"The Tortoise and The Tourist" tells a thought-provoking tale of a tortoise who possesses infinite knowledge of the universe, and a thoughtless, self-indulgent tourist. Despite the tortoise's best efforts to impart wisdom, the tourist prefers to kill the tortoise, pull its shell off its body and then use it to write a song. The song can be interpreted in multiple ways, with one reading seeing the tortoise as a symbol of knowledge and the tourist as one of ignorance, serving as a cautionary tale of the perils of not seeking understanding. Another interpretation sees the tortoise as a representation of nature, and the tourist as a stand-in for humanity's exploitative relationship with it.
The title of Modest Mouse's Strangers to Ourselves album is taken from this fable about humanity's ignorance and greed: We've been getting away We are strangers to ourselves We sneak out, drip by drip Through paper cuts on our hands The opening track is also named after the album, but the title doesn't actually appear in that song's lyrics.
Asked by HMV.com why the band decided on Strangers To Ourselves for the album title, vocalist Isaac Brock replied: "It was inspired by the notion that there are things we do in our lives that we know is wrong and we shouldn't do it, but we're still doing it. It's a good metaphor I think."
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