Type 7 Gluttony

[Amy]

Part 3

Florence + the Machine - Ship to Wreck

Here gluttony violently ping-pongs between avarice and wrath. Between lashing out at her lover and self-critically asking herself how she ruined the relationship, the illusion of having an idyllic relationship is shattered. Having lost her compass in knowing where everything is going, the tragedy lies in her desperate attempt to re-establish that compass while falling deeper into nihilism and self-destruction.

The main question of the song is, “Did I build a ship to wreck?” Was the ship, symbolizing their relationship, built on an unstable foundation? Does she build something just to destroy it in the end? The lesson of type 7’s holy idea of Holy Plan/Work is embracing the full dimension of life, in all its highs and lows, with a focused concentration and temperance. Gluttony dissipates our attention and awareness, and rather than leading us on a path towards progress, it ultimately has us repeat the same actions over and over in order to recreate and maintain the novelty. But where does it lead us to in the end? Endless repetition, no matter how interesting and new it seems, always leads us back to the same spot. The repetition tries to keep the nihilism at bay but it inevitably keeps replicating and propagating it. The more this feeling of nihilism comes to the surface, the more intense the frustration starts to feel. The more that things start to feel wrong and imperfect.

The destruction of the ship not only represents a fall into nihilism but what leads to its destruction is the critical resentment that starts to eat away at the foundation of the ship. Once you notice a hole in the ship, you start to notice other holes present within the ship, and in a miasma of frustration and disappointment, end up creating more holes to further contribute to the sinking of the ship and escape is impossible.

Don't touch the sleeping pills, they mess with my head
Dredging of great white sharks, swimming in the bed
And here comes a killer whale, to sing me to sleep
Thrashing the covers off, has me by its teeth

And, ah, my love remind me, what was it that I said?
I can't help but pull the earth around me to make my bed
And, ah, my love remind me, what was it that I did?
Did I drink too much? Am I losing touch?
Did I build a ship to wreck?

To wreck, to wreck, to wreck
Did I build this ship to wreck?

What's with the long face? Do you want more?
Thousands of red-eyed mice, scratching at the door
And don't let the curtain catch you, cause you've been here before
The chair is an island, darling, you can't touch the floor

And, ah, my love remind me, what was it that I said?
I can't help but pull the earth around me to make my bed
And, ah, my love remind me, what was it that I did?
Did I drink too much? Am I losing touch?
Did I build a ship to wreck?

To wreck, to wreck, to wreck
Did I build this ship to wreck?

Good God, under starless skies
We are lost, and into the breach, we got tossed
And the water is coming in fast

And, ah, my love remind me, what was it that I said?
I can't help but pull the earth around me to make my bed
And, ah, my love remind me, what was it that I did?
Did I drink too much? Am I losing touch?

Did I build a ship to wreck?
To wreck, to wreck, to wreck
Did I build this ship to wreck?
To wreck, to wreck, to wreck
Did I build this ship to wreck?

I agree that there’s something deeply pessimistic about about a 7 who can only see the future in short term for themselves. On the one hand it doesn’t really make sense that you could seek novelty and be prone to repetition. On the other hand keeping things ‘interesting’ to avoid your own interiority means not believing you can make things last when that novelty is gone. (On another note I also need to personally mull over the 7s fear of lack and deprivation. Versus the 9 who feels detached from their being and from holy love). The 7 therefore gets caught between the void at 5 and imperfection at 1 (like ping pong as you said). That, and there is also a sense of underlying guilt in my opinion to Florence’s declared selfishness and grandiose attitude in the lyrics “I can’t help but pull the Earth around me to make my bed”. So the cycle of avoiding the work it takes to make something last because it’s ‘not enough’ continues. Only for the 7 to turn that pessimism inward that they're self destructive anyways, and therefore give themselves an excuse to not try at all. However, by never going through those inevitable ups and downs they only lose sight of their future (nihilism). Therefore only further approaching the void (the thing they were trying to avoid in the first place).

[Roshan]

I agree that there’s something deeply pessimistic about about a 7 who can only see the future in short term for themselves. On the one hand it doesn’t really make sense that you could seek novelty and be prone to repetition. On the other hand keeping things ‘interesting’ to avoid your own interiority means not believing you can make things last when that novelty is gone (though on another note I also need to personally mull over a 7s fear of lack and deprivation versus a 9 who feels detached from their being and holy love). Therefore getting caught between the void of 5 and imperfection of 1 like a ping pong as you said. That and there is also a sense of underlying guilt in my opinion to Florence’s declared selfishness and grandiose attitude in the lyrics “I can’t help but pull the Earth around me to make my bed”. So the cycle continues of avoiding the work it takes to make something last because it’s ‘not enough’. Only to turn that pessimism inward that you’re self destructive anyways (and therefore give yourself an excuse to not try at all). By never going through those inevitable ups and downs though, you come in closer contact to only seeing an empty future (nihilism), and the void (the thing you were trying to avoid in the first place).

Amy, don't even dream of writing sentences this long here. I stopped reading after that.

Vincent

[Amy]

I agree that there’s something deeply pessimistic about about a 7 who can only see the future in short term for themselves. On the one hand it doesn’t really make sense that you could seek novelty and be prone to repetition. On the other hand keeping things ‘interesting’ to avoid your own interiority means not believing you can make things last when that novelty is gone (though on another note I also need to personally mull over a 7s fear of lack and deprivation versus a 9 who feels detached from their being and holy love). Therefore getting caught between the void of 5 and imperfection of 1 like a ping pong as you said. That and there is also a sense of underlying guilt in my opinion to Florence’s declared selfishness and grandiose attitude in the lyrics “I can’t help but pull the Earth around me to make my bed”. So the cycle continues of avoiding the work it takes to make something last because it’s ‘not enough’. Only to turn that pessimism inward that you’re self destructive anyways (and therefore give yourself an excuse to not try at all). By never going through those inevitable ups and downs though, you come in closer contact to only seeing an empty future (nihilism), and the void (the thing you were trying to avoid in the first place).

Amy, don't even dream of writing sentences this long here. I stopped reading after that.

Vincent

Okay I understand, I edited the original.
Note to self - Also watch out for run-on sentences when using parenthesis.

[Vincent]

I edited the original.

Yes, and in doing so you made a fragment again...
You don't need "not to self" or more specific instructions Amy. You need to actually follow the ones Roshan already gave you.

[Amy]

I edited the original.

Yes, and in doing so you made a fragment again...
You don't need "not to self" or more specific instructions Amy. You need to actually follow the ones Roshan already gave you.

Sorry I do try and catch myself more than I did previously. However, I know I’m not going to be perfect in breaking my speech habits/ patterns.

Last night, I changed the run-on sentence to:

‘On the other hand keeping things ‘interesting’ to avoid your own interiority means not believing you can make things last when that novelty is gone. (On another note I also need to personally mull over the 7s fear of lack and deprivation. Versus the 9 who feels detached from their being and from holy love).’

I believe the fragment would be the last sentence.

So the edit should be:

‘(On another note I also need to personally mull over the 7s fear of lack and deprivation versus the 9 who feels detached from their being and from holy love).’

[Vincent]

I've been waiting for you here for ten minutes already Amy.

We had set up a time for a discussion, and obviously we are not going to have it here on the E7 passion thread.

[Amy]

I've been waiting for you here for ten minutes already Amy.

We had set up a time for a discussion, and obviously we are not going to have it here on the E7 passion thread.

Sorry I was in the forum at 9:30, but I saw the tag in this thread and was trying to respond. I will be right over.

[Roshan]

I find it interesting that you focus on repetition in Gluttony rather than Gluttony's quest for novelty for variety, -Sarah-.

Thoughts?

[-Sarah-]

I find it interesting that you focus on repetition in Gluttony rather than Gluttony's quest for novelty for variety, -Sarah-.

Thoughts?

I envisioned something along the lines of a drug addict constantly chasing that high and when they come down from it, they chase that high again. The repetition is in the constant quest for novelty and variety, I think. Once something becomes less interesting, it loses the magic, it entails more commitment they can put forth, or they get what they need from it, the seven moves onto greener pastures. They don't want to be stuck in one place for too long.

[Roshan]

viewtopic.php?p=4960#p4960


-Sarah-