Punisher Analysis- "Chinese Satellite"

OMG! That's amazing!

English Teacher KP

I love it so much as well. I've actually just got to meet the original playwright John Cariani last week it was so cool.

Yes!! I've actually been in it twice! One of my favorites!

English Teacher KP

OMG is the play that you mentioned Almost, Maine??

I am gonna leave this quote from Phoebe about this song that I found after watching your video 😭 because its so relatable it hurts. “If I’m being honest, this song is about turning 11 and not getting a letter from Hogwarts, just realizing that nobody’s going to save me from my life, nobody’s going to wake me up and be like, “Hey, just kidding. Actually, it’s really a lot more special than this, and you’re special.” No, I’m going to be the way that I am forever. I mean, secretly, I am still waiting on that letter, which is also that part of the song, that I want someone to shake me awake in the middle of the night and be like, “Come with me. It’s actually totally different than you ever thought.”

All of that is so painfully relatable. I think we all want to feel that connection 😭😭

English Teacher KP

Thank you for reminding me about that! I am so glad you enjoyed this one!

English Teacher KP

And isn't that so relatable? Wanting to do something that isn't really "you", but you just want to find yourself. I think there's something so universal about that!

English Teacher KP

You make so many great points! I actually had to go back and listen to it, but you're spot on with your analysis of the verses and chorus mimicking the "running around in circles" feeling. Great observation!

English Teacher KP

Isn't it interesting, though, how those lines may have been inspired by something as ordinary as jogging, but they take on such extraordinary meaning within the song? I love that! Also, though, I have to take Phoebe's side there on the jogging...like why would anyone do that 😂😂😂

English Teacher KP

I am so glad you enjoyed the video! I really like this song; the more I listen to it, the more I love it!

English Teacher KP

This is probably my favorite off the album too! For me, Chinese Satellite-Moon Song-Savior Complex is like the heart of the album. Your analysis on the motifs of the albums is spot on

the first part of the song is actually just about jogging lol. when she was asked to explain the lyric "i've been running around in circles / pretending to be myself / why would somebody do this on purpose? / when they could do something else" she said "i tried to be a person who jogged once" (relatable) she also sometimes introduces this song at concert by saying "this song is about jogging and aliens" i love these lines they're so funny and relatable, i, also, have tried to be a person who jogs and ran around in circles wondering why people do that voluntarily. i love this song so much, i can totally relate to wanting to believe in the afterlife or something like that, but i just don't. this song also reminds me of another song that phoebe is actually features on called "jesus christ 2005 god bless america", one of the lines is "fortunately i believe, lucky me" and the writer has extensively talked about how he envies religious people in a way because religion seems so comforting but he just doesn't believe in it.

j

One of my favorite songs on the album, and maybe ever! The building up and falling of the strings and the way it opens up at the end are so beautiful. “I’d stand on a corner, embarrassed with a picket sign, if it meant I could see you when I die” can still make me cry, even after hearing this song a hundred times. I feel like you nailed it with the longing for the comfort and meaning that religion can bring if you believe. I think the structure of the song is really interesting too. Having a verse, pre-chorus, chorus, then another verse, pre-chorus, chorus kind of emulates that feeling of “running around in circles” from the beginning. It doesn’t feel like there’s a resolution to the song, if that makes sense; it feels more like that “same three songs over and over” feeling. Not sure if I’ve articulated that well lol, but something about the way it’s structured feels like it matches the tone and themes of the lyrics. I also really like how you’ve characterized the album as searching and longing, and I agree that this song really embodies that. As another former southern baptist girlie haha - this song always hits so hard! Really glad you enjoyed it.

Kalee

I'm so glad you connected to this song, I loved your interpretation of it! I think it's spot on, I also relate a lot to it on a personal level and it's definitely my favorite off the album. Hearing it live was such a beautiful experience. I think officially the lyric at the end of the first chorus is actually "I want to be wrong" and not "I want to belong", so the person who made the lyric video probably misheard it. So again, it's saying how she just feels nothing when she looks at the sky and is deeply convinced that there isn't anything out there, no afterlife and no higher power and yet she still wishes she were wrong about that and longs for the comfort that religion and believing in some kind of God would bring to her. "I want to belong" also makes a lot of sense in the context though! The whole second part also connects to the first verse, where she talks about not knowing who she is and looking for a sense in life. Religion would make the anxiety of feeling like your life is meaningless go away and you wouldn't need to look for any kind of purpose, but she can't bring herself to believe in anything because she's too skeptical. You were also right about the "vegetable" line being about being stuck in a vegetative state by religion and not just simply letting life run its course. She also once said on Twitter that the "running around in circles" line is literally about her trying to go jogging every day, but realizing that she's just forcing herself to do something that she doesn't like in an attempt to find herself!

Loved the reaction per usual KP! ❤️ Just wanted to let you know that the next song “Moon Song” was done on your YT channel. I don’t think analyzing it again makes sense but I’m just one person. I would prefer like 5 min commentary from you how it connects or relates to the album’s motifs and mood. But also would like to have a new reaction to the next song. ❤️🌸

Kitana Khan

Yay! My favourite song on Punisher. I thought about this song ~a lot~ and I understand the memory with the ambiguous “you” and the evangelicals as being a situation where Phoebe had a loved one who was dying, and was fighting for their right to die on their own terms. The evangelicals protesting assisted suicide, while Phoebe’s loved one passionately believing that dying was better than suffering because there was something better waiting for them, but Phoebe doesn’t believe in heaven and just wants to keep her loved one with her as long as possible (I wont be your vegetable is something I think her loved one said to her, not to the evangelicals). By the end Phoebe wishes that she could just find out she is actually from another planet which is why she cant connect to this faith that other humans seem to have so that her life could finally make sense.