that my heart's beating
is all the proof you need"

[aMD]

you're right, this thread IS insane.

A lot of people think that song lyric interpretation is pretty wide open, but I don't know who would support changing the words to support what meaning you think the song should have.  The line is "goddam those shaky knees".  so if it's about god, it's a REALLY creepy song.

[dragonboy]

I sometimes wonder what it must be like to live in a country full of religious fanatics  ;)

[cmccubbin@work]

I sometimes wonder what it must be like to live in a country full of religious fanatics  ;)

ha ha   ;D

[TheBigChicken]

I sometimes wonder what it must be like to live in a country full of religious fanatics  ;)

we left England just to come over here and persecute witches :D

[Evans kicked head]

If I may add my two cents...I think SE is about finding love, or something intagible like it.  I may even guess that it's about someone he loves or loved but hasn't felt it reciprocated, but has to deal with their wandering ways (take your $$ and your drugs...and the need to move around this green earth).  The first line is kind of a clue (read: huge clue)...and the part about sleeping is not because it's night or a warm bed, but because you are/have been loved by someone very deeply.  That makes you sleep at night...
I think anyone who's ever been crazy in love might agree.  As for the latter part of the song...I dunno.  Sometimes Jim writes quite metaphorically and for himself, so the rest of us are subject to his vision, whatever that might be for the song.
yeah, and the whole God thing...gimme a break.  This song refers to romance...and unless you're screwie, that'd be quite creepy ("your skin looks good in moonlight"), as someone else mentioned.
Now y'all are two cents richer...
8-)

[cmccubbin@work]

If I may add my two cents...I think SE is about finding love, or something intagible like it.  I may even guess that it's about someone he loves or loved but hasn't felt it reciprocated, but has to deal with their wandering ways (take your $$ and your drugs...and the need to move around this green earth).  The first line is kind of a clue (read: huge clue)...and the part about sleeping is not because it's night or a warm bed, but because you are/have been loved by someone very deeply.  That makes you sleep at night...
I think anyone who's ever been crazy in love might agree.  As for the latter part of the song...I dunno.  Sometimes Jim writes quite metaphorically and for himself, so the rest of us are subject to his vision, whatever that might be for the song.
yeah, and the whole God thing...gimme a break.  This song refers to romance...and unless you're screwie, that'd be quite creepy ("your skin looks good in moonlight"), as someone else mentioned.
Now y'all are two cents richer...
8-)

well put

[Drunkre]

I'm atheist, but I don't require my favorite musicians to be.  I worship at the altar of Bonnie Prince Billy, but he's got some seriously religious lyrics; don't know if they're tongue in cheek or not; don't care.  But MMJ have never appeared to me to be anything like a spiritual band.  Even though, the lyrics to Gideon do have some quasi-religious undertones.  "Religion should appeal to the hearts of the young."

[ycartrob]

I always equated "goddamn those shaky knees" as a nod to our physicality in the middle of a very "non-physical moment" (ie, spirituality, feelings, love, etc...). I love how it paints the scene that no matter what we think we have control over, feelings interject themselves in physical aspects, some of which we have no control over.

my take

[Clarkwork]

Ok, this is one of my favorite songs by MMJ and one reason is because I look at at it as being a simple love song.  This is my interpretation and may be way off, but no one could change it :)

When he says none of this is physical it is the type of love that has straight from the heart, and has nothing to do with looks or anything physical...the type you need to have in order to live

then the picture he paints at the end, is seeing his love, which gives him shaky knees.

Anyway, I could spend all day talking about this song and the beauty of it, but that is my simple interpretation.  Even if it is corny.

[cmccubbin@work]

I always equated "goddamn those shaky knees" as a nod to our physicality in the middle of a very "non-physical moment" (ie, spirituality, feelings, love, etc...). I love how it paints the scene that no matter what we think we have control over, feelings interject themselves in physical aspects, some of which we have no control over.

my take

money analysis...you're so money and you don't even know it.

i agree...i have always equated that line (goddam those shakey knees) with some emotion or feeling that is so overwhelming that it could physically bring you to your knees and totally humbled.

and then when you throw in the line "the fact that my heart is beatin'/is all the proof you needed"...makes me think of unconditional love in that as long as i'm alive and my heart is beating then that is all the proof you need that i love you/care for you/etc, etc.

such an amazing song...

[drewsdad27us]

I am glad my post inspired such replies. I want to be clear that I am not about religion AT ALL-too many hypocritical actors and money hungry child rapists. To me, as an individual, I feel in awe of what surrounds me when I hear this song, my children, my wife, and what we see in nature. You don't need money and drugs to get high, its already there...that better?   8-)

[The DARK]

How not to get people mad at you for making a repeat thread? Make it about Steam Engine.  :D

[Clarkwork]

I am glad my post inspired such replies. I want to be clear that I am not about religion AT ALL-too many hypocritical actors and money hungry child rapists. To me, as an individual, I feel in awe of what surrounds me when I hear this song, my children, my wife, and what we see in nature. You don't need money and drugs to get high, its already there...that better?   8-)

I think you just nailed it for me too.  That is what I was trying to say in my other post.  The love around you is all you really need.  It makes me think of my kids and wife when I hear it too, that deep great love.  Just an amazing song.  

[songdiver]

Although most of Jim's lyrics change in meaning for me through the months and years, this is one line that I thought was pretty straight forward.  I think he's just pointing out the beauty of the moonlight on a woman's skin and his or her shakey knees from either being nervous or from the outside cold.  Maybe I'm dead wrong, but that is a line that I thought was to be taken only one way.  

I've been a fan now for 3+ years, though I can't quite remember what my life was like before My Morning Jacket, and I still find new or different possible meanings for most of their songs, and as far as the religion aspect, I really don't agree with most of the statements about how obvious the religious messages are in the songs.  I'm sure others have pointed this out, but I don't know how "What a Wonderful Man" is referencing Jesus Christ.  Maybe it is, but when Jim says "I was wanting some ice cream," I take the term "ice cream" to mean LSD, because ice cream is a type of really good LSD, and I don't know how Jesus would know Jim wanted some, but maybe Jesus does, and maybe ice cream doesn't mean acid in the song.  As far as every song that might be referencing religion, you can find a meaning that could go either way.  

Rollin' Back is one that I've really been trying to figure out.  I think of it as a song about not really being sure if Jesus was for real ("I'll never say I knew you") but ultimately hoping that there is a god and you will meet someone as loving as Jesus ("But my heart can't wait to meet you on the other side").

For all I know, we are all wrong, but that's what I came up with.

[jesus christ]

Boy, my ears have been burning again!  You know, all of this speculation about whether these songs are about me or not is very flattering!  I haven't ever met Jim James, but I hope to when I make it down there. He seems like quite the guy, and what a beard! Sometimes I forget that commandment and just let myself go ahead and envy it!  Anyway, I know that it sure is fun to doggedly and tirelessly dissect every aspect of modern culture and all, but why don't you all just enjoy the songs for what they are and keep them open to your own interpretations? If you want the song to have religious over or undertones, let it be! if you prefer a more agnostic or even atheistic stance, that's cool too!

Hey- bet you never thought I would like exclamation points so much. There is a lot that you don't know about me or anything else for that matter, so keep on speculating! Hopefully you will find the answers that people in modern times so DESPERATELY need. I can see how hard it is for you to enjoy anything without knowing it inside, outside, upside down and backwards. What a shame. I am a big mystery fan myself.

Thanks for talking about me, though!  

[aMD]

Boy, my ears have been burning again!  You know, all of this speculation about whether these songs are about me or not is very flattering!  I haven't ever met Jim James, but I hope to when I make it down there. He seems like quite the guy, and what a beard! Sometimes I forget that commandment and just let myself go ahead and envy it!  Anyway, I know that it sure is fun to doggedly and tirelessly dissect every aspect of modern culture and all, but why don't you all just enjoy the songs for what they are and keep them open to your own interpretations? If you want the song to have religious over or undertones, let it be! if you prefer a more agnostic or even atheistic stance, that's cool too!

Hey- bet you never thought I would like exclamation points so much. There is a lot that you don't know about me or anything else for that matter, so keep on speculating! Hopefully you will find the answers that people in modern times so DESPERATELY need. I can see how hard it is for you to enjoy anything without knowing it inside, outside, upside down and backwards. What a shame. I am a big mystery fan myself.

Thanks for talking about me, though!  

Why do bad things happen to good people?

[BH]

Wuddup JC.  It's been awhile.  I was wondering the other day, do you think if you came back around, and brought people back from the dead and walked on water and stuff like that, would people still be just as impressed?  Or would they just think it was all a trick, like David Copperfield or something?  Wouldnt' that suck?  I for one would love it if you swung by my house, I'll fill up the bathtub and you can knock me out some Cabernet, or maybe a nice Pinot Noir.  Not sure if you can be that specific or if it just comes out red table wine everytime, but I'm really not too picky.  Anyway, good to hear from you, I promise you'll see me more often in the future.