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Schweiz (Deutsch)10,000 words
10,000 words
Posted: Saturday, November 7, 2009 - 20:24
"I wrote or read them all when searchin' in the swarms
Still can't find out how to hold my hands."
does the last line refer to prayer, or is there "25" meanings?
Replies for this Board Topic
I believe 10,000 words is biblical. Not sure though.
Not sure but i toally dig the tune. For some reason it reminds me of the GN'R album "Lies Lies Lies".
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"Time is Art, You are Love, Peace is Now."
I see a lot of Biblical references throughout the album, but that may well be just my perspective.
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"Technology to wipe out truth is now available, not everyone can afford it but it's available." B. Dylan
Rejoice always, Mark
Ooh, I hadn't even thought the "how to hold my hands line" in reference to prayer, but I like that thought!
You got me curious about the Biblical meaning of the phrase "10,000 words," so I Googled it, and found 1 Corinthians 14:19: "But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue." Seems to me to fit in pretty well to the theme of the song, that lots of words can unnecessarily confusing and paralyzing.
Wow, thanks for that--really interesting way to look at the song. I'll keep this in mind the next time I listen.
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Wish me luck, I know you think I'll need it.
For all the hardest roads we have to walk alone.
gives the song a whole new meaning... wow.
wow...i would have never reached that conclusion...can't wait to listen to it now...knowing this...
I love this song. While we're on the subject, does anyone have any idea what this line means?
"For months I got myself in ruts, too much time spent in mirrors framed in yellow walls"
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There's only one thing here worth hoping for.
LOL, I too was trying to figure that line out just minutes ago as I dorve home.
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Z
Not surprising to find Biblical references in the songs. Jim Avett's father was a preacher and the Avett children were raised in church. "Ballad of Love and Hate," probably best personifies 1 Corinthians 13:1.
As for "too much time spent in mirrors framed in yellow walls" I do not know but wonder if it too many hotel rooms? Sunday Rehab, what's your take?
"Too much time spent in mirrors", maybe it's too much time spent in self-reflection, but not sure about the yellow walls.
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Wish me luck, I know you think I'll need it.
For all the hardest roads we have to walk alone.
I always figured the walls were the constant string of hotel rooms painted ugly yellow.
That "hold my hands" line as prayer is interesting. I like.
Huh. I have to say, several parts of the first verse are a mystery to me. What books written beneath his bed? In what swarm was he searching? Who needs him in the next room...yellow walls...Too bad I don't have a pocket-sized Avett Brothers to ask for times like this.
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There's only one thing here worth hoping for.
Nice job, Tinndn.
Great job Beatles_gal.
Another great reason to love this band.
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"To give the love you find
until it's gone."
"And I'm frightened by those
who don't see it."
I equate the color yellow with cowardice
I never knew so many people were as curious about this as I. Maybe we should all go to the same show and yell at the same time "hey, whats the deal with the song 10,000 words!?!"
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But their good times come with prices
And I can't believe it when I hear the jokes they make
At anyone's expese except their own
Would they laugh if they knew who paid?
The yellow walls remind me of "The Yellow Wallpaper," a short story in which a woman is locked in a room with yellow wallpaper to "recover" from a bout with depression. But the confinement causes a further mental illness; she ends up seeing women in the patterns of the wallpaper.
This is a great discussion that would only be ruined if the authors came in and said, "This is what it means...." I know I have a much better interpretation of "Go to Sleep" than Scott's.
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"Technology to wipe out truth is now available, not everyone can afford it but it's available." B. Dylan
Rejoice always, Mark
Take a look at the walls in the video for Rain on My tin Roof. Sorry cant put up the link I am on filtered pc at work. Its a crackerfarm vid on youtube. I think this is their home in NC. Self reflection at home with yellow walls? just my take.
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Whatever satisfies the soul is truth--Walt Whitman
I think their faith is represented in a lot of their music. I've heard quite a few examples myself. The latest one that was presented to me (by my wife) is the last line in the last verse of Incomplete and Insecure. I always thought he said "taught me" but now I'm convinced he says "my Father, call on me." What else could that mean? I think it makes sense that if faith is a part of their lives it'd be a part of their music.
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-- What ifs hot on my trail, but they can't catch me.
ergregory, I've read that story. I read it back in high school, but if I remember correctly it was kind of disturbing/sad
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There's only one thing here worth hoping for.
I took it as someone who has gained all this knowledge (books - written & read) and now is trying to figure out what to do with this know-how in life. What type of work he wants to do that will be most beneficial from this knowledge.
Yellow Walls I also take as cowardice reflection.
Interpretations are what art is all about.
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"We are the facilitators of our own creative evolution." - Bill Hicks
My take on this song from the first listen to the 10,000 one is this: Imagine being on the road, away from family and home and spending night after night in hotel rooms painted with ugly paint and the same mirrors. Think about being so weary that you are paralyzed, even knowing you are needed in the next room over. Visualize Scott lying in his bed with thoughts that swarm around his head while the books he has read are stacked under his bed. Despite reading, writing, and searching for knowledge, he still can't find how to hold his hands.That line could be literal, such as in prayer, or for him it could be symbolic. He is an artist, musician, and writer and his hands are necessary to his crafts.
The entire song speaks of the pressure of trying to live up to record executives and fans who wait to see if they can prove themselves on this album. Particularly telling is the line, And after we are through ten years and making it to be the most of glorious debuts/ I'll come back without my things 'cause the clothes I wore out there I will not wear around you. I believe Scott is projecting himself into the future when he can come home for good and leave behind all things associated with the years he was away from his family.
Then again, "ain't it like most people, I'm no different, we love to talk on things we don't know about."
I take the line about the hands to mean finding peace. The yoga types like to talk about being still, being only in the moment, with a mind free of the distractions of everyday life or 10,000 words. As for the yellowed walls, I think of old family slides. He is too caught up looking back to pay any attention to the needs of the people around him in the present.
On the contrary, I think he is more focused on his family even though he is away. Scott and Seth are dedicated family members who probably aren't practicing yoga. I'm 10,000 sure they struggle with guilt being away from their families. But I've surely been wrong before and could be so now.
I can't imagine them practicing yoga either. I was just giving my own odd ball interpretation separate from my knowledge of my brothers let alone reality. I The interpretation of words is always up to the observer anyways. I've now read your first post and my interpretation of it is that is a very insightful interpretation probably much truer to the environment in which the lyrics were written.
I read an interview of Tom Marshall, who writes a lot of lyrics for phish, and he stated that he believes that songs don't have one specific meaning. That the meaning of a song is only important to the person who creates the meaning to themself. In other words all interpertations are correct. But interpertations will vary from listener to listener. He gave examples where he has written sad lyrics that he thought were depressing, and the members of phish have put them to happy bouncy music. He has often questioned whether he has misinterpreted his own lyrics. His example was "sparkle".
sorry for the phish rant. But this has always made sense to me.
Why would you guys assume they don't practice Yoga?
Just asking
I've actually been thinking about them doing yoga and have chided myself for assuming I know anything they do or think! They could all be in "down dog" as we speak.
I've actually been thinking about them doing yoga and have chided myself for assuming I know anything they do or think! They could all be in "down dog" as we speak.
During a discussion with my sister a while back about the "mirrors framed in yellow walls" line, she threw out this idea..."the legal pad on which he writes songs"...I thought it was interesting at first and brilliant after I thought about it for a while.
...where nothing is owed, deserved, or expected...and your life doesn't change by the man that's elected...
All of this speculation makes for great conversation and thought...but I agree with Bobz. It would ruin things if we actually got an explanation from Scott. (and I don't suspect there will be one)
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I'm pretty sure the books are just huge unreleased volumes written by Scott (they actually exist)
there's a lyric off of Seth's last darling album on Guilty
my brother's always writing and writing (riding?)
I don't think scott likes the travelling they have to do
nothing short of thankful:
How I need (rest)
One more day of travel on the road.
How we've been (blessed)
Some times I don't feel that way.
i can only imagine it's hard to deal with the stress, and nobody's perfect (even the avetts)
Brothers (yes)
I know I'm up and down.
Please, try to (accept)
Apologies for the sadness that I've found.
The whole song is about life on the road, playing in bars and whatnot.
Hey man (yo)
Do you think they're listening
to a thing? (no no no)
I wonder what's on their mind.
which is why the 9/17/05 performance is amazing, cause everyone in the crowd HAS to be proving him wrong
This has become my favorite song on the album for what I have come to accept as its meaning. That's just me though. I take the song to be a reference to humanity and our tendency to reject the things/people we do not understand. If you think about it like this each verse can compliment that idea. The chorus obviously refers to the human tendency to reject, oversimplify, or demean things that we don't understand in order to make ourselves feel better. It's human nature, and the song projects how difficult it can be to attempt to overcome that nature.
vs. 1
The idea that a man wants to be accepted and understood universally. No matter how hard he strives to learn the art of universal acceptance through the "swarm" of information on the subject, literature and knowledge, he still has not learned how to attain it (how to hold his hands). The constant longing to live up to the expectations of everyone and the perpetual reflecting (mirrors) him leads to paralysis... he doesn't know how to act and so he becomes useless to those who need him (him... not the man he thinks he needs to be). I have been envisioning the yellow walls to represent the walls of the studio in which the album was recorded... too much time spent trying to please everyone with this album. That works well with the last verse.
vs. 2
The people around him wonder why he tries so hard to please everyone. They tell him to just relax and join in on the fun (mocking the things we don't understand so that we don't have to acknowledge our own shortcomings). I wonder if they would laugh if they knew who their actions were hurting?
vs. 3
I think this is the turn around verse where he begins to acknowledge that you can't please everyone. I think there is a realization that no matter how much he tries to change to meet the expectations of everyone around him.... he still comes home as the same person, and that's ok. Despite working so hard for the past 10 years to create such a name that would create such a frenzy for an album debut (and after working so hard to please every fan and critic) they will STILL point out his "shortcomings" and point out where he went wrong and what he could have/should have done better.
Ain't it like most people I'm no different
We love to talk on things we don't know about.
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"I'm a little nervous 'bout what you'll think when you see me in my swimming trunks."
I almost forgot. I laughed when I first heard the lyrics "Still can't find how to hold my hands". I immediately thought back to a video on YouTube and some of the comments. Scott was singing "For Today" with Jessica Lea Mayfield and just sort of letting his arms hang by his side. Innocent seeming enough, but some of the comments pointed towards how awkward it looked - the way he held his arms/hands.
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"I'm a little nervous 'bout what you'll think when you see me in my swimming trunks."
I could do with a thread like this for every song. Keep it up, you interpretive smarty-pants folks
I like the legal pad theory for the "yellow walls" line. It reminds me of a Wilco lyric "All I can see is black and white and white and pink with blades of blue that lay between the words I think on a page"
reminds me of Ricky Bobby not knowing how to hold his arms/hands when doing an interview
I always figured this song was about reading! That may sound really simple, but the Avett brothers can sing about really complex things and really simple things. That's what I love most about them!
The part where he says he still can't find out how to hold his hands, I always pictured myself and the way I hold a book and how my arms would grow tired and I would change the position of it. Back and forth between positions for hours on end.
The part about yellow walls I always imagine the pages of a book. The mirror being the content of the book itself and how he seems himself in the chracters and such.
I never imagined this was anything but about a man who simply loves to read, and stays in his room all the time doing it. People judge him and think he's been too much of a hermit, but when all is said and done he comes back to a good book and the outside world doesn't matter. Reading is where he feels at home.
Just my interpretation of it.