Suffering and Bliss

The View
By Modest Mouse

Your gun went off.
Well you shot off your mouth and look where it got you.
My mouth runs on too.

Shouts from both sides,
"Well we've got the land but they've got the view!"
Well now here's the clue.

Life it rents us.
And yeah I hope it put plenty on you.
Well I hope mine did too.

As life gets longer, awful feels softer.
Well it feels pretty soft to me.
And if it takes shit to make bliss,
then I feel pretty blissfully.

Your gun went off.
Well you shot off your mouth and look where it got you.
My mouth runs on too.

Shouts from both sides,
"Well we've got the land but they've got the view!"
Well now here's the clue.

We are fixed right where we stand.

Life it rents us.
And yeah I hope it put plenty on you.
Well I hope mine did too.

We are fixed right where we are.

As life gets longer, awful feels softer.
Well it feels pretty soft to me.
And if it takes shit to make bliss,
well I feel pretty blissfully.

For every invention made how much time did we save?
We're not much farther than we were in the cave.

As life gets longer, awful feels softer,
and it feels pretty soft to me.
And if it takes shit to make bliss,
well I feel pretty blissfully.

If life's not beautiful without the pain,
well I'd just rather never ever even see beauty again.
Well as life gets longer, awful feels softer.
And it feels pretty soft to me.

For every good deed done there is a crime committed.
We are fixed.
For every step ahead we could have just been seated.
We are fixed.

As life gets longer, awful feels softer.
Well it feels pretty soft to me.
And if it takes shit to make bliss,
well I feel pretty blissfully.

We are fixed.
We are fixed.
We are fixed right where we stand.

The other day in Mythologies, we talked about the purpose of suffering. On the way to campus last night, I was listening the the song "The View" by Modest Mouse and the line "it takes shit to make bliss" caught my attention. Therefore, suffering shows us bliss. If it weren't for pain we would not know pleasure. However, the song goes on to state "if life's not beautiful without the pain/Well I'd rather never ever even see beauty again," which suggests that the suffering we must endure is not worth the beauty we see in contrast. Upon further revision of these lyrics, I believe this song to be rather cynical. It is basically saying that we are not going anywhere and all of this suffering we do to get ahead means nothing. As we move ahead in life, we just don't notice the suffering as much-"awful feels softer."

One line of this song makes me think of Envy. "'Well we've got the land but they've got the view!'" This line demonstrates the propensity for humans never to be content. We always want what "they" have but we don't want to give up what we have to get that. In essence, we want everything. This discontented attitude leads to suffering, which in turn leads us to attempt to gain some level of contentment, which, according to this song, is pointless.

Although I may not fully agree with the points made in these lyrics, I do believe that it "takes shit to make bliss" and I also believe that "life's not beautiful without the pain." Without contrast between bad and good, every experience would be commonplace. No feeling would be exceptional. Thanks for the insight, Isaac Brock.