Irresistible Force - Song Meaning from Perry

[helicine]

http://www.janesaddiction.com/news/49991

Many of you love the song Irresistible Force. You've asked me what the lyrics were about. Usually I wouldn't discuss it- I'd prefer to leave it up to the interpretation of the listener. For who likes to be given answers to a puzzle? Right? The fun runs out. However, there have been several misinterpretations given out by the press, and as the author, I do wish to clarify. The song is really a love story, and a theory on creation. Combining the science of the big bang, and the theology of the Old Testament. Adding the notion that it was in fact a conscious male-to-female act of cosmic love. I know of no life that was ever created without male-female union. A sexual explosion caused the creation of our galaxy, and all earthly life. We- in both his and hers image- continue this process. The line "We've become a big business" has nothing to do with Jane's Addiction- but speaks about God and his bride. "A galaxy merger. Two of us a big bang!" A true romance in the cosmos...

[Mike]

I was way off in my interpretation based on what Perry says there.

Very interesting.

[Jasper]

I love Perry, but of course it should be obvious to anyone that he's spewing complete and utter nonsense that just sounds good to him. Not that Perry babbling about his fantasies as if they are true is anything new - just ask the aliens that came in the year 2000.

Someone should tell Perry what "theory" means in science, before he's ever allowed to utter the word again. After that, maybe we can try to tell him about asexual reproduction.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asexual_reproduction

[spunkmuffin]

I really can't feel this song....But I am one of those nut'z that believe in creation...jest not the one exactly described in the bible...I think people carry and spread the story with what they understand...But I do believe in the holy spirit...I've felt it..go ahead ....I'm a kook...whatever man...But I believe in the cosmic love story...two different aspects of God coming together and giving birth to something from nothing...I mean really? .....With our small amount of understanding ...how do you put the scientific aspect to words if you herd sheep?...there is a spiritual world...I feel it....And I love God or whatever you choose to call him or it...I've dwelt in that space...And it'z real....But I won't change no ones mind by saying that....I'm cool with that

[Jasper]

It's nice that you have feelings. It's nice that you like love. But, spunky, your feelings don't have anything to do with what is or isn't real externally. The very first thing science does is attempt to remove individual feelings and perceptions, because these are completely irregular and unreliable. This is why we developed double-blind testing and peer review. Consider that the jihadist gets a similar warm fuzzy feeling from beheading infidels - he's sure this is right and the will of god.

In science, the legitimacy of anecdotal testimony is only a hair above flipping a coin.

So, in the end, all we know is that you claim to have feelings, and you are mixing these with cultural information to arrive at a fanciful conclusion.

Anyways, I know that you're a good guy, and to me, the way you perceive things reenforces it. I definitely won't lose site of that.

[SKSL]

Jasper, man, why... it's just an artistic vision, not an exact account of the creation of the universe. would you rather listen about physical, mathematical and chemical phenomena creating universe? The Artistic Vision man.... it doesn't have to be scientifically correct, it must convey a message and in this case it's just a simple mesage of love, isn't it? poetry man, an unorthodox vision and unorthodox theory of the world, art, freedom of expression, limitless imagination etc. it doesn't hurt, it isn't harmful.
"irresistible force" is not a scientifc account of the exact phenomena that created what we see today. and it's not even a very detailed account of who did it. it's just a story of "a true romance in the cosmos" and on earth: "(...) earthly life. We- in both his and hers image- continue this process". is it really so hard to comprehend? you don't have to understand "theory" literally here, as it should be understood in the scientific fields.
take a look at this for example. compelte and utter nonsense? no, man. artistic vision, a theory of the world as we know (and don't know) it....: http://www.beksinski.pl/

(sorry for my flawed english. i'm not a native speaker)

[Jasper]

I understand artistic vision, and I completely accept the lyrics that way. Nevertheless, when matter-of-fact statements are made as if they're factual, I take them the way that they're stated.

Perry starts out OK, but he gets a little iffy in the course of using the words "theory" and "science." Then he gets very matter-of-fact and tells us that he knows of "no life that was ever created without male-female union." Right there he's clearly talking about his actual understanding of biology, not just song lyrics, and since there are many forms of life created without make-to-female union, it's worth pointing out that he's very mistaken.

Perry follows that last line up by simply stating that "A sexual explosion caused the creation of our galaxy, and all earthly life." Taken with the preceding sentence, it gets increasingly difficult to believe that he's speaking strictly about the world that exists only within the song.

Listening to Perry over the years, there have been no shortage of charming pseudo-scientific ideas stated as if they are factual, and the things he's saying here are not being said in a vacuum. These things fit in with the general tradition of charming nonsense falling from the mouth of Perry Farrell. It's part of what makes him who he is. It's part of what gives him his unusual charisma. I know this, and I accept it all as part of the PF artistic experience. Nonetheless, I don't allow these whimsical artistic notions to become tangled with fact.

[SKSL]

All right, now I get your point and understand your line of reasoning very well. I must admit, i'ts very reasonable and well-balanced.
My point of view was based on the fact that I tend to concentrate more on the message than factual accuracy. That's why I prefer purely fantastic visions to exact scientific explanations. Science-fiction, for example, has never been my cup of tea.

[Hidefumi]

http://www.janesaddiction.com/news/49991

Many of you love the song Irresistible Force. You've asked me what the lyrics were about. Usually I wouldn't discuss it- I'd prefer to leave it up to the interpretation of the listener. For who likes to be given answers to a puzzle? Right? The fun runs out. However, there have been several misinterpretations given out by the press, and as the author, I do wish to clarify. The song is really a love story, and a theory on creation. Combining the science of the big bang, and the theology of the Old Testament. Adding the notion that it was in fact a conscious male-to-female act of cosmic love. I know of no life that was ever created without male-female union. A sexual explosion caused the creation of our galaxy, and all earthly life. We- in both his and hers image- continue this process. The line "We've become a big business" has nothing to do with Jane's Addiction- but speaks about God and his bride. "A galaxy merger. Two of us a big bang!" A true romance in the cosmos...

[zalice]

Yes it's true Perry has a wild imagination, THANK GOD! Are his ideas any more fantastic than the idea that there is a man in the sky judging you, or that we are all here because of a random big explosion? Its ALL theory and conjecture from the guy on the corner talking to himself to Steven Hawking. I happen to think that Perry's lyric is a great piece of modern mythology, and if you peak at early Christian and Jewish thinking you'll see that his wild crazy ideas aren't so new, these ideas have been around for thousands of years.

P.S. Can't say I like the song much though.