Soft Atlas
13 & God Lyrics


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A vision:

your ghost blowing up globes.
Tightening them off with an x-axis-esque see-clamp,
Then setting them down through the clouds
Onto empty department store shelves.
Where they sit facing all sorts of islands
Out toward dead wee-hour isles.

has the earth come loose from its galactic neck beneath you.
Cut off above the clouds
Gone let go from the space surround it
Dropped down done to the sun system's floor
Crooked pearl of the one universe
Cleaved, fell rolling toward a corner of the cosmos
In the blacked and quiet of come time

"and you are all lamb, for this."

spring is at your back again
This time rare with your clarity...
While patches of you thought whole
Had turned up still.
Made a tar of your woe
And flesh there in

have you gone half dead...

yet...yet have you to let the worst most be
As if it were atlas to your world of cope.

and no one is out there scared
You'd set your eyes off one the ceiling all night
In the dark
Think of a song or maybe breasts
Or missing body parts

"without a universal law there is no gravity
Without a gravity there is no atmosphere




Without an atmosphere there is no chance at life
And with no chance at life...i don't exist."

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of "Soft Atlas" by 13 & God deliver intricate and eerie imagery, with the opening lines setting a strange tone. The first vision describes a ghost manipulating globes, placing them on store shelves. It's unclear whether the globes represent Earth or some abstract idea, but the sense of detachment is palpable. The lines "has the earth come loose from its galactic neck beneath you" suggest a loss of grounding or connection, with the Earth cut off from its surroundings, floating in space. The visceral imagery of the Earth falling in slow motion towards the corner of the cosmos creates a sense of chaos and disorientation. The line "and you are all lamb, for this" is cryptic but seems to suggest the helplessness of individuals in the face of larger cosmic forces.


The second half of "Soft Atlas" takes a more introspective turn, with lines like "have you gone half dead" and "as if it were atlas to your world of cope" suggesting feelings of numbness and a struggle to carry on in the face of personal struggles. The line "without a universal law there is no gravity" is intriguing as it grapples with the idea of universal truth and the possibility that reality is subjective. The final line "And with no chance at life...I don't exist" is both chilling and thought-provoking, raising questions about our own existence and the significance of it all.


Line by Line Meaning

A vision: your ghost blowing up globes.
You see a vision of your ghost blowing up globes.


Tightening them off with an x-axis-esque see-clamp,
The globes are being held tightly with a clamp that looks like an x-axis.


Then setting them down through the clouds Onto empty department store shelves.
The globes are being set down on empty department store shelves after passing through the clouds.


Where they sit facing all sorts of islands Out toward dead wee-hour isles.
The globes are facing several islands and dead isles in the wee hours of the night.


has the earth come loose from its galactic neck beneath you.
The earth has come loose from its position in the galaxy.


Cut off above the clouds Gone let go from the space surround it Dropped down done to the sun system's floor Crooked pearl of the one universe Cleaved, fell rolling toward a corner of the cosmos In the blacked and quiet of come time.
The earth has been cut off above the clouds and dropped down to the sun system's floor. It falls crookedly towards a corner of the cosmos and the surroundings are black and quiet.


"and you are all lamb, for this."
You are all helpless and vulnerable.


spring is at your back again This time rare with your clarity... While patches of you thought whole Had turned up still. Made a tar of your woe And flesh there in
Spring has returned and you are feeling clear. However, parts of you that you thought were whole have not healed and are still causing you pain.


have you gone half dead... yet...yet have you to let the worst most be As if it were atlas to your world of cope.
You feel like you are only half alive. You need to face your troubles head-on instead of letting them weigh you down.


and no one is out there scared You'd set your eyes off one the ceiling all night In the dark Think of a song or maybe breasts Or missing body parts
You feel like no one else is scared like you are. You spend your nights staring at the ceiling, thinking about different things to distract yourself from your fears.


"without a universal law there is no gravity Without a gravity there is no atmosphere Without an atmosphere there is no chance at life And with no chance at life...i don't exist."
Without universal laws, the world as we know it cannot exist. Life is contingent on things like gravity and atmosphere, and without life, we would not exist.




Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: ADAM DRUCKER, DAX PIERSON, JEFFREY LOGAN, MARKUS ACHER, MARTIN GRETSCHMANN, MICHAEL ANTON ACHER

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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Comments from YouTube:

Zonkoko

This is art.

Common Dominator

Absolutely amazing. ANTICON!!!

Steven Hill

this is the sickest/ trippiest music video ive seen in my life, i love it

Will Meyer

On some nice, clean LSD the other night and just heard this song for the first time. It made the night even more enjoyable. What an amazing song.

Barbara Hustle

love it

Hank K. Douglas

great song!

aladaris

I love this song

Alejandro Nicolez

Loved this song for years but can't remember who introduced me to this particular song and thusly the group. Had a massive brain blank the other day trying to name the song as I've a beat that is nice but doesn't seem to be overly accommodating to vocals and I want to try the lyrics in this sort of style and hope it blends a bit better than my old reggie style. Remembered the name when I sobered up though. Awesome.

TEDOBEATS 1979

Beautiful!!

DF

the notwist is amazing

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