sol talks about "Man Alive" (2010) by Everything Everything
"Learning, essentially. Anything from learning from mistakes you make in your personal life, which was what I was thinking about a lot of the time; whether you ever really learn from things, whether I do, and learning on a more grand-scale. The ape coming down from the trees and learning how to become a human." Jonathan Higgs
My personal interpretation:
Third absolute banger in a row. It's incredibly difficult for me to pick favorites from Man Alive. There are several tracks on this album that I could argue are the best, depending on the day. However, Schoolin' is one that resonates with me on a particularly deep and personal level.
I think that's because the song's central themes revolve around learning, mistakes, curiosity, and the shortcomings of education. To me, the entire track feels like someone looking back on all the knowledge they were denied in the past - reflecting on years spent learning what they were told was important while never being encouraged to explore the bigger, more beautiful questions about the world.
The song reminds me of "The Darkening Age" - a topic that fascinates me and one that I definitely want to learn more about. I am drawn to stories about times in which curiosity, science, and the pursuit of knowledge came into conflict with authority. The idea that people could be discouraged, punished, or shamed simply for wanting to understand the world around them is both fascinating and deeply unsettling.
More than anything, though, Schoolin' constantly reminds me of the anime Orb: On the Movements of the Earth (Chi: Chikyū no Undō ni Tsuite). Set in 15th-century Europe, the story follows a succession of brilliant but doomed individuals who risk their lives to uncover and preserve the forbidden idea that the Earth revolves around the Sun.
The first part of the series focuses on a young boy whose fascination with the heavens puts him at odds with the world around him. He is captivated by the stars and driven by an overwhelming desire to learn, yet his curiosity is treated as dangerous. What makes the story so powerful is that he isn't seeking power, wealth, or recognition - he simply wants to understand. He wants to know what lies beyond the accepted answers. He wants to see what hides beyond the streetlights.
Whenever I listen to Schoolin', I find myself relating to that character. The song evokes a feeling of being neglected intellectually - of wanting to learn, grow, explore, and pursue your passions, only to be met with indifference or resistance. It feels like the frustration of being told what to think instead of being encouraged to think for yourself.
Whether or not that is the song's intended meaning, that's the emotional core I connect with most strongly. To me, Schoolin' is about the human desire to understand the world and the frustration that comes when that desire is ignored, restricted, or left unfulfilled.
Lyric analysis (using genius.com annotations/shortening them):
"Brother, you look like the Taj Mahal
One colossal dome above you and the smell of something other
A pillar and a scimitar, a little
Yes, I miss you like a formless hide
Stretching over me and dangled from the coastguard in a chopper
The scaffold of me all awry, you little
Broke your shoulder on the library steps
Hanging 'round there in the dark just doing nothing or whatever
What do you mean you saw the stars? You little
And I could write it in a murder font
I could say it in a way that would be lying or whatever
I don't want them to tell us apart"
The opening verse introduces a character who seems restless and dissatisfied with the limits placed upon them.
The reference to the Taj Mahal and its "colossal dome" can be interpreted as a symbol of a closed world - one in which people are prevented from seeing beyond what they are expected to know.
There is also a sense of loss running through these lines. The narrator describes missing someone or something that once gave structure and purpose to their life. Without it, they feel incomplete and directionless.
The verse becomes more explicit when it references a broken shoulder on the library steps and the question, "What do you mean you saw the stars?" The image suggests that curiosity itself is being treated with suspicion. The character's desire to look beyond the accepted limits of their education has made them an outsider.
The stars may represent knowledge, hope, or a wider understanding of the world. In either case, the song presents them as something distant and difficult to reach. Rather than being encouraged to explore, the character is met with hostility and disbelief.
The final lines hint at the pressure to conform. The narrator admits that they could disguise their true thoughts or present themselves differently, but chooses not to. "I don't want them to tell us apart" suggests a fear of being separated from those who share the same curiosity, while also implying that independent thinking is something that must be hidden.
"You say that I'm an overlord?
I've got myself a fire hydrant with more tyrant
In watery blasts than all of my past
You seen me on the bridge a lot
But I never leapt over the pent upper
My number is up, my number is up
But infinite and joyless little high-fives are singing, "Praise the Lord"
And "Pitter-patter this schooling? Is this schooling?"
And "You matter not, and you matter not"
And is it the flogging of a Flintstone that I'm supposed to be?
The cerebellum get schooling and no schooling
The drummer goes on, the drama goes on"
The narrator appears increasingly frustrated with the world around him and the expectations being placed upon him. When he asks, "You say that I'm an overlord?", he seems to reject the idea that he is somehow rebellious, dangerous, or threatening. Instead, he portrays himself as far less powerful than others perceive him to be.
The image of being seen "on the bridge a lot" suggests a desire to "escape from his circumstances" (die). Whether interpreted literally or metaphorically, it conveys a feeling of dissatisfaction and isolation, as though the narrator is trapped between two worlds and unsure where he belongs.
As the verse progresses, a chorus of voices repeat phrases such as "Praise the Lord" and question the value of schooling itself. Rather than encouraging curiosity, they seem to promote conformity, obedience, and passive acceptance.
The repeated line "You matter not" reinforces this feeling. The narrator is surrounded by messages that diminish individuality and discourage independent thinking.
The references to Flintstones and the cerebellum (the part of the brain that controls voluntary acts like speech, posture and movement) further emphasize the song's concern with learning and human development. The narrator questions whether education is truly helping people grow, or whether it is stripping away curiosity and reducing learning to a mechanical process.
The final line, "The drummer goes on, the drama goes on," suggests a cycle that continues regardless of individual struggles.
The one-line interlude is heavily distorted, distant, and drowned in echo. For a long time, I listened to this song without even realizing that actual words were being spoken. Within the context of the song, the line can be interpreted as a criticism of an education system that fails to prepare people for life beyond the classroom. The narrator's request is astonishingly simple: he wants to be taught how to hold something. It sounds like the kind of basic skill one might associate with early childhood, which makes the plea feel especially desperate.
The way the line is delivered only strengthens this feeling. It doesn't sound confident or demanding - it sounds lonely. As if the narrator is calling out into an empty space, hoping that someone, somewhere, will finally teach him what he was supposed to learn all along.
"And I wouldn't wanna make a scene
I don't wanna think about the third-world hunger or whatever
'Cause thinking always comes across a little
And there's a meeting of the worlds tonight
Right above my head, a miracle, the sun erupt forever
I barely ever raise my eyes a little (Teach him how to hold!)
And oh, I wanna make the peace
And God, I gotta be on the train past the ruins
The wall and the druids, oh, please
I'm whining like a braking bus
Maybe I can sit here and do nothing clever with a laser
I'm not about to open up"
The opening lines suggest a reluctance to confront difficult subjects, such as poverty or suffering, because doing so can feel uncomfortable or isolating. The narrator seems aware that questioning the world too deeply often makes people uneasy, encouraging them instead to ignore larger issues and focus on their own routines.
While "the meeting of the worlds" and the "erupting sun" evoke images of something vast, beautiful, and almost cosmic, the narrator admits that he "barely ever" looks up.
The repeated interjection, "Teach him how to hold!", reinforces the feeling that the narrator has never truly been taught how to engage with the world.
Later, the narrator expresses a desire to "be on the train past the ruins." To me, this represents a longing to move beyond the limits imposed by society and pursue a broader understanding of the world. The "ruins" can be seen as the outdated beliefs, assumptions, or boundaries that prevent people from asking bigger questions.
By the end of the verse, however, that determination begins to fade. Instead of acting on his curiosity, the narrator resigns himself to "sit here and do nothing clever." The final line, "I'm not about to open up," suggests that he has withdrawn into himself, choosing silence over vulnerability after repeatedly feeling misunderstood.
"There's a matter approaching
Earth, I take a long time
To learn about the big one
Gorilla limb swipe and beat
And I learn nil about Earth
Remember how men
Would understand the heavens?
But leaving those streetlights on
You can't see nothing there
(There's a matter approaching)
So learn me anything good
(There's a matter approaching)
And teach me something that works
I take a long time
To learn about the big one
Gorilla limb swipe and beat
And I learnt dick about Earth
Remember good men
Would understand the heavens?
And leaving those street lights on
A ghost dark hemisphere Earth
I take a long time
To learn about the big one
Gorilla limb swipe and beat
And I learnt dick about Earth
Remember, good man
You understand the heavens
But leaving those street lights on?"
The repeated lines "I take a long time to learn about the big one" and "I learnt nil about Earth" suggest a deep frustration with the narrator's education. Despite spending years learning, he feels that he was never taught the things that truly mattered. Instead of developing a meaningful understanding of the world, he is left with the sense that something essential was missing.
The song then contrasts the present with the past. "Remember how men would understand the heavens?" evokes a time when people looked up at the night sky with curiosity, studying the stars in an attempt to understand their place in the universe.
The image of leaving the streetlights on is, to me, one of the most beautiful metaphors in the entire song. On a literal level, artificial light prevents us from seeing the stars, replacing the darkness of the night sky with a pale glow. The result is what the song calls "a ghost dark hemisphere" - a world that is technically dark, but never truly so.
Metaphorically, the streetlights represent the comforts and distractions of modern life. They illuminate what is directly in front of us, but at the same time prevent us from seeing something far greater. In trying to make life easier, we may have unintentionally obscured the very things that once inspired wonder.
The repeated plea, "So learn me anything good, and teach me something that works," captures the song's central message. The narrator is not asking for more facts or more information - he is asking for knowledge that has meaning. Knowledge that helps him understand himself, the Earth, and the universe he lives in.
Rather than ending with an answer, Schoolin' ends with a question. It leaves the listener wondering whether we are still looking up at the stars, or whether the lights we have built around ourselves have become too bright for us to notice them at all.
Streetlights exist to help us. Schools exist to educate us. Technology exists to improve our lives. Cities exist to bring people together. None of these things are bad. And yet they all have unintended consequences. Streetlights let us see the pavement - but they hide the Milky Way. Schools teach us mathematics and grammar - but perhaps not how to remain curious. Technology connects us - but can also distract us from the world around us. I don't think Jon is saying we should turn the lights off and go back to the stone age lol. I think he's asking something much subtler: What have we stopped noticing because our lives have become so illuminated by everything else? To me, that's why the ending feels almost spiritual. It's not really about astronomy anymore. It's about recovering the ability to look up.\
Schoolin' is one of the more melancholic-sounding tracks on the album, although there are certainly songs that are even sadder. To me, it feels cold - like wandering through a city late at night, surrounded by silence and streetlights.
One of my favorite details is the recurring whistle-like melody that interrupts the ends of certain lines. It almost functions as a censor, cutting the narrator off before he can finish his thoughts. At other times, it feels like a substitute for a curse word - for example: "What do you mean you saw the stars? You little..." - or simply an unfinished sentence that never gets to reach its conclusion.
I think this production choice perfectly reinforces the song's themes. The listener is left with the same feeling as the narrator: unanswered, unheard, and almost "whistled away." It's a subtle but incredibly effective way of communicating frustration without relying on the lyrics alone.
The chorus introduces another striking element: a harsh, repetitive vocal cry that constantly pushes its way through the mix. It creates a feeling of unease and compulsion, as if the song itself can't sit still. The entire track feels restless and anxious, yet somehow remains incredibly smooth and melodic at the same time.
It's honestly difficult to compare Schoolin' to anything else I've heard. The sound is so distinctive. It manages to feel melancholic, hopeless, and deeply frustrated, while also carrying an unexpected sense of sarcasm, defiance, and determination.
