In "Mesopotamia" DEJJ starts off the song by stating that most of life is meaningless.
Most of its meaningless
If even that
Most of its meaningless
Lets go back
I think these lyrics start the song on a deep level. DEJJ does this by questioning what life really is, and that most of the life we live really doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things. This idea of questioning life I feel is deep because as sad as it is, we as humans, fall into this reality that we know what we are doing when in reality we do not, everything we do we have created, we don't actually know if we are traveling in the right direction. The verse ends on a search for an answer, this almost seems as if someone may have "left" some information behind on why we are really here and what are we supposed to be doing.
Mesopotamia, you hide under the stars
It’s the vastness that's so daunting
I’m so different, I hide under the stairs
It’s the reason for my wandering
This verse uses personification to portray Mesopotamia as a character in this song. This verse is used to add mystery behind the past of our planet by making the listener picture Mesopotamia as something so small compared to "the vastness that's so daunting" we call the universe. This is very chilling to think about and in these lyrics they make you think about how small we are compared to what's out there. The last part of this verse is used as an example of how we are stuck into our routine and "bubble" by showing the present and how confined we are. Another idea that DEJJ gets across in this verse is how ignorant and negligent we are of the fact that there is so much more out there.
If it's me or if it's you
Doesn't matter what we do
We end up a couple lives in this
Encyclopedia
If even that
Encyclopedia
Let’s go back
These two verses finally come out and state that our lives are no more than "a couple lives in this/ Encyclopedia". At this point in the song DEJJ is upfront in what the words in this song actually mean. Something that I find very interesting is the way they use the encyclopedia as the source that contains us as a human race. I think that when they say "Encyclopedia/ If even that" it really puts everything into perspective because what is a book to the universe?
Mesopotamia, you know where things have been
It’s the reason that I called you
Life so different, or maybe not at all
I guess we're always wondering
Once again the figure of "Mesopotamia" re-enters the song as someone DEJJ is calling for answers. The lyrics "you know where things have been" portrays Mesopotamia as this overseer that has witnessed life. This is most likely their character of choice due to the fact that Mesopotamia was the birth place of the human race. They ask "Mesopotamia" for answers on how things were back then compared to now, and if things are headed in the right direction because they don't want to read an encyclopedia that doesn't capture the true experiences of humans. Then the last line of the verse shows realization in how you cannot actually talk to Mesopotamia, so "I guess we're always wondering".
Waking life and sleeping death
You lived way beyond your breath
I wed you and you're a drag
I am me and you are you
Now to paraphrase what we do
We are more than what's defined in this
Encyclopedia
It can't hold that
Encyclopedia
It can't hold facts
Encyclopedia
It can't define that
Encyclopedia
It can't hold that
In all the madness
That falls flat
It doesn't leave us
It can't define that
Encyclopedia
It can't hold that
Encyclopedia
It can't define that
If even that
Encyclopedia
Let’s go back
These two verses finally come out and state that our lives are no more than "a couple lives in this/ Encyclopedia". At this point in the song DEJJ is upfront in what the words in this song actually mean. Something that I find very interesting is the way they use the encyclopedia as the source that contains us as a human race. I think that when they say "Encyclopedia/ If even that" it really puts everything into perspective because what is a book to the universe?
Mesopotamia, you know where things have been
It’s the reason that I called you
Life so different, or maybe not at all
I guess we're always wondering
Once again the figure of "Mesopotamia" re-enters the song as someone DEJJ is calling for answers. The lyrics "you know where things have been" portrays Mesopotamia as this overseer that has witnessed life. This is most likely their character of choice due to the fact that Mesopotamia was the birth place of the human race. They ask "Mesopotamia" for answers on how things were back then compared to now, and if things are headed in the right direction because they don't want to read an encyclopedia that doesn't capture the true experiences of humans. Then the last line of the verse shows realization in how you cannot actually talk to Mesopotamia, so "I guess we're always wondering".
Waking life and sleeping death
You lived way beyond your breath
I wed you and you're a drag
I am me and you are you
Now to paraphrase what we do
We are more than what's defined in this
Encyclopedia
It can't hold that
Encyclopedia
It can't hold facts
Encyclopedia
It can't define that
Encyclopedia
It can't hold that
In all the madness
That falls flat
It doesn't leave us
It can't define that
Encyclopedia
It can't hold that
Encyclopedia
It can't define that
I think the lyrics in this last chunk are the most moving lyrics in the whole song. When DEJJ says "I am me and you are you/ Now to paraphrase what we do/ We are more than what's defined in this/ Encyclopedia" I feel that it is the truest statement one can make. I think that that verse really fights societies need for categorization, this is rightfully so because no one is ever going to fully think the same as the person next to them. The idea of this repeated use of an encyclopedia along side the idea of all being different actually paints us as a simile because we are all compared even though we are all so unlike. This is the back bone of this song because it questions everything that must be questioned or we will keep living a life stuck in the stereotypes, and lost not knowing what our purpose is. This is where I find its poetic worth. It is poetic because in all the 207 words it touches on ideas 207 words cannot usually capture.
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