Chevelle: Glimpse of the Con Meaning
Glimpse of the Con Lyrics
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1TOP RATED
#1 top rated interpretation:Essentially, it's speaking of those who refuse, despite overwhelming evidence, to see the good in this world and hope for an afterlife. It refers to them as "Savants". "don't weep, not for us, lost savants". These ignorant people who are extremely intelligent, are presented as disabled (hence Savants) because they choose to deny eternity in heaven, or rather the possibility of it altogether, despite it being the only reasonable conclusion to come to. "Send help for the damned". So they almost view themselves as lost causes. They're simply too stubborn to accept the truth, even though they know it is. "it's just a glimpse of the con from beyond". The Con being that this world can satisfy you and is the only life you will have or need.
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2TOP RATED
#2 top rated interpretation:It's about people and their inspiration (ex. what keeps them motivated to get them up in the morning everyday). Religion is the basis of a lot of people's lives, no matter what you believe. Religion has always given people something to work for (ex. Heaven). Pete is mainly talking about the people who are stuck between religion and what their intellectual self tells them. "Lost savants." They're basically stuck in a never ending battle to find the truth, which they'll never end up finding. They still however convince themselves of the thought of there being the possibility of a god. "I woke to hear a night owl way upon next hoax to pass the time he'd say is anybody there." He uses the example of an owl, because one they're a symbol of wisdom, and two they sit in trees a lot at night continuously 'hooing' away. He's saying that people continue throughout life by pretending that there's a god even though they're uncertain and agnostic about the idea; that they may aswell be religious.
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Hand over every
Last hope, to find
Your in Prison Now, with true beasts and crazies and guards can’t afford to care , you’re in hell
One mask for every
Halo, divine
Many cons in there, long timers spend much of their time figuring a way to exploit the newbies to gain goods and on the other hand there are good people locked up that made a mistake , not monsters.
In ways known to others
The same hopes run together
There are still newbies that group together
So many eyes now
Way too many to count down
So many old prisoners are watching the newbies as they enter, waiting to con or exploit them for exchange of goods
I fight to reach the surface
And then I'm passing out
As a newbie in the prison system, you have to team up or keep to yourself if even allowed to , it’s a whole other world that even a partial guilty prisoner is now sharing a cell with druggies, murderers, etc
In ways known to others
The same hopes run together
Other newbies share the same experiences find other newbies and cling for some hope until they figure out all is lost
Don't weep, not for long
Lost savants
Between this fight and a wall
Don’t weep for us sinners, we are prisoners held between 4 walls and there's nothing to be done about it
Peel those layers away
Send help for the damned
Prison life for newbies will break you down, any help will suffice
It's just a glimpse of the con from beyond.
The con is the lifers constantly looking for the next victim to scam and the justice system is not perfect- some prosecutors force a plea without investigating in order to move on to the next
I woke to hear a night owl
Way upon next hoax
Other Prisoners holler at the guards at night-sometimes constantly to get attention
To pass the time he'd say
Is anybody there
Pass the time in prison, questioning if God hears him in case prayers are truly answered
Don't weep, not for us
Lost savants
Between this fight and a wall
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My interpretation is that this song is about addiction. Glimpse of the con is believing we are stuck in the struggles of addiction. The con is the very fact that we can and do survive the con of addiction. The savant is the individual person feeling sorry for themselves or falling back into the ever holding you down struggle. Maybe I'm wrong maybe I'm not. But that's the best thing about music. There's never just one explanation.
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When I heard this song I didn't consider that they were using con as though referring to people as cons. But rather the idea that we are being conned. When I first heard this song I wondered if Chevelle had lost faith, referring to the afterlife as the con from beyond. Well, regardless of the meaning this is one of the rare Chevelle songs that I would describe as beautiful. Even hauntingly so. Perhaps even more so than their Highland's Apparition. I like a lot of their music, but not for the qualities present in this song. Yet it's currently one of my favorites.
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I agree with the comments on here, to add to what's been said, I believe during the nice interlude/bridge when he says, "Don't wait up
Its too close to know
Don’t wait up
Its too close to care
Don’t wait up
Its too close to tell
Don't wait"
He is speaking on the skeptics of the afterlife, both for and against it. Any topic worth debating really, he believes death and our ultimate end is too close to know, care, and tell about the afterlife and trying to get all the answers. He uses hope "In ways known to others, the same hopes run together." That we all want peace, regardless of the ways known to others. We all have the same hope for peace in the end. Beautiful song. -
*not* sorry for the typo, I submitted on my phone.
Also just want to clarify the meaning of the term 'savant'
Especially in this case, it means the scholars/scientists who fight tooth and nail against the idea of afterlife. They're "long lost" beings because they are essentially fighting for nothing.. literally.. nothing after life.
As stated, later in the song it interchanges "long lost savants" with "us lost savants" which could mean the more we analyze, the more our doubts come out. In this day and age of instant research, we become savants just as much as these scholars/scientists. -
This song isn't depicting a particular side, regarding afterlife. It repeats the line "Don't weep, bot for long lost savants (for us lost savants later on) between this fight and a wall." The fight being the debate between afterlife possibility.
It sounds like someone looking for answers.
The song starts out saying "Hand over ever last hope to find a mask for every Halo divine."
To me, this depicts frustration. For every good person and reason to believe in afterlife, there's either a phony (mask) or reason not to believe.
And of course, the title of the song "It's just a glimpse of the con from beyond." I understand this line as looking at our lives from beyond the grave. Maybe it's suggesting no matter what, we're all cons or sinful, deserving people at the end of our lives. But either way, both paths lead to the same fate. Whether it's afterlife or nothing, there is a truth somewhere and he doesn't have much hope as a result. "In ways known to others, the same hopes run together."
I've been listening to this song non-stop for a couple days now and uncover something new all the time.
The next thing I'm looking at is the whole night owl and hoax depiction. I think it means it's so hard to find truth anymore with a new hoax surfacing all the time. It sounds like he begins to lose hope as the song goes on, but clings to his hope as the title of the song is repeated more at the end. -
Pretty sure it's the opposite.
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