Lyric analysis (religion in 311)

[wbrycew]

There is a part of the lyrics of Neverending Summer that is confusing to me. Tell me if any of you guys have an opinion on this.

Can this all be real?
Find it so bizarre
Can this all be real?
Orbiting a star
Find it too intense to be a coincidence
I don't think you gotta let go of common sense

Nick is saying that us orbiting a star is too intense to be a coincidence. This implies that if it's not a coincidence, then there is some form of design behind it. He's even saying that it's common sense that it's not a coincidence. This viewpoint is of someone who's religious or into Intelligent Design.

I was always under the impression based on Nick's past lyrics that he's an atheist that is critical of religion (Seems Uncertain and Electricity for instance). These lyrics from Neverending Summer seem to convey something different. Any atheist or non-religious person knows that we orbit a star due simply to gravity and it is a complete coincidence that our planet is where it is.

Does anybody have any idea about Nick's religious viewpoints? I recall a Q&A question where the band said something along the lines of all members having different viewpoints, but not giving any specifics as to who believes what.

And while we're at it... does anyone have any examples of the religious viewpoints of any other members? P-Nut used to wear that "Fuck Christianity" t-shirt, so we know where he stands. SA seems to have some negative views about Christianity ("more than 2,000 years of fucking with our fears") and he seems to have spiritual new-age beliefs based on a lot of his Transistor lyrics. Tim and Chad I don't have the slightest idea about (but I would be more likely to believe that they were atheists than theists).

[JonnyG24]

Nicks a Scientologist

[wbrycew]

Nicks a Scientologist

Ha, dude I would be pissed. That is the one religion that I cannot stand at all.

[CatCity]

man for the longest time i thought they were Buddhists

[greenmonkey911]

SA and Nick are getting into existential philosophy (not mutually exclusive with Buddhism). They talked about it briefly on the Road to 311 Day dvd.

"more than 2000 years of fucking with our fears" - Christianity has not been around that long.

[wbrycew]

SA and Nick are getting into existential philosophy (not mutually exclusive with Buddhism). They talked about it briefly on the Road to 311 Day dvd.

"more than 2000 years of fucking with our fears" - Christianity has not been around that long.

The year is 2009 AD. That is a rough approximation of the amount of years since Jesus. It's been roughly 2,000 years since the birth of Christianity. People were prohpesying about Jesus's arrival for many many years before that. Do you have a more plausible idea about what SA is referencing?

[Station]

Christianity just comes from Judaism, which has been around longer than 2000 years. The Old Testament is pretty scary.

[wbrycew]

Christianity just comes from Judaism, which has been around longer than 2000 years. The Old Testament is pretty scary.

Exactly. I can't think of anything else that SA would be referring to in those lyrics.

[Vibe Merchant]

I think I remember us talking a long time ago about SA being a choir boy when he was younger.
I don't see why it would make you mad if they found a religion. It should just make you like them less.
Fuck god.

[wbrycew]

I think I remember us talking a long time ago about SA being a choir boy when he was younger.
I don't see why it would make you mad if they found a religion. It should just make you like them less.
Fuck god.

I only said I'd be pissed if Nick was a Scientologist. I would hardly call that a religion. It's more of a cult than anything.

I would be disappointed, but not mad, if the members of 311 were religious.

[$lmjimy311]

id be pissed if they were scientologists, it would be hard to take them seriously. but then again, beck has always been a scientologist and after i found out about that i didnt really stop listening to him

[Nate]

it would be hard to take them seriously

yeah, but don't you believe in God? I find that even more ridiculous.

Anyway, what is the point of getting wrapped up in their personal lives? Did you forget that they are musicians? Music is greater than the people who make it.

[wbrycew]

it would be hard to take them seriously

yeah, but don't you believe in God? I find that even more ridiculous.

Anyway, what is the point of getting wrapped up in their personal lives? Did you forget that they are musicians? Music is greater than the people who make it.

It can definitely change how you interpret lyrics if you have an understanding about the beliefs of the person who wrote them. That's why I'm interested. Lyric interpretation is a fun part of appreciating music, at least to me.

[FreeRayLiotta]

nick is just regurgitating something a lot of scientists like Einstein and Steven hawking have said.

The more you study physics and the universe, the more evident is that there is a greater order and design to it all.

[oldschool311]

the fact that we are alive is enough evidence for me that there is a god.
this very existence and our inability to understand it shows the shear complexity that intertwines it.
you might not believe, but to be so convinced otherwise seems to be a dreary and hollow means to an end.
without god, all acts of morals,grace,kindness,honesty,generosity, ect are empty and hold no merit.
i don't believe all is meaningless survival.
i don't believe that man reasons for no reason at all.
but thats me.

[FrixHex311]

more than 2000 years of fucking with our fears- i always thought i was about aliens. but i have no clue

[KyleRayner]

there is something bigger than us out there and whether or not it is god or what have you, its there. science can't explain everything. the big bang only takes you back to the beginning of the universe but what about before that. science can explain a lot, even back to the very instant after the big bang, but not before. and the big bang is still only really a theory anyways, just a very well respected one. and honestly is believing in scientology really that much crazier than believing in a talking burning bush, water into wine, or believing that the earth was created 6,000 years ago or that you can get pregnant without having sex(don't get technical with me here, you know what i mean).

[Homebrew311]

without god, all acts of morals,grace,kindness,honesty,generosity, ect are empty and hold no merit.

That's just ridiculous. So you're saying that there is no point in being decent to others without the expectation of being rewarded in the afterlife?

[KyleRayner]

oops meant to comment on that too. yeah that is ridiculous. if the only reason you are nice and good is so you will get into heaven, you are going to hell if there is one

[greenmonkey911]

oops meant to comment on that too. yeah that is ridiculous. if the only reason you are nice and good is so you will get into heaven, you are going to hell if there is one

how perfectly ironic