Axons and Dendrites
Shipping News Lyrics
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Millions of jet black eyes blinking over the buttocks of Nebraska
They are an iris-shaped cell that won’t let you live without being alive
Hope for warm bodies
In the nerve spans a tunnel, three 1971 humans
Omaha, Lyon, Omaha, Lyon
They hover, they are helicopters that shave the shale-like atrophy off a jack-hammer heart
Up on the ridge, an upended Hemingway-like Himalaya
A cardiac crest that trusts and coils, swirls
Over car alarms, stray dogs, plastic bags, implosions, and cold bodies
Hope for cold bodies
The lyrics of Shipping News's song "Axons and Dendrites" are an evocative and poetic exploration of the intersections between biology, technology, and the human experience. In the opening lines, the pepper shade of light burning brightest in the sky seems to symbolize the intense energy and potentiality that we can experience through the workings of our own neural pathways. Similarly, the millions of "jet black eyes" blinking over the "buttocks" of Nebraska suggest a kind of omniscience or cosmic awareness that is embedded in our bodies at a cellular level.
From there, the lyrics move into more concrete images and references to specific places and times. The "nerve" that spans a tunnel, with its three humans from 1971 hovering like helicopters, is a potent metaphor for the way that our own nervous system connects and communicates with the wider world around us. The heart is described as a "jack-hammer", suggesting the intensity and relentlessness of our emotional lives, while the "upended Hemingway-like Himalaya" on the ridge is a striking image of our own capacity for transformation and transcendence.
The final lines of the song, with their reference to "cold bodies" and the hope associated with them, are perhaps the most mysterious and enigmatic. It's possible to read them as a meditation on mortality, with the suggestion that even in death there is the potential for something new and vital to emerge. Alternatively, they could be seen as a commentary on the way that our physical bodies are constantly changing and renewing themselves, with death as just one more step in that ongoing process of transformation.
Overall, "Axons and Dendrites" is a deeply introspective and thought-provoking song, filled with rich imagery and powerful emotions.
Line by Line Meaning
In the sky, a pepper shade of light burns brightest
There is a bright light in the sky with a shade of pepper that stands out.
Millions of jet black eyes blinking over the buttocks of Nebraska
There are many black eyes that blink over Nebraska.
They are an iris-shaped cell that won’t let you live without being alive
The iris-shaped cell is necessary for living.
Hope for warm bodies
There is hope for warm bodies.
In the nerve spans a tunnel, three 1971 humans
There are three humans from 1971 in a nerve tunnel.
Omaha, Lyon, Omaha, Lyon
The humans in the nerve tunnel are traveling between Omaha and Lyon.
They hover, they are helicopters that shave the shale-like atrophy off a jack-hammer heart
The humans in the nerve tunnel hover like helicopters and remove atrophy from a heart like a jack-hammer.
Up on the ridge, an upended Hemingway-like Himalaya
There is a ridge that resembles an upended Hemingway-like Himalaya.
A cardiac crest that trusts and coils, swirls
The ridge has a trustful and coiling cardiac crest that swirls.
Over car alarms, stray dogs, plastic bags, implosions, and cold bodies
There are many things the cardiac crest is over, including car alarms, stray dogs, plastic bags, implosions, and cold bodies.
Hope for cold bodies
There is hope for cold bodies.
Contributed by Kennedy B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.