Modest Mouse: 3rd Planet Meaning
3rd Planet Lyrics
I've got this thing that I consider my only art of fucking people over.
My boss just quit the job,
Says he's goin' out to find blind spots, and he'll do it.
The 3rd Planet is sure that...
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1TOP RATED
#1 top rated interpretation:I love this song because it has both a personal and universal interpretation. Anglophilia already posted the simple interpretation, where an individual is trying to cope with problems in his life. (Specifically an abortion or stillbirth) The tricky thing about this song is from the universal view, the narrator and point of veiw changes from stanza to stanza.
So now I'm going to try and tackle the philosophical and universal ideas of creation, destruction, and infinity that Brock may have intended regarding Christianity, Atheism, and Agnosticism.
"Everything that keeps me together is falling apart
I've got this thing that I consider my only art of fucking people over."
Brock begins the song incredibly complicated. The speaker in this case is life itself. Purpose is what keeps life together. However, Brock recognizes that no matter what your purpose is, the only thing that life ultimately accomplishes is death, or as Brock so eloquently put "fucking people over." Thus, the purpose for life dissolves into death.
"My boss just quit the job
says he's goin out to find blind spots and he'll do it."
The boss of life is the individual, and the job is his or her purpose. Since Brock already made clear that regardless what your purpose is, in the end, it's irrelevant with death, the individual has given up. The blind spots present quite the conundrum. Later on Brock compares God to an all seeing eye, yet the individual wishes to hide from God, which of course would be impossible if God were truly the omnipotent being he's believed to be. Yet Brock clearly says "he's goin out to find blind spots and he'll do it," which infers one of the following: the individual can escape God's power, or there is no God to begin with. Both of which infer that God isn't omnipotent.
"The 3rd planet is sure that they're being watched
by an eye in the sky that can't be stopped.
When you get to the promise land
your gonna shake that eyes hand."
The 3rd planet refers to Earth, being the 3rd away from the sun. Brock recognizes that the majority of people believe in some sort of higher being and an after life. He relates God to an "eye in the sky that can't be stopped," since God is widely regarded as an omnipotent force that can "see" everything. Brock proceeds to describe the Christian interpretation of death. The only way to truly become one with God is through death and ascension to heaven, which Brock has substituted with "the promised land."
"Your heart felt good
it was drippin' pitch and made of wood.
And your hands and knees
felt cold and wet on the grass to me."
This passage is particularly difficult as it can be interpreted from two different narratives. The first speaker could be God speaking of Adam. From this view, "pitch" refers to black and "wood" is symbolic of hard. Seeing as Man betrayed God, his heart was black and hard, yet God could still forgive him. The next lines just elaborate God's appreciation for Man.
The other speaker can be inferred as the Earth. In this case "heart" refers to the heartwood of a tree (center of the trunk), and "pitch" means sap. Even in this interpretation, the heartwood is symbolic of Man's heart, and the pitch is symbolic of blood, portraying the Earth's appreciation for the life it has created.
"Well, outside naked, shiverin' looking blue, from the cold
sunlight that's reflected off the moon.
Baby cum angels fly around you
reminding you we used to be three and not just two.
And that's how the world began.
And that's how the world will end."
This is the Christian point of view. The first two lines of this stanza just tell us that some people were naked and cold. It's not until the line "we used to be three and not just two," do we realize who these people are. Adam and Eve were created in God's image, and of course, being the first human's, were naked. When they "used to be three" was when Adam and Even lived with God in Eden. When Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden tree they separated themselves from God, becoming just two. The world began with the Alpha and will end with the Omega. The two of which are one and the same.
"A 3rd had just been made and we were swimming in the
water
didn't know then was it a son was it a daughter.
When it occurred to me that the animals are swimming
around in the water in the oceans in our bodies
and another had been found another ocean on the planet
given that our blood is just like the Atlantic."
This stanza represents the scientific, Atheist view of the Earth. "A 3rd" refers to evolution, seeing as all creatures started in the water and evolved to land. The other ocean refers to human blood. It's "just like the Atlantic" in the sense that there are a billions things swimming around within us, just as there are billions of creatures in the ocean. This gives a feeling of insignificance of one cell to the body, on creature to Earth, and one planet to the Universe.
"Well, the universe is shaped exactly like the earth
if you go straight long enough you'll end up where you were.
And the universe is shaped exactly like the earth
if you go straight long enough you'll end up where you were.
The universe is shaped exactly like the earth."
Christians believe in creation, and Atheists in the big bang theory. This particular stanza is derived from an Agnostic point of view. Whether or not the Universe it literally shaped like the Earth is nongermane. Relevantly speaking, the idea that there is no end or beginning remains constant between the Universe and the Earth. Brock identifies that there is no distance that can be traveled to reach the ends of the Earth, just as there is no time that can be traveled, infinitely positive or negative, that will reach an end of the universe. In essence, although there is no amount of time that will arrive at infinity, if it could be done, there would no difference in traveling an infinity forwards or backwards in time.
Everything that keeps me together is falling apart
I've got this thing that I consider my only art of fucking people over."
Everything comes full circle. Even at the end of the song, “if you go in a straight line long enough you’ll end up where you were.” Nothing was really accomplished, life is still falling apart and at the end is still death. -
2TOP RATED
#2 top rated interpretation:The lyrics posted are for 'gravity rides everything' not third planet. I'm interpreting the lyrics that should be here.
The song is about an abortion. ‘Third Planet’ refers both to the third planet, Earth, and the unborn child, who would be a third body in the union of two. After the deed has been done the protagonist is swept up in all the potential that has been lost. At that stage of life there is, literally, a world of possibilities. The pattern of the lyrics is disjointed, suggesting stream of consciousness, and filled with flashbacks to the moment of conception, which is not regretted. Examples: “Outside naked, shivering looking blue, from the cold sunlight that’s reflected off the moon. And baby cum angels fly around you reminding you we used to be three and not just two.”
There can be no question of the amount of love held for this man’s lover. The unbridled guilt in Brock’s voice makes it clear that the mother is gentle and innocent, and above blame. In the reference to God and heaven: “The 3rd planet is sure that they’re being watched by an eye in the sky that can’t be stopped. When you get to the promise land your gonna shake that eyes hand.” The man is absolutely sure of his lover’s acceptance into heaven. There can be no way of knowing whether the abortion was the man’s idea or if he just takes on the blame because he had the power to stop it.
There’s no reason to labelt his an anti-abortion song, but it does let us feel what the guilt might be like. The song is prefaced with “My boss just quit the job says he’s goin out to find blind spots and he’ll do it.” Which suggests that God had to be ‘on vacation’ for this to be able to occur. The protagonist clearly feels awful, and so he screams blame at god for not stopping the abortion.
In general the common modest mouse themes creep up. References to the planets and gravity, and calling on God to explain His actions. -
I'm definitely leaning towards the stream of consciousness / abortion theme.I think the song is in the viewpoint of the man in the relationship, reflecting on the situation and specifically the night the couple slept together and how neither of them knew that she was pregnant.
"that's how the world began, and that's how the world will end"
I'd say the 'world' is the 3rd planet, aka the child.it began when the couple slept together and created the child. the child was conceived when their relationship was formed, and so when the child is aborted so is the relationship (or at least it isn't the same)
"Your heart felt good it was drippin pitch and made of wood. And your hands and knees felt cold and wet on the grass to me. Outside naked, shiverin' looking blue, from the cold sunlight that's reflected off the moon."
I think these lines are the man reflecting on how the woman looked the night he slept with her, and how he felt about her then.
"Everything that keeps me together is falling apart
i've got this thing that I consider my only art of fucking people over."
i think the first line is how he feels about this whole ordeal (he's falling apart, and nothing is helping)
the 'fucking people over' line strikes me as the death of the baby being by means of abortion. Because when he refers to himself as only being able to fuck people over, personally i think someone who isn't feeling guilty (like someone in a miscarriage situation) wouldn't say something like that, and it definitely sounds like something you'd say if you felt guilty or responsible for an abortion.the abortion fucked over the woman, himself and of course the child.
"A 3rd had just been made and we were swimming in the water, didn't know then was it a son was it a daughter"
the line "a 3rd has just been made" refers to how they had just slept together resulting in her being pregnant. the baby in this song is referred to as the 3rd planet/3rd. the second lines states that whilst swimming after sleeping together, niether the man nor woman knew the gender of the child, because they didn't she was pregnant until later - then they aborted the child.
"Baby cum angels fly around you reminding you we used to be three and not just two. "
i think this line is saying that the woman is having thoughts of the aborted child (baby cum angels fly around you), and she is reminded that her and the man had a child, but aborted it, (used to be 3 and not 2). I think they are both racked by guilt regardless of whether it was a good decision or not.
"The 3rd planet is sure that they're being watched by an eye in the sky that can't be stopped.
When you get to the promise land you're gonna shake that Eye's hand. "
I think the man is suspicious that the child knew that it was being watched by god. (god sees all,he also lives in heaven up in the sky apparently). this abortion can't be stopped, neither can god because he is all omnipotent. when the child is aborted it will go to heaven (the promised land) and the child will meet god (shake the eyes hand).
"My boss just quit the job says he's goin' out to find blind spots and he'll do it. "
I haven't interpreted any specific meaning so far, and I believe this to be just a general statement while he is reflecting on his life, specifically the abortion.
I'm sorry that everything is out of order, it's 3am and i just wanna get my interpretation out there as fast as possible. Have a good life.
In very poor summation: i think the man is pretty much saying that he is falling apart,and that all he does is fuck people over. his boss just quit the job. he thinks about how the child he conceived must have known god was watching it, and when it died it would have met god up in heaven to become an angel. he then thinks about the night him and the woman slept together.he reflects first on how they felt about each other, and then thinks about her features while she was naked in the cold shivering, wet from swimming she laid on the grass. he then snaps back to the current time frame and when he sees her he see that she is riddles by the thought of their dead child and how they used to be 3, and not 2.their relationship began that night, so did the child and when the child ended so did the essence of the relationship. he then thinks about how the child had just been conceived as they were swimming in the water. neither of them knew the gender of the child because they didn't know she was pregnant. he think about when it crossed his mind that the sperm and egg (the animals swimming in the ocean in their bodies) - anyway yes, when he realizes that the sperm fertilized the egg and she was pregnant, he in turn realizes that they'll have to abort the child.
I don't know how you guys will take how i interpret this song's lyrics, hopefully well -
You guys should read Plato's Symposium, that is surely where the meaning of the 3 and not a 2 is coming from.
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I love to read what people "think" the artist is saying. Bunch of damn psycho-babble. Let the artist interpret his own song.
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"While outside naked, shiverin', looking blue,
From the cold sunlight that's reflected off the moon
And baby cum angels fly around you"
thanks to this line, it is clear that the song is NOT about an abortion, rather a blue birth. the baby could not breath and died. babies do not come out shivering and blue from an abortion, if it can shiver its a lot too late to abort. -
I don't think that involving heaven in the miscarriage is not above brock although he doesn't believe in god he has explored various religions and said he wasn't opposed to religion, only he thinks christianity is crock, but I percieve brock as more as a athiestic leaning agnostic, similar to epicurus, in many ways he is like epicurus, seriously compare these mens philosophies, I believe it is most likely an abortion, or miscarriage, if it is the song implies a hope that the unborn is happy in some form, keep in mind hope is different then belief. Sorry for typos I typed on a phone
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@azn_lep- i think you may be a little off. Isaac Brock isn't religous at all. He thinks it's a crock and has said so. Think you need to find a new perspective.
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This song really speaks to me...
What I take away from it as losing a child...
When I read the lyrics it made it more obvious than ever...
First off if you have ever had a baby or loved someone so much that losing them would ruin your world. You will understand the:
"everything that keeps me together is falling apart"
and if you ever feel like you cant ever do right in a situation, even if you try to.
"i got this thing that I consider my only art of fucking people over"
"your heart felt good it was dripping of pitch and made of wood"
meaning the baby was healthy but so fragile still.
"well outside naked shiverin looking blue from the cold sunlight that reflected off the moon" meaning he's outside of the womb the baby is in probably with the mommy at night.
And my favorite line of them all
"baby cum angels fly around you, reminding me we use to be three and not just two, and thats how the world began, and that's how the world will end."
meaning their baby is now an angel that watches them and everyday they are reminded of him or her and that's how their love life probably began and it will probably end with a baby...
And in my opinion it was an abortion but that's what I got from "didn't know then was it a son was it a daughter?"
3rd planet was the baby... -
Yeah it could be about abortion. It could also be about miscarriage too, which is probably worse.
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Oh, and "when you get to The Promise Land, you're gonna shake the eye's hand" is sarcastic. It's telling the judgers not to judge. Thanks and goodnight.
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It's not about abortion. It's about a divorced family. That used to be three and not just two. Contemplating life and how it will change. Going back through time from when she was pregnant and things were good until now...when they split up. Two again.
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