Inspiration Behind Hoover Dam:
During a period of personal and professional crisis, Bob Mould had a breakthrough. The concept for Hoover Dam suddenly came to Bob, fully formed in 1991. Mould’s former band had broken up in 1987, released a solo album before firing his entire team. While living in a loft, Bob couldn’t get the image of the Hoover Dam out of his mind. This imagine became the song shortly thereafter.
Biblical Application:
Then the Lord replied: “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald[b] may run with it.3 For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it[c] will certainly come and will not delay, Habakkuk 2:2-3.
Exegesis of Hoover Dam:
Standing on the edge
Of the hoover dam
I’m on the centerline
Right between two states of mind
And if the wind from the traffic
Should blow me away
Visualizing standing on the edge of this dam. Stuck, frozen between two thoughts. Imagining the worse, being blown away by the wind.
From this altitude
It will come back to you
And do you know the time
All that’s left of me is slight insanity
What’s on the right I don’t know
A moment of crisis, perhaps from a lack of success in life. Unsure of what to do or where to go next.
If the mississippi should wash me away
Down to new orleans
Maybe someday in my dreams
I’d wake feeling the sweat
From the gulf in my mouth
A worst-case scenario, when a dream becomes a nightmare. Waking up sweating, so real but a thought.
On a carousel I can never tell
My direction home
Spinning down a hole
Someone going in circles without making any progress in life. Like being stuck in a strong whirlpool.
I’m losing all control
I’m down to the center of the earth
Losing your mind, about to make a bad decision.
Covered up with lava and I feel fine
It washes over me
Keeps me feeling warm at night
And if you’ve made a deal with
The guy with the horns and the cape
I’ll see you later later
Either a warped dream after staring at a lava lamp or a reference about making a deal with the Devil to be successful in life.
Standing on the edge
Of the hoover dam
Standing on the edge
Of the hoover dam I am
Not sure if Bob is thinking about jumping or he is simply in awe of this view.
Final Thoughts:
As a fellow writer, you never know you’ll receive your next big idea. If you don’t write these thoughts immediately down, they’ll likely vanish. Upon receiving an idea, Prince would wake up his production crew, working all night sometimes, afraid that Michael Jackson would beat him to this song idea. I recently had an idea for a book just getting out of the shower. God willing, this vision will soon become a self-help book in the next year,
by Jay Mankus
ExpressYourself4Him 