Perhaps analogous to Socrates' image of the cave. The more immediate, and explicit, comparison is of course with Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, hence the use of imagery for the mountain such as 'encased in solar rays,' or encased in light like a divine figure. The mountain comes to represent a sense of distance from the rest of humanity, and their instincts, or the 'inarticulate passion plays.' Hence, they serve to bring the human into contact with the divine or what is above these 'inarticulate passion plays,' which are put down somewhat. The experience in general is held to change them significantly.

Some lines come off as awkward, like, 'The frozen definition of a lunatic ambition to rise,' which comes across as a slightly strange choice of verb, and also of the word 'frozen,' before a chorus concerning a mountain. It doesn't have much of a clear direction in that context.

They hence seek refuge from a slightly chaotic world or structure - which they are known to have issues with - by portraying it as akin to a mountain, or in brief that through their lonely struggle up the mountain despite lack of company and perhaps disapproval, but at the same time portraying the purity and distance of that mountain as a good thing despite the seeming arduousness of their journey. They hence compare the descent to the reception of Christ's Sermon, in a sense, or that the 'conversation of impassive planets,' here seen as representing the 'immortal' in some sense, is intercepted and discussed in various ways by human beings, as was recognised in the form of 'parable.' These 'planets' follow strange ways and teachings, which might be quite different from those chained to earth, but nonetheless people must try and ascertain their ways.

They seem to connect 'ratiocination' to a plausible means of merely limiting an ascent, or determining a place to just 'abide,' although whether this is meant positively or not is ambiguous - obviously, to 'abide' at a certain point is not to go further, which is the theme of their song. Religion - or at least in the form of the Mosaic law - is just another way.

Another allusion to Christ may be found in: 'tracing faceless fears of / Suprahuman immensity in a / Patch of sand,' a reference in a way to Christ's etching in the sand, although whether or not it is approved of is uncertain. Likewise, the portrayal of 'granite' is ambiguous - it is a 'frozen, amoral giant,' with no particular purpose - and it is compared in some ways to the frost giants of ancient religions. In this sense, its gaze 'heavenwards' - contradictory imagery for pathos, as of course if this is to be taken as notable, then it is because it isn't 'amoral' - might be seen as possibly slightly negative. In general, through vague and occasional references to religious events, they try and get across a sense of the confluence of heavenly and earthly existence in the Christian event of a monotheistic god incarnate - where 'eons have a human ring' - except with a more modern and slightly dark touch to its tone.

Ratiocination is a practicable way to derive,
An attitude or altitude and probity by which to abide
Or maybe a theophany of flaming creosote in disguise.

You can get your moral compass from reason and logic, or maybe you can get it from god appearing to you in a burning bush?

This song has always struck me as a praise of nature, if you'll excuse the expression. I think it's very obvious that it's referencing a place far-removed from human impact, someplace where the grandiosity of nature and its implications are acutely apparent; where people can get some modicum of understanding about just how insignificant we are in the grand scheme of things, which implies that our vulnerability is reason enough to question religious and spiritual ideas.

Greg Graffin was asked about the song and he said the song was about he and Brett going back packing in the Sierra Nevada every year and being off the power grid (beyond electric dreams).

I personally think the song is about how mankind has always striven forward to discover new things or conquer new lands and how that sometimes goes a bit too far. It is either that or it's a psychedelic experience Brett has had while doing a lot of drugs.

"No one [...] point to a sign" indicates our complacency; the path to understanding is right there in front of us but we all chose to just sit there comfortably and ignore it (see Plato's Cave allegory or Gaarder's White Rabbit allegory).

"Roof of the world" though that is often how the Czech refer to their country, I would tend to side with the theory that it is a reference to to Mt. Sinai (ten commandments and whatnot).

"Frozen definition [...] rise" is about how religions are polluted by profit interest (interesting parallel to the band's common take on the rest of society).

Now I'm probably way off on my interpretation of "the conversation of impassive planets" but a group of scientists who study cave paintings recently concluded something or other about how at the time when those paintings where made, the Earth and Venus where close enough together to cause some bizarre atmospheric effect that would distort certain shapes and forms, they used this to explain the bizarre tendrils that seem to protrude from the heads of many cave paintings. I support the theory of the "flaming creosote" as the burning bush "theophany" which was not at all godly.

The tough part; "Crystalline geometry of night" seems to mean that space is math, not god.

"Faceless fears [...] sand" is our fear of a god who exists everywhere by virtue of his allegedly having created everything.

"Raptors guile [...] intensity" haven't got that bit yet as I had previously thought it said Raptors gyre in reference to W.B. Yeats' "Second Coming" which predicted the First World War as the start of humanity distancing itself from belief in god, though its presence here would be ironic in such a case seeing as Yeats had portrayed this as catastrophic.

"Only a visitor [...] space" indicates the brevity of life but the oneness of humanity a la John Donne's meditation seventeen, only instead of the parable of mankind as a continent (no man being an island unto himself) we are showed as a "red spattered synagogue" perhaps in reference to the bloody hands of the three Semitic faiths (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) all of which come from the same place, have the same god, and venerate the same holy books (though the earlier faiths reject the later teachings) and lastly this image leaves us alone; no god, no heaven etc.

"A frozen [...] forever" this disturbing image shows mankind unanimously looking for a god, as the empty heavens sit, indifferent in their lack of cognition. Anyhow, I'm not sure how much sense that makes 'cause I don't proofread, but take from it what you will.

I would like to add one comment about the line "No one here can show you where it is but I can point to a sign." I think that this does not mean that no one understands existence, but rather that we all truly do have an innate understanding of God/higher power/whatever-you-believe-in, even if we deny it and say we're atheists. But though we do have at least some degree of comprehension, we could never put into words this understanding. All we can do is point to the signs in the Bible or other holy texts, and this why modern religion sprang up. Signs and words are simply the closest approximations to the inner feeling that we can never describe adequately enough.

This song had a strong sense of science associated with it, in my opinion. What strikes me is the sense that this song is trying to convey a message of complete misunderstanding. More specifically, people love assigning a vast, incomprehensible meaning to life and existence through celestial involvement. They're so jaded by mediocre life that they feel the dire need to give it some fantastical complexity through religion, God, innate purpose, etc. What they refuse to see is that life without all that stuff is still incredibly complex, from evolution to biology to social interaction. We don't need these verbose tomes about man's true purpose and meaning when it's already clear to those who care to see it that our existence staggers the mind. A perfect example of this is the reference to the raptor. Evolution has found that birds evolved from dinosaurs even though the two seem to be polar opposites. How an 800 pound lizard could become a small bird capable of flight is astounding and doesn't need any added meaning or value.

The final part of the song resembles the radio frequency of astronauts (also the reference to impassive planets intercepted by a human being makes sense with this). The astronaut in a new world has no words, just like a man in a mountain staring at the horizon. The epitome of a scientist, in the end, has the same language problems as a poet. The end and the beginning of the song blend together to express the frustrating impossibility of reason when dealing with the raw, pure unknown.

I think it's a lot like Generator, the literal meaning is impossible to decipher, but the song gives off a certain vibe, so the meaning is more abstract.
For example, if you've ever been on top of a mountain, with 'no trace of a human scheme' on the horizon, or rather, have a vantage point of nature, in it's pure, untainted form ,where there has been no invasion by humanity...then you are kind of able to understand the vibe Brett's trying to get across here, it generates a powerful feeling, 'inarticulate passion' if you wanna call it that, and this holds spiritual value to Brett - or atleast, that's my interpretation.
Also, the 'raptor' is probably a reference to a bird of prey, as they are often called 'raptors'... go birdwatching, you'll understand what he means by 'guileless shivering intensity'

Most of my themes were political on the new record, but the song 'Beyond Electric Dreams' isn't about religion, but about spirituality. It's about finding hope and a basis for a moral code in nature; not needing to seek that through some kind of transcendental channel.
- Brett Gurewitz

I think one line that sums this song best is, "No one here can show you where it is but I can point to a sign.".
The song seems to be about the in-adequateness of man. We know we exist but we simply cannot understand why. The title "Beyond Electric Dreams" means that farther than dreams, which we have little or no grasp of, there are a tremendous amount of things that we cannot fathom and maybe never will.