Modest Mouse: Bukowski Meaning

Bukowski Lyrics

Woke up this morning and it seemed to me, that every night turns out to be a little bit more like Bukowski. And yeah, I know he's a pretty good read. But God who'd wanna be? God who'd wanna be such an asshole? God who'd wanna be? God who'd wanna...

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   #1 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Mar 31st 2008 !⃝

   In Bukowski Brock is not bluntly stating that he hates God but rather that he's more disappointed in the fact that people, (himself), go through so much shit alone. "Well all that icing and all that cake, I can't make it to your wedding but I'll sure be at your wake..." is Brock becoming more and more like the poet/author Charles Bukowski cynically stating that he's not going to be there for all the good times but when shit gets thick he's going to be there. Bukowski was an asshole and the last line of teh song, "He would want to be such an asshole...I fucked up the last line." was Brocke's own fuck up because he thinks that only an "asshole" could control a world with so much pain in it.

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   #2 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   May 6th 2009 !⃝

   Singer is unhappy that his life has become more like Bukowski's life. Bukowski was described as such: a certain taboo male fantasy: the uninhibited bachelor, slobby, anti-social, and utterly free. The singer feels like he has become anti-social (thus he doesn't want to listen to people) and uninhibited. Since Bukowski was so free and slobby, which made him seem like an asshole to many people, the singer is upset that God still has control over his life even though he is becoming more like Bukowski. How can he be really free to be an asshole when God is such a control freak?

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   #3 top rated interpretation:
   johnbasedow211

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   Oct 12th 2007 !⃝

   This song is more of Isaac being depressed about how God made life miserable and meaningless for most people. ("9 times out of 10 our hearts just get dissolved.")Isaac is also depressed that his life is getting similar to Bukoski's. Because Isaac doesn't understand the meaning of Gods plain he becomes very cynical and a little more evil. - "evil me, oh yeah I know...I can't make it to your wedding but ill be sure to make it to your wake."
4. anonymous

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   May 14th 2018 !⃝

   Go listen to Jonathan Richman's song, Picasso.
5. anonymous

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   Oct 27th 2017 !⃝

   They are not trying to symbolize both Bukowski and God as different entities but instead use them as similes for themselves. No doubt, if you're here you have come to realize that Modest mouse is very philosophical; so, when they say "who could be such an asshole," they are talking about how they contradict and belittle their fan's ideologies. Just as well when they speak about "Who could be such a control freak," they talk about how they force their own philosophies upon the listener without any room for that of the listener's.
6. anonymous

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   Apr 16th 2015 !⃝

   How could one "Great, All-Powerful Being" allow such terror & horror in the world which that being created? Why create something as grand as Earth and let it fall apart? Allow people to hurt & suffer? These are the questions I believe they are trying to find answers to in this song. We can't ask God so they use Bukowski's life as an example of a man who is broken & hurt & has experienced a life that many would consider was filled with evil.
7. anonymous

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   Feb 28th 2012 !⃝

   He is upset at God (who he doesnt believe exists, its just a hypothetical scenario in which his life is the same but god does exist) because his life is turing to shit and he is becoming sinical however god only fixes other people problems even when he sacrifices things to god("See what you want to see" says god only fixes what he wants to fix. "you should see it all" is brock saying fix everything. "Take what you want from me, you deserve it all" is his ironic/satirical way of saying ive given you all this and you wont fix my problems?)
   
   Brock says the majority of the time(nine times out of 10) everything just gets fucked over for him and hes never there durng the good times(all that icing and all that cake? I wont make it to your wedding... what hes saying is that he wants the cake but he wont be there for it.)
   
   Many ancient civilization believe the liver is the center of the source of life, which is why when Brock says we sat on the river and the crowd screamed "Sacrifice the liver" they wanted gods will and kill. He then goes on to say If god takes life hes an indian giver, which i believe is because when something was killed native americans would use the whole body for tools as not let it go to waste and to thanks the body. The most practical and humane way to deal with a body. But the worshippers want the body for a sacrifice and tell them never to use it(hence the phrase:"Tell me why you tell me never?")
   
   In short, if god controls everything than why is it when we try to make him happy he makes us miserable and die?
8. abcdefg

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   Apr 8th 2007 !⃝

   In this song brock is talking about the writer Bukowski. The lines "God who'd wanna be such an asshole" refers to bukowski who tended to be an a-hole twords people and life in general. Alot of poems that burkowski wrote were about his life and how he drank a lot and gambled.
9. anonymous

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   Dec 7th 2006 !⃝

   Bukowski is about how brock feels about god (which he doesn't believe in). with lines like "if god gives life he's an indian giver" and "if god is mighty well my problem that I can't see, well who would want to be such a control freak" storngly show how brock hates god, calling it an asswhole. Also the Bukowski and his alcholism referance is showing that the horrible world, which god could change, makes people depressed which leads to alchol/drug abuse.

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
10. anonymous

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    Aug 30th 2006 !⃝

    This song is about the belief in an omnipotent/omniscient god generally, aside from organized religion, and its improbability. The idea that a being would create a world in which s/he would control every small detail in everyone's life, especially given the tragedy that many suffer, is what's brought to bear here. The being would have to be not only a control freak, but mean spirited. It's a pretty cogent argument actually.
11. anonymous

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    Nov 11th 2005 !⃝

    Bukowski is the poet. This song is about how organized religion, and god himself fell short of what they are supposed to accomplish. People like Bukoski should not exist in a land where "God controls the land and sea and keeps a watchful eye on me."
12. anonymous

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    Nov 2nd 2005 !⃝

    Bukowski was a writer who drank all the time and had many women. His poems rationalized that kind of life. Brock says who would want to live like that and that life has a little more meaning than staying drunk 24/7 and fucking.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway

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