Warning by Incubus

Album: Morning View (2001)

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This song uses an interesting metaphor, describing society as frogs in a Jacuzzi oblivious to the water starting to boil. This may be a reference to the writing of philosophical novelist Daniel Quinn, whose books have used a similar metaphor to express the idea that people pay no mind to social decline because it's gradual, while the same events occurring more quickly would outrage the masses. His book Ishmael inspired some of the ideology of the 1999 film Instinct, starring Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Donald Sutherland. >>
Suggestion credit:
Stefano - Old Bridge, NJ
The song tells a small story about a person who has the world at the tips of her fingers, but through the art of distraction and compromise she wakes up one day to find that it has slipped by her. The information she gains from her mistake she shares in song with the rest of the world. Kind of a "don't do what I did" lament. >>
Suggestion credit:
Landon - Effingham, IL
"Warning" was the third single from Incubus' fourth album, Morning View, following "Wish You Were Here" and "Nice To Know You." By this time, they had evolved past their days on the Warped Tour and Ozzfest and become an alternative rock band with a wide fanbase. They stood out with Brandon Boyd's thought-provoking lyrics and soundscapes filled with hooks, including turntable inserts from their DJ, Chris Kilmore. The group's breakthrough came on their previous album with the hit "Drive."
In the music video, directed by Francis Lawrence, a girl screams out a warning that something will go down at 10:24. When that time comes, every human vanishes from Earth in some kind of rapture. Lawrence went on to direct three movies in the The Hunger Games franchise.
The band wrote and recorded the Morning View album at an estate on Morning View Drive in Malibu that also housed a recording studio. The photo on the cover is a view of the Pacific Ocean from Morning View Drive, which provided the name of the album. In 2022, it was put up for sale for $14.5 million.
This song was written before 9/11, but on that day, it seemed quite prescient.

Incubus was in New York City when the attacks happened - their hotel shook and they were part of the throngs running to escape. The band was in town to promote the Morning View album, set for release in October, as well as their upcoming tour, set to begin in New Hampshire on September 14, 2001, with performances at the Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan the next two nights. Incubus went ahead with the tour and the release, even as pretty much everything else shut down. Playing the New York City shows was bold, especially considering songs like this one that ask us to challenge authority. The performances were especially intimate, as both band and audience used the music and togetherness to grapple with what happened.

Comments: 31

Renee from Christchurch NzI remember this song coming out in my high school years it was the only song my friends and i could agree on, that it being awesome! I believe its about life passing you by, weather its being with the wrong partner, in the wrong job, wrong friend circle or just general life choices, all the "what ifs" in life
Connie from Pittsburgh Pennsylvania I believe this song is just telling us to do all we can and be happy while there's still time to do it. When was the last time you've seduced a stranger if at all? We waste time in the daily grind, we forget how beautiful the world can be, we don't even allow ourselves to be truly happy. The girl is but a ghost, look at her pale complexion, the dark circles under her eyes, she is clearly dead, probably died at 10:24, she manifests in front of people to shout out her warning to not let life pass you by, it is so precious... we take so much for granted and life can pass us by without us even realizing it. I know mine has.
AnonymousI know this is a relatively old song, but lately one lyric has played in my head continuously. ”Those left standing will make millions writing books on the way it should have been.” I feel this is very relevant now, in 2020. Witchcraft? Probably not, but it’s haunting, to me.
Layton from CaliforniaWhy not take the song literally? It seems whomever directd this video had something in mind which is debatable however the song lyrics itself are pretty profound if you just read as they are. From a 2000 perspective, love ourselves before it's made illegal, when will we learn, those left standing writing books(Victors write history) she called out a warning, don't let life pass you by( literal, dont let life and all that goes on pass by or youll regret it.) Brandon can write some cryptic lyrics but his one seems pretty on the nose.
Karl from Saratoga Springs, Nyo.k. so I was a little off in my timing....this song came out October 2001...It was a long time ago...
The symbolism to me...( and this is only my personal interpretation, as I acknowledge that we all are entitled to our own individual take on things...) is that the girl in the video is RELIGION....
The stubborn and relentless pursuit of religions ideology for some has created an environment in this world that goes against what to me is the basic premise of religion in the first place...
Look at her being cast out of the classroom, look at her yelling at the top of her lungs in whatever emotion you may interpret ( anger, agression, hate, frustration, passion, insecurity...and on and on..)
The relation to the terrorist attacks....too many to list..The building....the thousands of "post its" on the wall relating to lives lost on that tragic day... the presence of "Religion" in an area that really is not warranted....in the classroom, the workplace, "Religion" thrust into the World Trade Center...figuratively, and literally.
To me, the screams are the roar of the jet engines...
What else do YOU see in this video?? I would like to know
Karl from Saratoga Springs, NyIt is my sincere belief that sometimes in life we manifest things that have yet to happen.. in movies, books, music etc... I think there are some people who create things not knowing truly why they do... and later realizing in some relevant way why they did.
I can remember listening to this song right before the terrorist attack on 9/11. I haven't listened to, or seen this video for over a decade...It is now, and only now, that I can see the eerie symbolism presented by Incubus in this song...
Cameron from Cape Girardeau, Moyes a few of incubus's songs refer to the end of times.. when the clock states 10:24..that is a verse in a bible.... Hebrews 10:24-25
24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see THE DAY IS APPROACHING..aka the end of times
Nadine from Johannesburg, South AfricaI think the girl is in fact the character 'Jezebel' from the Bible -the story is she was something like a princess (in the Bible)who was evil so-to-say. God said that one day she will be forgotten (1KI 16:37). It is much more complicated but if you watch the video you'll see that she's all alone and is trying to warn other people to not waste their lives like she did. The part ''seduce a stranger'' as one guy mentioned before, i do think is reference to the verse in REV 2:20 - its about the people (she is trying to warn) who tolerate her/tolerate her 'sins' by living them
This is Jezebel's warning
1KI 16:31
2 So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, "May the gods deal with
me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your
life like that of one of them."
Timmy from Mukilteo, Wathis song is about 12/20/2012. the end of the world, or apocalypse. the girl in the video represents mother nature, and her screams in the video are represented as disasters in the real world, such as 9/11, global warming, earthquakes, etc.

but everytiime she screams, no one understands what shes doing, and the last time she screams, everyone is gone. and that represents all mankind dissapearing.

the song is meant to say that the end of the world is coming, and how human are ignoring all of mother natures warnings
Nezmeat from Nashville, TnGreg, the episode of the Twilight Zone that you were wondering about is called "Time Enough at Last".
In the episode, A man that loves reading only just wants time to read. He falls asleep in a bank's safe and survives an H-Bomb blast. Waking up, he discovers that he is the only man left on the face of the earth. Finding a nearby library, he has all the time in the world to read. but in an ironic twist, his glasses break, leaving him stranded forever.
Emma from San Deigo, Cathis song has so much meaning to it!
thinking back on the lyrics i don't know if it is about global warming (because of the verse about the frogs boiling face down) or if it is about taking chances and living life to the fullest! I think it is both! Either way listening to this song really makes you think in new way!
Chelsea from Get Me Out Of, Tni completely agree with amanda. the video is about a girl trying to warn everyone of judgement day 12-21-12 at 10:24. it gives me chills but i think the song is about whatever you want it to be. incubus has a way of writing songs so they can be interpereted different ways.
Jimmy from New York City, Nythe song is talking about how people never realize that there lives are passing them by, and like when it is talking about the frogs it is refering to the science test where you put forgs in a pot of boilign water, and they jump out, but then they put them in a pot of cold water, and they stay there, so the scientists slowly boil the water and they frogs are oblivious to the fact that they water is boiling, and slowly they die, just like how humans need to realize there lives are passing them by.
Britt from Scottsdale, AzWhat exactly is the meaning of the number "421"? o.o
Roger from Arlington, TxFloating in this/comic jacuzi/we are like/frogs oblivious
There are frogs who's sencories don't allow them to feel pain. When put into hot water, they float around, enjoying the warmth. In all, not knowing that the hot water is boiling their insides.
Soon the water/starting to boil/no one flinches/we all float face down.
They die and, like us as a people who don't realize that we are pretty much obliviously killing ourselves with some of the things we do (i.e. global warming), we will eventually face the inevitable.... we all float face down.
Shonda from Los Angeles, CaThis song is creepier then I thought.
Quinn from Port Jefferson, Nyi'm surprised nobody has made a connection to an environmental meaning behind this song.

She woke in the morning
She knew that her life
Had passed her by
She called out a warning
Don't ever let life pass you by

"She" could be a representation of mother earth, and how we should act upon the multiple warnings we get such as natural disasters, global warming?? etc...

When will we learn
When will we change
Just in time to see it
All come down

Those left standing
Will make millions
Writing books on ways
It should have been

-that verse speaks for itself

I think a lot of the song has to do with us being completely oblivious to important environmental factors
Esmith from Gorham, MeAlright... heres my take on what this song may be about. When I first really listened to the lyrics, it sounded like a story about a girl who woke on day to realize that she had let life pass her by, and had regrets about years passed. See, in life we have to come to certain realizations. Its actually alot about what incubus writes lyrics about... becoming a person true to themselves and the world around them. The way society and the us goverenment are set up is completely bogus, because there are tons of people out there that just follow and are numb to the way life should be... and if you grow up not thinking outside the box and just taking whats fed, you are letting life pass you by. "I suggest we learn to love ourselves before it's made ILLEGAL (mabye as a reference to the governments laws??) When will we learn, when will we change(we must change) Just in time to see it all come down"... just my two cents
Kate from Appleton, WiOh man... this is my favorite song of all time.
Julie from Somewhere, Oh"Seduce a stranger" just means to get out and do something.. take chances.. live a little
Will from Harlem, GaIn the video to this song the clocks constantly flash "10:24," which is the number 421 backwards (420+1). Just thought I'd throw that in since everyone already posted the meaning of the song.
Helen from Dublin, Ireland'Seduce a stranger' - funny, we just had this conversation last night about why it's considered weird to chat up strangers in, oh say, a shop. Why do we let moments pass us by? Like 'I'd love to have asked him out but what if he said no?'. Then we never think 'I'm glad I didn't ask him' - it's always 'I wonder what would have happened'. Then you have the line 'we all float face down' - nobody sees anybody anymore. We all walk with our faces glued to the ground, ignoring all around us when we could be having a great time with those people we see at the same time in the same place every day but can't communicate with them cos that's weird.
Basicly just LIVE - that's what I take from this song.
The Jorge from Hell, OtherI think the Line Seduce a stranger has to do witht the Revelation's: Dont be seduced by the Jezebel(or something like that)
The Jorge from Hell, OtherWas it an Aztec Prophecy, I always thought that it was a Hopi Prophecy(pre-Columbian.) A similar date and time is also in the controversial Bible Code, and the works of the prophet Nostradamus(I think.) Some also believe that signs in the Revelation are also pointing to it being very soon. Not to mention many other ancient Prophets from many different land areas, and some signs from certain spiritualistic animals. There's a couple links I can send: http://www.crystalinks.com/quatrains.html (Nostradamus)
http://deoxy.org/omega.htm (the Aztecs, Hopi's, and a lot more)
http://www.biblecodedigest.com/ (Bible Codes)
Evan from G-ville, Gawoa that aztec profesy thing is creepy
Josiah from Minneapolis, MnThis song speaks to the decline of people's hearts. Not just our society's decline. How people just cleave their hearts and souls away in sickness for nothing. and slowly we all are losing ourselves.
Greg from Phila., PaWhat episode of The Twilight Zone is the video based on? And the girl in the video looks like Mischa Barton, is it?
Amanda from Tampa, FlThe video/song is based on an ancient Aztec prophecy that the world will come to an end on 12/21/2012 at 10:24am. In the video we see that the world comes to a stand still at that exact time. The girl realizes that this is going to happen and she tries to warn everyone to not "let life pass you by".
Joseph from Manteca, CaThe video is based on an episode of The Twilight Zone
Vanessa from Barstow, CaI don't understand the video though. If anybody does, please let me know, cuz it bugs me that I don't. Thanks.
Jenny from Miami, FlThey found the girl for the video walking round on some street and asked her to star in the video. She obviously agreed.

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