Porcupine Tree's psychedelic lyrics

Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic

What percentage of Porcupine Tree's psychedelic lyrics actually mean anything? E.g. "afterwards that I find that I'm not there". Is this mystical or just plain nonsense.

Author	Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic
condor Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: May 24 2005 Location: Norwich Status: Offline Points: 1069	Topic: Porcupine Tree's psychedelic lyrics Posted: July 29 2015 at 10:39
	What percentage of Porcupine Tree's psychedelic lyrics actually mean anything? E.g. "afterwards that I find that I'm not there". Is this mystical or just plain nonsense.

Pastmaster Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: January 23 2015 Location: Spiderwood Farm Status: Offline Points: 1774	Posted: July 29 2015 at 11:44
	Well I know they started out as a joke band, so much of the material on 'On the Sunday of Life...' is humorous. Although I've always felt 'Radioactive Toy' has a message in there somewhere, but who knows. I'm not sure about the lyrics on 'Up the Downstair' and 'Sky Moves Sideways'.

Meltdowner Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: June 25 2013 Location: Portugal Status: Offline Points: 10215	Posted: July 29 2015 at 11:49
	I was never conscious enough to pay attention to the lyrics

surrogate people Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Groupie Joined: October 02 2013 Location: uruguay Status: Offline Points: 45	Posted: July 30 2015 at 19:40
	Well, they might be saying nothing, but they say nothing with feel
	Surrogate People they walk on by, they walk on by When they replace you They live your life, they live your life

Catcher10 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member VIP Member Joined: December 23 2009 Location: Emerald City Status: Offline Points: 17487	Posted: July 30 2015 at 20:29
	...large volumes of hallucinogenics... (wait I think I used that answer in another thread too..)


Horizons Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: January 20 2011 Location: Somewhere Else Status: Offline Points: 16952	Posted: July 30 2015 at 22:42
	You're kidding right? Mystical? Nonsense? Plus you took a line out of context Sometimes I feel like a fist Sometimes I am the colour of air Sometimes it's only afterwards I find that I'm not there It's obvious that the person is feeling insignificant, empty, transparent, regretful maybe, etc etc Closed, tight, stuck in the ways - like a fist transparent, blank, etc etc like the air and then after the fact the person realizes he hasnt actually been either himself or truly experiencing the world - he hasn't there.
	Crushed like a rose in the riverflow.

dr wu23 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: August 22 2010 Location: Indiana Status: Offline Points: 20451	Posted: July 31 2015 at 13:22
	I never thought of PT as having 'psychedelic' lyrics though the first 2 or 3 albums might qualify . Wilson certainly has some 'mysticism' here and there but a lot of his lyrics are about 'disfunctional' people and or 'outsiders'. Edited by dr wu23 - July 31 2015 at 13:22
	One does nothing yet nothing is left undone. Haquin

Tom Ozric Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Prog Reviewer Joined: September 03 2005 Location: Olympus Mons Status: Offline Points: 15916	Posted: August 01 2015 at 16:47
	I find that any lyric which 'doesn't make sense' or in this case 'Psychedelic', usually come across to me as 'abstract'. It's clever use of words whic flow together yet don't necessarily mean anything. What's with Dislocated Day, where a starfish leads the dance ?? And I doubt very much Wilson has touched a drug in his life. Let's chew on some light bulbs, shall we......?

Aussie-Byrd-Brother Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: October 12 2011 Location: Melb, Australia Status: Offline Points: 7951	Posted: August 01 2015 at 17:03
	Definitely not a good example of `mystical or just plain nonsense' with that `Sky Moves Sideways' quote! But if you're talking stuff like `Lynton Samuel Dawson', `Jupiter Island', etc off the first allbum, and maybe parts of `Yellow Hedgerow Dreamscape', that's fair. But pretty much even from that first proper album (as someone a bit further up mentioned `Radioactive Toy'), the lyrics Wilson started using were vague, cryptic and subtle, but full of vivid imagery and poignant observations and musings. There's nothing really `silly' that shows up right from the superb `Up The Downstair' onwards. And for the record, `On The Sunday of Life' is a terrific album, that Delirium Records era of the band was so special!