Any Guesses to what Mote is about?
 

I love this song,I've played it numerous times. Its one of the best off goo. Im happy to say I got to hear it live, but i have never been able to fully grasp what its about.Has Lee ever said anything about the origin of this song?

"When you see the spiral turning for you alone
And you feel so heavy that you just can't stop it
When this sea of madness turns you into stone
A picture of your life shoots like a rocket
All the time


I'm down in the daytime out of sight
Comin' in from dreamland I'm on fire
I can see it's all been here before
Dream a dream that lies right at your door

When the seasons circle sideways out of turn
And words don't speak just fall across the carpet
You're just in time to watch the fires burn
It seems a crime but yr face is bright you love it
All the time.....

I think he's talking about being on a heavy drug trip, the lyrics are so inspired though,i love them.

My favorite song. Brilliant lyrics and Insane riffs.

+1 on that

Isn't based on the book the Eye-Mote or something?

[poem] 'the eye-mote' by sylvia plath indeed...

Weed. Mota is spanish for pot I believe.

too bad the song's not called 'mota'!

I love this song so much. I don't have a clue what the lyrics mean, but I love them.

You win.

You gotta watch the motin' Thurston

Some of my favorite lyrics ever, because of the imagery, rather than any perceived meaning. It always gave me the impression of frustration over a woman he couldn't have. I'm not sure there's any basis for that, and it's probably not true. The word "mote" means a small particle of something.

He does say "a mote inside my eye" in the song. Now, I have to check out that poem! The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath, was an interesting read.

in a bootleg from 2004 (i believe, give or take a year) he introduces the song as "The Eye Mote"

Yes, it was during the show at Radio France, April 2006 (Le Mouv' session) if I'm not mistaken. It's obviously inspired by Plath's poem

he introduces the song as 'the eye-mote' more often than not.

Yeah, we're all prepped for this one...no new ground covered this time around either...good, I guess, to see you still care at all, Lawrence and Kegmama.

It's poetry...read the lyrics and read the Plath poem...read some other Plath poems and criticism...listen to some Lee solo...maybe read some of his writing...then compare and contrast and formulate your own thoughts; write your own essay...I'm through for now...I'd like to help you in your research, but cannot due to personal reasons...I could give my two cents with line-by-line illuminations of emotive logic and spend some time on this, but why bother?

(So I could have some bright eyes dissect me in the hopes of overturning my observations with their contrarian chicanery?)

Fuck that noise.

the quote that sylvia plath's poem is from is this part of the Bible
Matthew 7:3
(king james version)
And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

Something to do with the perception of something very small but significant. Cool to read the poetry reference too. I listened to this song today, Lees voice is Sonic Youth's secret weapon.

I failed to mention that, thanks. Did last time though.

I'll just say this, and it will make me look just plain stupid, but I almost never understand what any song is about. Maybe thats why I can't write lyrics. I can hear a song a million times and even read the lyrics, but I still won't grasp the concept of what they are saying.

frankly, I prefer it that way afterthefact

Ahh fair enough. It's what I thought it was since I heard it.

Mote is not about MOTA, or weed.

I think what Lee means is that you can't let anyone crush yr. dreams and always prevail, regardless of what others think... it's kind of hard tryingto figure out what the hell Lee writes about anyway (very abstract). ^^

Lee Ranaldo is GOD!


Sonic Youth - Mote Lyrics


When you see the spiral turning through you alone
And you feel so heavy that you just can't stop it
When this sea of madness turns you into stone
Picture of your life shoots like a rocket
All the time

Put 'me' in the equation it's alright
I've seen you moving in and out of sight
My friends tell me it's all cut through you (?)
From nowhere - to nowhere
Cut together - cutting through

I'm island-bound, a mote inside my eye
I can't see you breathing as before
I am airless - a vacuum child
I can't stand to reason at your door
In this time

Put 'me' in the equation it's alright
I've seen you moving in and out of sight
My friends tell me it's all cut through you (?)
From nowhere - to nowhere
Come together

I'm down in the daytime out of sight
Comin' in from dreamland I'm on fire
I can see it's all been here before
Dream a dream that lies right at your door

When the seasons circle sideways out of turn
And words don't speak just fall across the carpet
You're just in time to watch the fires burn
It seems a crime but yr. face is bright you love it
All the time...

HEYdazedcola.

I sent the lyrics to Mote to my girlfriend who is NOT a sonic youth fan but she is supa smart and insightful when it comes to lyrics and I old her to let me know what she thinks of the MOTE lyrics. Here is her reply.

ultimately, my take on it is that he speaks of someone very close to him, maybe a partner and at the same time speaking of how they feel of this life, their life and all the shit that comes with it. he feels like this person sees their relationship/life as an equation and does not feel a consistency with that person, whether physically or emotionally I do not know - they are always seeing him/her "moving in or out of sight". It seems as if he feels like he is the only one that feels the turmoil and "heaviness" of their relationship, that how he pictures the other person's life is much more like a rocket, while he feels like he has this spiral in him, turning him heavy and into stone.

"Mota"
 

Marijuana is already Spanish smarty pants. The Spanish term for weed (just a common weed) is mala hierba. Mota is the Spanish word for speck, as in a speck of dust.