Expert: Mykal Cave - 11/10/2004

Question
I was wondering if you could enlighten me of the meaning of the song "Spoon."  Is the spoon literally a spoon?  What is the man thinking of and then forgeting?  What pain is laughing out loud going to pass away?  And any other information you have.

Answer
Hey Kyle. This is one of Dave's harder songs to interpret. A lot of the lyrics are somewhat random and confusing. Well some think that this song is about a lost romance which could be argued but I really believe it is about Jesus Christ. It sounds as the song is being sung from his perspective right before and after his death. It sounds as if he's questioning himself and his beliefs and wheather or not he is who everyone thinks he is.

To answer your first question about the spoon, this is very odd and threw me off quite a bit. I asked around some and came to the conclusion that it has do actually be a spoon. "Spoon in spoon stirring my coffee" is the actual wording. All I can think of is that when you would go to stir coffee wou would see the reflection of the one spoon in the coffee. And therefore be placing a spoon in a spoon. Follow me? What that has to do with Jesus Christ don't ask because I couldnt make the connection either.

Im unsure of what he could be thinking and then forgetting but it could be tied in with him trying to come up with answers to all the questions he having about himself and then suddenly forgetting them. I think we've all had that moment where you have an epiphany and then just as quick as it came it is then gone.

Jesus then thinks that maybe he's crazy. Maybe he's not the Son of God and maybe he's just some loony. He finds solace in laughter. Laughter makes the pain go away.

Then he thinks, maybe it's everyone else who's crazy. But, again, laughing makes it all subside.

More examples of how this song could be about Jesus Christ:

Wrist to the elbow describes the blood dripping down his arm (although in a much less graphic manner).

Red blood sand describes the ground underneath the cross soaking up all this blood.

Could Dad be God? - Jesus wondering if he really is God's Son.

Crosses Cross hung out like a wet rag - I think this refers to how this wasn't a special way to die. It was like the electric chair or lethal injection. It was a way of killing criminals. There were crosses everywhere. What made Jesus so different from everyone else?

Forgive you? Why? / You hung me out to dry - Jesus commenting on how people want him to forgive them after they just killed him.

Jesus thinks of something else and turns to another gate, a different gate. Perhaps the gate to heaven? Perhaps the gates to Hell? Lightning and thunder occured at the moment of his death. Jesus hides his head, and the storm disappears.

As for the last lines "Well as I walked, There're voices behind me singing, 'sinner, sin, come now and play.' Come out, come out, Come now and play ". - Jesus is resurrected and is leaving the gates (notice how Dave doesn't use the word gate, but chooses 'turn to go away') of Hell. As he is leaving, voices cry out from Hell, saying, "Sinners sin, come now and play." The last ditch effort to turn Jesus away from God.


Well there ya go. Hoped it helped! Let me know if theres anything else.

**A lot of the credit for that interpretation goes to Austin Burns.