It's about making a baby ... it seems like it's a couple who aborted/lost a baby or it's using that as a metaphor for something else. But the lyrics off the top of my head 'baby cum angels fly around you, reminding you we used to be three and not two' makes me think the 'baby' whether real or a metaphor was lost ... also, it's talking about getting it on in the water 'didn't know it then, was it a son, was it a daughter'. I've wondered about that song myself before. It seems like it would be kind-of callous to write about an abortion or miscarriage, but, who knows the real intent? It's up to interpretation, I suppose.

you just so happened to ask about my favorite band in the world. i will spend some time answering this one. you need to keep in mind that 3rd planet is off of the moon and antartica, which was their 6th studio album right after lonesome crowded west. these two albums were produced at a time when isaac (brock) was going through some hard times with his personal life. lonesome being known for its deep questioning of life, and subsequently moon and antartica is a very sad album (some consider it pre-emo)where its seems almost like isaac believes we are alone in the universe. anyhow continuing on. he begins the song talking about how he is only good at "fucking people over." which i personally believe is him talking about the false allegations being pressed on him at the time, as well as his known troublemaking and drug abusing lifestyle. he then mentions the "blind-spots" that his boss is going to try and find. this is somewhat ridiculous, because it would be hard to find a blind spot, as you cannot see it. however he concludes that they are capable of doing this, which says to me that his "boss" must have some special powers, perhaps even be a deity. but his boss has "quit the job," signifying to me that isaac feels god has left him. The song then continues with a sarcastic poke at what the people of earth believe. (third planet being earth) the "eye in the sky" is always watching us (god) and isaac claims that whenever you reach your final rewards you will shake the eyes hand. this signifies that when we die, we actually will find out what is actually happening/if there is a god and whether he actually is watching everyting we do. it then continues int a very poetic relation of an outdoor love-making session which is so deep he can feel her heart. they are obviously outdoor (cold sunlight reflected off the moon/cold and wet on the grass) why this is important, im not sure, but it adds a poetic and very romantic bit to the song. it seems as though the "third" that was made was probably a child, but i dont agree with the above that they had sex in the water... swimming is a symbol isaac often uses for cleansing (ie "he and i swam down in the lake, washed the dirt off our intentions" from i came as a rat) or purifying. perhaps here he is using it to signify that they were washing themselves of the deed they had just done. it occurs to him that animals are swimming around in the water, much like animals (although you may not realize it) are swimming in your blood. he then likens our blood to the atlantic, which i see as a thought to how small and complex things actually get here on the third planet. three and not just two seems to mean that the baby was lost, and i think in the end this song is to comfort himself and his lover. it's reminding themselves of the love they share, and that in this act the world began and in death (of the child) the world will end. i think modest mouse is great in a sense that you can actualy analyze them like this, or you can take them at face value and just realize that its good music. id like to hear anybody elses ideas as to this song and any others.

I agree with a lot of what you had to say anonguy, mostly towards the end however we start to differ. I think that maybe his epiphany about the animals swimming in our blood ties into his beliefs about our "God". And that God is no more of a God than we are to the animals who need us. Like in many of his other songs, he is stating that God isn't really controlling anything, and that we are on our own. Idk... just a thought. Oh and i dont think this song has anything to do with babies. The whole "reminding you we used to be three and not just two" i believe is about: 1.) Brock (or all people in general perhaps?) 2.) God and 3.) the "3rd Planet" have drifted apart from each other, now only two remain together (obviously Brock and Earth). God was created by people to help them feel security in their lives. So the world began with no God, and thats exactly how he believes it will end. I would like to also point out the whole "The universe is shaped exactly like the earth, if you go straight long enough you'll end up where you were" lyric. It goes very well with the non-theist belief (which, unless I'm retarded, i think Isaac is) if it means what i think it does. I think it means that you can search the universe as long as you want for God. But eventually you'll come back to where you started from, never finding such a thing. Cause after all, you are just looking in circles for blind-spots. Thank you for paying attention to my blabbering, of course i don't know if this is what they were really trying to get after, but hell neither does anyone else!

Ohhh, how could it not be about babies? The universe is shaped exactly like the earth... also the way a woman's womb expands into a globe-like shape. And the animals that swim inside us also could possibly refer to how the child in utero is in fluid. I could go on in this obsessive fashion but i won't, it's a beautiful song and i shouldn't contaminate it too much with over-analysis.