Cetology

Lyrics

[ISHMAEL] Already we are boldly launched upon the deep But soon we shall be lost in its harborless, unshored immensities So ere that come to pass Let us get into the famous long and boring whaling chapters I shall start by classifying all the whales But this is a ponderous task And I should not pretend to be exhaustive, for who am I That I should try to hook Levaithan's nose? Though I have sailed and swum through vast oceans and libraries Still I'm sometimes dumb about things outside my mind Everything I read might be wrong, sometimes libraries lie Though I never mean to steer you wrong, I just might be unreliable I am on my own; it's just me and my heart broke head And the ocean is too deep for me to fathom Life is just too big for me to bear But who am I to compare my despair with the shaking of the sea? Who am I to give voice to voices I can never be? But though I'm bound to fail Let's define a whale: A whale is a spouting fish with a horizontal tail There you have him And we may classify him thus: Finback whale Humpback whale Razorback whale Blackfish whale Sperm whale Right whale Sulfur bottom whale And blue whale Grampus whale Thrasher whale Elephant whale Iceberg whale Cape whale Narwhale Pudding-headed whale And junk whale Cannon whale Leading whale Bottlenose whale Coppered whale Scragg whale Quog whale Killer whale, and of course White whale [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK] [ALL] Shake what your momma gave ya! [INSTRUMENTAL BREAK CONTINUES] [ISHMAEL] And porpoises, porpoises Huzza, Algerine, Mealy-Mouthed porpoises Yes porpoises are whales too Ooh But these are just some words classified in a guidebook on a dusty shelf Who knows what they feel inside, who knows what they name themselves And there are other ones that I don't know There's so much that I don't know Who am I? Sometimes I wish these whales could swim In an ocean that's free of men like me Their aquatic paradise Devoid of slack-jawed hunters and the poison of our wake 'Cuz men like me try anything and most everything we try turns out to be some big mistake Like this could be an amazing song, tying each type of whale to bigger themes: God Determinism Ecology Capitalism Race Monomaniacism And America But it was stated at the outset that this system would not be here perfected As you cannot but plainly see I've kept my word For who am I? This book is but a draught of a draught God keep me from ever completing anything [ALL] Time, cash, strength, patience Time, cash, strength, patience Time, cash, strength, patience Time, cash, strength, patience Time, cash, strength, patience Time, cash, strength, patience Time, cash, strength, patience Time, cash, strength, patience Time, cash, strength, patience Time, cash, strength, patience Time, cash, strength, patience Time, cash, strength, patience Time, cash, strength, patience Time, cash, strength, patience Time, cash, strength, patience Time, cash, strength, patience Time, cash, strength, patience Time, cash, strength, patience Time, cash, strength, patience Time, cash, strength, patience Time, cash, strength, patience Time, cash, strength, patience Time, cash, strength, patience Time, cash, strength, patience