Song Details
- Album Release Date: 2012
- Genre: emo
Song Meaning of “Parallels and Money” by The Spill Canvas
The Spill Canvas’s ‘Parallels and Money’ is a testament to the folly of chasing after wealth and materialistic goods as a means of finding fulfillment in life. The song’s protagonist has reached a point in his life where all of his hopes and dreams of finding love, stability and success have been replaced with feelings of self-doubt and loneliness. He desparately longs for the “enlightened life” of financial freedom and stability that his peers seem to possess but soon realizes that acquiring wealth and status will never be enough to fill the void inside of him.
The lyrics of the song describe a cycle of despondency and delusion that the protagonist has been living in. He is in a financial rut, desperately trying to make ends meet but the more he tries to make money the further away the dream of “enlightenment” slips away from him. The only things that seem certain to him are the “Parallels and Money” that he obsesses over and which in turn, only bring him further down.
The song serves as an important reminder that the goal of achieving wealth and financial success for its own sake is a fool’s errand. Ultimately, true fulfillment and happiness are only achievable through meaningful relationships and achieving a sense of purpose in life. The protagonist sadly only realises this after he has wasted years of his life chasing the wrong goals. The song ends with a powerful message: “No matter how fast the money, it won’t take away this haunt in me”. The Spill Canvas were able to perfectly capture the regret and sadness of the protagonist who could have achieved a meaningful and purposeful life, only if he had realised that “Parallels and Money” would never truly fill the void inside.