Nick Currie (born February 11, 1960 in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, UK)… Read Full Bio ↴Nick Currie (born February 11, 1960 in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, UK), more popularly known under the artist name Momus (after the Greek god of mockery), is a songwriter, writer, blogger and artist. Most of his songs are self-referential or postmodern.

For more than twenty years he has been releasing, to only marginal commercial and critical success, playful and transgressive albums on labels in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Japan. In his lyrics and his other writing he makes seemingly random use of decontextualized pieces of continental (mostly French) philosophy, and has built up a personal world he says is "dominated by values like diversity, orientalism, and a respect for otherness." He is also known in certain circles outside the U.S. as a producer. He is fascinated by identity, Japan, the avant-garde, time travel and sex. Live Momus shows are rare but when he does perform he often sings the crowd favourite 'maf' from the Stars Forever LP.
He wears a patch over his right eye because he lost the use of it after contracting acanthamoeba keratitis from a contact lens case washed with Greek tap water.

Nick Currie currently resides in Osaka, Japan.

Thatness and Thereness
Momus Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Slow-motion repeat of breaking glass
Fear creeping up from behind
A slide into corruption
A train of thought stops all along the way
From start to goal
Easy to understand
Thatness, thereness
A grid of time in view

Deep blue metal
Undulating rise and fall
We're hiding ourselves
Don't want to see ourselves
But still desire persists for self-injury
Through exposure to reality
Thatness, thereness
A deep blue rush in time

Slow-motion repeat of breaking glass
Fear creeping up from behind
A slide into corruption
A train of thought stops all along the way
From start to goal
Easy to understand

Thatness, thereness
A grid of time in view

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of the song 'Thatness and Thereness' by Momus revolve around the idea of self-deception and the persistent desire for self-injury despite being aware of the consequences. The repetition of the lines "Slow-motion repeat of breaking glass, fear creeping up from behind, a slide into corruption," creates a sense of anxiety and unease, emphasizing the idea of being on the brink of a perilous event. The reference to a "train of thought" stopping along the way, suggests that the singer is diverting or suppressing his thoughts to avoid confronting painful realities.

Line by Line Meaning

Slow-motion repeat of breaking glass
The feeling of destruction, displayed through the slow replay of a violent visual.

Fear creeping up from behind
A feeling of constant anxiety or dread, lurking in the background and slowly approaching

A slide into corruption
A gradual descent into moral decay or dishonest behavior

A train of thought stops all along the way
Thoughts being derailed by a variety of distractions or obstacles

From start to goal
The journey from beginning to end, from idea to completion.

Easy to understand
The clarity and straightforwardness of a concept or idea.

Thatness, thereness
The here and now, the physical experience of being present in existence.

A grid of time in view
The perception or visualization of time as a set of interconnected intervals, expressed through the metaphor of a grid.

Deep blue metal
A cold, hard, and unyielding material, associated with emotions such as sadness or melancholy.

Undulating rise and fall
A cycle of fluctuating emotions or experiences, with periods of highs and lows.

We're hiding ourselves
A sense of avoidance or concealment of one's true self or emotions.

Don't want to see ourselves
A willful ignorance or denial of one's own flaws or negative qualities.

But still desire persists for self-injury
Despite the avoidance of personal growth or self-reflection, there is a subconscious compulsion towards self-destructive behavior.

Through exposure to reality
Only by facing the hard truths of life and confronting one's emotions and flaws can personal growth and healing occur.

A deep blue rush in time
The experience of emotions or events as a visceral, intense rush through time, reminiscent of the color blue.

Contributed by Xavier K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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