Pink Floyd - Welcome to the Machine Lyrics Meaning

Keep this to yourselves as I am not sure of my right to compare a poem to a song... And FORGIVE my typos and stupid mistakes..

It might seem odd, but I believe "Welcome To The Machine" is a great deal like Walt Whitman's poem, "A Noiseless Patient Spider". They are very different from each other yet there is no denying there are similarities....

A Noiseless Patient Spider by Walt Whitman
A noiseless patient spider,
I mark’d where on a little promontory it stood, isolated,
Mark’d how to explore the vacant vast surrounding,
It launch’d forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself,
Ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them.

And you O my Soul where you stand,
Surrounded, detached, in measureless oceans of space,
Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to connect them,
Till the bridge you will need be form’d, till the ductile anchor hold,
Till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere, O my Soul.

Whitman compares a spider to a courageous human.... Someone who is venturing forth alone in unknown territory attempting to connect. In my opinion, Pink Floyd's Machine is the sticky web and some are caught up in it more radically than others.. But we all are in it for the most part, like Whitman's spider. In order to thrive as humans, we each tirelessly construct bonds to one another and our surroundings. Musing- Venturing- Seeking- Throwing- Churning- Cycling- Spewing- Spitting- Spinning-Processing- Homogenizing (When We Feel Like We Are Being Rebellious)- "Selling Out"- Supporting- Being A Part Of Something In Life... How else do we live and breathe? We spin threads to span the void... Galileo crossed a void with his telescope. We call friends, go on walks, write our feelings on the web, create music... Why? To span a gap in our hearts. To build a bridge between our souls. To bond with one another.

To some extent the majority of us must be a part of The Machine/The Web in order to survive. In a basic way The Machine/The Web is life support. Why do I believe this? Pink Floyd's Machine and Whitman's Web involve humans. The Web and The Machine wouldn't run properly without humans. Being a part of The Machine/The Web is all about searching for meaning and knowledge in the vastness of the universe. It is about persevering until there is an end or a goal in sight AND FINALLY WE ALL CONNECT.

If a person rips away from The Machine or The Web he MIGHT be able exist on a basic level. I suppose he could go off the grid and reside in a cave or up in a tree and function and survive, but he is alone. He might be "happy" without commercialism but the majority of us aren't "happy" without other people.. The people who happen to be tangled in the web and are a part of the machine are connecting on some level.. The loner might eat berries and pick a guava and ponder in his environs.. He does not need "society's" milk nor their manufactured nails nor their lightbulbs nor their CDs nor their concert t-shirt/merchandise nor what have you but he still need friends, love and human contact in order to grow. When a person is apart from The Machine/The Web he feels detached, surrounded, in measureless oceans of space and not at all integral, contributing or vital. I believe the majority of us need to feel connected in order to grow and thrive.

My dad had triple bypass several years ago and they basically stopped his heart for a long time in order to fix it. When they tried to restart his heart, it couldn't work for itself, so they had him on a giant MACHINE. It was disturbing and freaky to see him in that "recovery" room on that machine. He wasn't breathing for himself. The Machine was breathing for him. There was this huge pipe thing going into his chest area. It was really horrifying to see him like that but it was the only thing keeping him alive. If he didn't have that machine pumping into him he would have been a deadboy. So I think The Machine can keep us ALIVE in a way that is about survival and functioning on a basic level. My dad should have worn a t-shirt that read, "Welcome To The Machine" cuz at that point he and the machine were one. He WAS the machine. All alone, he was "alive". He was "surviving" his ordeal, but what caused him to blossom was human contact. He made friends with the hospital people who cared for him. My mom and I were humans visiting, supporting and loving my dad. His friends expressed their love for him in various ways. My dad evolved by adapting to the chaos and thriving after an incredibly traumatic experience. How? Because of his strength, perseverance and because of his connection to other humans.

Every day when I come to my computer the screensaver alternates between "WELCOME TO THE MACHINE" and "WELCOME TO THE WEB". Daily I come to this website to see what other humans are contributing. Why? Because most of my friends have declined contact any other way. I try not to make much noise and I know am trying to be patient... But if a person has almost no interaction with humans aside from The Machine/The Web, more than ever, that individual feels the desire to span the void! At this time in my life the Machine/Web might be my only contact with the outside world for the day. This is "surviving" and "functioning" on a basic level. Even tho' there are humans on this website I am not ACTUALLY seeing them or knowing their identity, hence I feel invisible and that is not exactly blooming and radiating... Still I recognize it is important because at this point it is keeping me alive and helping me breathe on a daily basis. It is my life support. I have attempted to throw out "gossamer threads" in order to connect. I have flung words.. Pink Floyd is Welcoming me to The Machine by saying, "Hey. Maybe you aren't eating in the steak bar or driving a jag, still you are a part of something vital and key. You are stuck in the web in your own way. Don't judge us for how entrenched we are because we all really need to buy toilet paper in bulk unless you are a castaway. So welcome to you." I hold out hope that someday we find a way to live with The Machine/The Web that is more harmonious, beautiful, real and warm than the cold and calculated conspiratorial contraption it often appears to be.

The point I am trying to make is:::: Whether you are a part of The Machine/The Web or apart from it you are alive, I am sure, but your life is empty without music and people. Pink Floyd might have said (in other song) that the name of the game is "riding the gravy train", but I believe the goal is about something more beautiful and meaningful. It's about humanity and the bonds created through music. You can vote me down cuz I don't know my head from my a$$ but I do know how to find The Machine/The Web so I am grateful to be alive and enduring on an elementary level today.