| Iron & Wine – Boy with a Coin Lyrics | 9 years ago |
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"A boy with a coin he found in the weeds With bullets and pages of trade magazines" Finding a coin is considered good fortune, but it is lodged among refuse. Bullets and trade magazines refer to the war and greed which contribute to making the world a terrible place. Contrast the famous and wealthy people who would be featured in trade magazines to this boy finding a single coin on the ground. Despite being a good turn, it actually illustrates his position of disadvantage. "Close to a car that flipped on the turn" A great and equally commonplace tragedy to contrast his small bit of luck. "When God left the ground to circle the world" One might imagine, God being present, would set up a more perfect ideal. He's depicted as instead being far off in a position of seeing but not doing. Man is left to his misfortune. "A girl with a bird she found in the snow Then flew up her gown and that's how she knows That God made her eyes for crying at birth Then left the ground to circle the Earth" This inverts the case of the boy, who obliviously considered himself lucky. The girl finds a bird helpless and alone in the cold and recognizes the full state of its misfortune. She takes pity on it, but again sees how the world is far from the ideal. "A boy with a coin he crammed in his jeans Then making a wish he tossed in the sea Walked to a town that all of us burn When God left the ground to circle the world" Unlike the girl, who keeps the bird, the boy doesn't even make good on the coin, he tosses it away, makes an idle wish for better circumstances, before returning to the place we have all made worse. We made it worse because instead of being like the girl who helped the bird we put our hope in vain notions, ignore the problems, and consider ourselves well off. |
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| The Shins – A Comet Appears Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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[ This poem is about how the speaker has lost all sense of meaning, or perhaps he has always lacked meaning and is only now coming to terms with the fact that it shall never be otherwise. He sees that anything there is to latch on to is just a lie to comfort a willing mind. Contrast with the opening of the album, where the speaker was young and passionate about every cause his young generation had to offer. Now he is 'old' and sees no meaning in anything. He is faced with simple apathy, and he is unable to ignore or otherwise escape (except, in some small measure, through alcohol and drugs) his knowledge that life has no meaning. ] One hand on this wily comet, [ dysphemism for “earth” ] Take a drink just to give me some weight, [ alcohol to numb the intellectual sense of disconnect ] Some überman I'd make, I'm barely a vapor [ the author cannot overcome the self (in the Nietzschean sense) and barely amounts to anything ] They shone a chlorine light on, [ pale green; either showing his sins for their true grotesqueness, or distorting them to look worse than they are ] A host of individual sins, Let's carve my aging face off, Fetch us a knife, Start with my eyes, [ remove the windows of knowledge ] Down so the lines, Form a grimacing smile, [ and now form a fake happiness through willing ignorance of the truth ] Close your eyes to corral a virtue, [ bring back perception of value via ignorance ] Is this fooling anyone else? [ but it's still just self delusion ] Never worked so long and hard to Cement a failure. [ it all amounts to nothing ] We can blow on our thumbs and posture, [ opposable thumbs and upright posture; we can try to disown the meaninglessness inherent to our natural origins ] But the lonely are such delicate things, The wind from a wasp could blow them, Into the sea, With stones on their feet, Lost to the light and the loving we need. [ but, as hard as we try to put a better face on things, it's so easy to become disillusioned, drowned in understanding, and no longer with any hope of meaning, despite the basic human need for it ] Still to come, The worst part and you know it, There is a numbness, In your heart and it's growing, [ the apathy that comes with disillusion and/or the fading of life into death ] With burnt sage and a forest of bygones, [ reflecting his whole past (perhaps turning to narcotics) ] I click my heels, Get the devils in line. [ sort out the mental burdens ] A list of things I could lay the blame on, Might give me a way out. [ he tries to escape responsibility by looking for excuses ] But with each turn, It stays front and center, Like a dart stuck square in your eye, [ but it's not possible to shutout what you've realized is true ] Every post you can hitch your faith on, Is a pie in the sky, Chock full of lies, A tool we devise, To make sinking stones fly. [ all sense of life's purpose is just an opiate ] And still to come, The worst part and you know it, There is a numbness In your heart, and it's growing. [ this knowledge leads to a consuming indifference and / or there is death looming on the horizon ] |
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| The Shins – Girl Sailor Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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[ Our speaker is again talking about his separation with the girl, but where “Black Wave” was his emotional reaction, “Girl Sailor” is his intellectual reaction. He discusses the problems that there have been in the relationship and admits that he was never a proper choice for her. He knows he is at least in equal blame for what's happened. He doesn't have a lot of hope for himself, but he wishes she will have success in pursuing her new life without him. ] The gutter may profess its love, [ he feels he is unworthy of her ] Then follow it with hesitation, [ but that didn't stop him from pursuing her ] For there are just so many of You out there for rent. [ girls he will only have temporary relationships with ] A stronger girl would shake this off in flight, And never give it more than a frowning hour, [ soon forget about it ] But you have let your heart decide, [ ignoring reason ] Loss has conquered you, You've won one too many fights, Wearing many hats every time, [ from many positions ] But you wont win here tonight. You made it through the direst of straits all right, [ the most difficult of problems ] Can you help it if plain love now seems less interesting? You haven't changed an ounce in my eyes, And I cannot lecture you. [ because she's not to blame ] And does anything I say seem relevant at all? You've been at the helm since you were just five, [ she has always been in control of her life; or, at least, sure of her purpose ] While I cannot claim to be more than a passenger. [ he has just been accepting whatever happened ] But, you've won one too many fights, Wearing all of your clothes at the same time, Let the good times end tonight, Oh girl, sail her, don't sink her, [ he hopes the best for her in her life without him ] This time, Just a moment or two from now, Not a mind will retain even a trace, Of the thoughts that I struggled to tell [ the emotions will be forgotten ] And how our stack of cards just fell. [ their relationship was always precarious ] So settle this once and for all, The light no longer shows the cracks around my door, [ there's no longer any light on the other side—no hope ] And I have no lantern to light your way home tonight. [ and he has no guidance to offer her (we might take this more generally as his perpetual inability in the album to find meaning) ] You are not some saint who's above Giving someone a stroll through the flowers. [ she condescended to bring him happiness for a while ] You've got so much more to dream of, [ she'll get more for going her own way than bringing up a lost soul like himself ] Oh girl, sail her, don't sink her, [ he continues to hope she'll do well ] This time, [ as she takes a new chance at her life ] This time, This time. |
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| The Shins – Split Needles Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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[ This is another poem which is meant autobiographically, although I'm unaware if James Mercer has ever said so. It's about his difficulties in reconciling the success of his band with his desire to retain the creative reigns. Inevitably, he must compromise the music he produces in order to suit the desires of the record label. ] I've earned myself an impossible crime. [ 'success'; which entails compromising his art ] I have to paint myself a hole And fall inside. [ whatever he chooses, that's what becomes his prison ] If it's far enough in sight and rhyme, [ if the music does well enough] I get to wear another dress [ he gets recognition / paraded around ] And count in time. [ performing the music ('count in time' alludes a loss of creativity) ] Oh, won't you do me the favor, man, Of forgiving my Poly-morphing opinion here, On your vague outline. [ James keeps having different ideas about what the record company wants him to produce ] Find myself another burning gate, A pretty face, a vague idea I can't relate, [ another state of Hades, another girl, another concept – the material for writing songs ] And this is what you get for pulling pins: [ either 'putting on the final touches' or 'backtracking' ] Another hole Inside the hole you're in. [ the shaft where the pin was; he ironically just makes things worse ] It's like I'm perched on the handle bars Of a blind man's bike. [ completely without control ] No straws to grab, just the rushing wind... On a rolling mind, [ the metaphoric bike is his mind; absurdly, it's no longer in his control ] They want you to decide. [ commit to a style / album idea / etc. ] Eventually, it happens. Some gather on one side, [ some people give their approval ] With all their pearlys snapping. [ words of approval / business ] They close the basement door. [ turn the band over to the studio ] It sets our teeth to chatter. [ the band gripes about how they don't like it ] You never saw it before. [ you didn't expect what was going to happen ] But now that hardly matters. [ but now you have no choice ] You're old enough, boy. Too many summers you've enjoyed. [ no longer bright and youthful; contrast with the first song of the album; our speaker may be on his way to joining the 'old guard' ] So spin the wheel. [ of Fortuna ] We'll set you up with some odd convictions, [ the business-centric rules of the industry ] Because you're finally golden, boy. [ because of your success ] It's like I'm perched on the handle bars, Of a blind man's bike, No straws to grab, just the rushing wind... On a rolling mind. |
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| The Shins – Black Wave Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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[ The speaker is parting ways with the girl he was with earlier. It is a painful experience for him. It seems like everything will now be tainted by the pain. He ironically considers that there might be a brighter side to it, though he almost certain does not believe it. ] This goose is cooked, [ it's the final end of the relationship ] These tongues are tied Around the block, [ nothing more to say ] An airborne blight, [ words just make it worse ] But looking on the brighter side, There's far less to which I'd be obliged, [ he no longer will have any responsibilities to her ] In the meadow where the black breeze blows, [ contrast: “in the meadow where the green grass grows” ] Or underneath the waves, you are most alone, [ dark, eerie, and lonely places ] Can you hear a subtle, aching tone Through the water, through the earth, to chill your bones, But looking on the brighter side, [ these words express an empty hope in rebuff to previous four lines ] Looking on the brighter side, Looking on the brighter side, Looking on the brighter side. |
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| The Shins – Turn On Me Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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[ James Mercer professes that this is about a falling out with a former colleague in his previous band (Flake Music). As a result of the falling out, his estranged comrade did not join The Shins, and each went their separate ways. In the poem, Mercer talks about the pettiness of the both of them, although he feels that he was the more civil. He laments that the problems happened in the background rather than happening so that they could have been discussed and resolved. But, he concludes that forgiveness is the right attitude, and neither of the wayward friends should let the falling out having lasting effect on their lives. ] You can fake it for a while, [ liking someone ] Bite your tongue and smile, Like every mother does an ugly child. But the stars are leaking out, Like spittle from a cloud, [ but the truth is shown from behind its ephemeral cover ] Amassed resentment counting ounce and pound. [ and the hostility revealed in its full measure ] You entertaining any doubts, 'Cause you had to know that I was fond of you, Fond of Y-O-U, Though I knew you masked your disdain. I can see that change was just too hard for us, [ the change of structure in the band ] Hard for us. You always had to hold the reigns, [ always had to be in control ] But where I'm headed, you just don't know the way. [ but not fit to lead anymore ] So affections fade away, Or do adults just learn to play The most ridiculous, repulsive games? [ was it time or foolishness that has created the indifference? ] All our favorite ruddy sons, [ vices ] And their double-barreled guns, [ with instruments of hostility ] You better hurry, Rabbit, run, run, run. 'Cause mincing you is fun, [ the apparent satisfaction people get out of demeaning each other ] And there's a lot of hungry hatters in this world. [ people who will consume you to their advantage; consider the traditional association of hatters as “mad;” and also the possible play on “hater” ] Set on taking it over, But brittle, thorny stems, They break before they bend, And neither one of us is one of them. [ neither one of them is willing to give in to the other ] And the tears will never mend, [ they won't find any reconciliation ] ‘Cause you had it in for me so long ago. Boy I still don't know I don't know why and I don't care-- (Well, hardly anymore) If you'd only seen yourself hating me. Hating me, When I'd been so much more than fair. But then you'd have to lay those feelings bare, One thing I know has still got you scared, Yeah, all that cold ire And never once aired on a dare. [ they never vented the problems (so they could have been mended) ] You had to know that I was fond of you, Fond of Y-O-U. So I took your licks at the time, A change like that is just so hard to do, Hard to do. Don't let it whip-crack your life, [ don't let it affect you in the long term ] And I'll bow out from the fight, [ he'll stop holding a grudge ] Those old pious sister's were right. [ the Christian idea of tolerance and forgiveness ] And the worst part is over, Now, get back on that horse and ride. [ the falling out should not be a crippling for either's life ] |
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| The Shins – Sea Legs Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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[ Mercer says this is about falling in love with his wife. The boy and girl in the poem are pursuing a relationship together, but it's not the sort of romance you see in movies. Things have progressed very uncertainly, and while now they may be confident of their love, they can't go back and relive their falling in love in some traditional way. Instead, they will ignore all consequences and charge ahead with the same uncertainty of the future, basing their relationship on a passion that's not bound to traditional romance. ] Of all the churning random hearts Under the sun Eventually fading into night, These two are opening now [ the speaker and girl are falling in love / starting their life together ] As we lie, I touch you Wonderful alive girl. If you're a seascape I'm a listing boat, [ someone sharply changing course ] For the thing carries every hope I invest in a single life. [ all possibility of happiness rests with her ] The choice is yours to be loved [ he loves her if she'll accept it ] Come away from it empty of. . . but us. [ she should give up everything that was part of her life alone ] 'Cause when that dead moon Rises again [ when the former icon of romance arises--void of its more splendid (full) form ] Be no time to stall or protocol To hem us in. [ there is no opportunity for the limitations of traditional romance ] And when the dog slides Underneath the train, There's no cry or use in searching for The mutt's remains. [ and once the infatuation / romance of first love is lost in the course of things (or maybe even overlooked!) there's no point or hope in trying to reclaim it later on. ] Throw all consequence aside And a cheerless pyre we will set alight. [ they will trade their old life for one of passion ] Of all the intersecting lines in the sand I routed a labyrinth to your lap. [ he wins her love in the midst of a confusing set of uncertain rules and barriers ] And never used a map Sliding off the land On an incidental tide, [ everything that happened / he did was unplanned ] And along the way you know, they tried [ to shape things ] They tried. But we got sea legs [ we're on uncertain ground ] And we're off tonight [ to their new life ] They can't have that to which they've no right. [ no one else has any say ] You belong to a simpler time I'm a victim to the impact of these words, And this rhyme. [ his understanding gives him a less idealistic perception ] 'Cause when that dead moon Rises again We've no time to stall or protocol To hem us in. Darling, when the dog slides, Open the door, and where’s she go? There's no time, no use to searching for The mutt's remains. Throw all consequence aside And a cheerless pyre we will set alight. |
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| The Shins – Phantom Limb Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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[ This poem is about two school girls overcoming rejection and indifference in the small town in which they live. They go along with the flow, but in their minds they rise above the people around them and will soon leave the town behind. James Mercer has stated it to be about his own personal experience of exclusion retold through the plight of two lesbians, but of course, there is nothing in the poem to limit it to that particular case. ] Foals in winter coats, [ young girls trying to insulate themselves from the harsh numbness of the people around them ] White girls of the north, [ in some New England town ] File past one, five, and one [ lonely individuals, or small cliques, but no meaningful friendships ] They are the fabled lambs, [ sacrifices ] Of Sunday ham, [ of the church tradition ] The EHS norm. [ and the high school order ] And they could float above the grass, In circles if they tried, [ they have great potential in their abilities far beyond the ordinary people around them ] A latent power I know they hide, [ to keep from being different ] To keep some hope alive, That a girl like I could ever try, Could ever try. [ but this power still gives them hope to reach beyond the limitations of their town ] So we just skirt the hallway sides, [ they accept they have no place with the rest ] A phantom and a fly, [ one friend is invisible, the other, insignificant ] Follow the lines and wonder why [ comply with the set social order ] There's no connection. [ but question it's lack of humanity ] A week of rolling eyes, And cheap shots from the tribe, [ small-minded and petty rejection by their peers ] And we're off to Nemarca's porch again, Another afternoon with the Goat Head tunes, And pilfered booze. [ meet up with a friend, listen to Rolling Stones, and drink alcohol; this means (1) there is no acting as parent to stop them (2) the parent probably uses alcohol as a refuse, both reinforce that Nemarca doesn't get love and support from home, and so she is a natural friend for the other two rejects ] We wandered through her mama's house, [ the father has left or died ] The milk from the window lights, [ lonely, unkept house ] Family portrait circa '95, [ back when the family used to be whole ] This is that foreign land, [ foreign because they aren't accepted by the natives ] With the sprayed-on tans, [ fake conformity to society's standards ] And it all feels fine, Be it silk or slime, [ but everything gives the appearance of being ok, whether it is or isn't ] So, when they tap our Monday heads, [ when the girls have to go back to school ] Two zombies walk in our stead, [ they follow the motions, but don't really accept any of it ] This town seems hardly worth the time, [ they don't value the people who don't value them ] And we'll no longer memorize or rhyme, [ they no longer accept what they're taught ] Too far along in our climb, [ either they're too far beyond the town in their personal growth to accept the old beliefs, or they are looking at how they will soon finish school and be free to go live better lives ] Stepping over what now towers to the sky, [ soon they will overcome the school/town/limitations ] With no connection. So, when they tap our Sunday heads, [ they make the same commentary about the religious aspect of the town ] Two zombies walk in our stead, This town seems hardly worth our time, And we'll no longer memorize or rhyme, Too far along in our climb, Stepping over what now towers to the sky, With no connection. |
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| The Shins – Pam Berry Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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[ This sets the stage for Phantom Limb. We have a young school girl who unapologetically rebels against the system which has mistreated her. ] The lyrics as they appear in the CD booklet: This lass, Of some 15-odd years, Is widely known To have spat In her teacher's lap. But now I see, How after all their crap, She rightly came to that. |
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| The Shins – Australia Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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[ James Mercer tells us this is about a middle-aged woman which is fairly straightforward from the lyrics. All of her imaginative dreams are lost simply because she contents herself with her present, humdrum existence, and this in turn has caused her to become a crude parody of Himmler, although, ironically, she supposes herself to be holding on to much greater things (religion). In the poem, it becomes evident that her only chance is to make the commitment to change her life right as the speaker makes the offer. If she decides to wait, nothing will ever happen. ] Time to put ze earphones on. . . No! (Born to) Born to multiply, [ born with no grander purpose ] Born to gaze into night skies, [ but also with a desire for such a grander purpose ] When all you want’s one more Saturday. [ wanting nothing more than trivial pleasures ] Well, look here, until then they gonna buy your life’s time [ your life is traded for your job ] So keep your wick in the air and your feet in the fetters [ meant reprovingly: keep yourself shackled to the present life and let yourself be burned away ] ‘Til the day. . . We come in doing cartwheels. [ they shake things up ] We all crawl out by ourselves. [ contrast cartwheels/crawl; they enter with rejuvenation, but leave in a crippled state ] And your shape on the dance floor Will have me thinking such filth I’ll gouge my eyes. [ causing him either to lust (see Matthew 5:29) or, possibly, be repulsed ] You’ll be damned to be one of us, girl, [ to trade her ordinary life ] Faced with the dodo’s conundrum [ the contradiction of a bird that can't fly ] I felt like I could just fly [ he felt like he could exceed his real physical limitations ] But nothing happened every time I tried. [ because James Mercer is a dodo ] Oh duotone on the wall The selfless fool who hoped he’d save us all He never dreamt of such sterile hands. [ she has a picture of Jesus on her wall, who she purportedly follows, but in effect she doesn't actually try to live up to His commands ] You keep them folded in your lap, [ going along with the flow, with what's ordinary ] Or raise them up to beg for scraps, [ accepting whatever menial comforts are available ] You know, he's holding you down With the tips of his fingers just the same. [ her false sense of religion does not incite her to accomplish anything; 'tips of his fingers'-- not a real burden except that she lets it become one (see also Matthew 11:28-30) ] Will you be pulled from the ocean, But just a minute too late, [ saved, but only after death, not experiencing any transformation in life ] Or changed by a potion, And find a handsome young mate For you to love. [ a miraculous and unrealistic change; instead of vainly hoping for a magic transformation she should be taking real steps to change herself in the now ] You'll be damned to pining through the windowpanes, [ yearning to exceed her self-imposed limitations ] You know you'd trade your life for any ordinary Joe’s, [ any change would be better than her continued existence ] Well do it now or grow old. [ this is your chance, lady ] Your nightmares only need a year or two to unfold. [ if she just waits for something to happen, there is no hope anything ever will ] Been alone since you were twenty-one, [ alone ever since she left her family ] You haven't laughed since January. [ living a life devoid of vigor ] You try and make like this is so much fun, [ trying to justify its value ] But we know it to be quite contrary. [ but actually, it really sucks ] La la la la la la la [ means, basically, “la la la la la la la” ] Dare to be one of us, girl, [ have the courage to exceed these limitations ] Facing the android's conundrum, [ the paradox of being alive but without personality/love/awareness, etc. ] You see I felt like I should just cry, [ as he felt that he could fly ] But nothing happens every time I take one on the chin, [ but androids can't cry; he remains callous ] You Himmler in your coat [ she has been a humorless, strict totalitarian of rigid beliefs ] You don't know how long I've been, Watching the lantern dim, Starved of oxygen, [ watching the fire of life be extinguished ] So give me your hand, And let's jump out the window. [ let's break away from the confines of our present existence (see the previous reference to 'windowpanes') ] |
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| The Shins – Sleeping Lessons Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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[ This is a song about a member of the new generation rejecting the ways and beliefs of the previous generation. The speaker advocates non-conformity, and questions the motives and values of his social predecessors. He maintains that they are unnecessary baggage for the newer generation, that they have no right to oppress the new generation's ideas, and that, should they try, rebellion is the right recourse. ] Go without 'Til the need seeps in. [ accept your low state until simple physical necessity motivates you otherwise ] You low animal, [ subservient to desire ] Collect your novel petals for the stem. [ add beauty/originality to your more basic functioning ] And glow, Glow, Melt and flow. [ become more, transcend your boundaries ] Eviscerate your fragile frame, And spill it out in the ragged floor, A thousand different versions of yourself. [ destroy the feeble conformist version of yourself and release the possibilities that are contained within ] And if the old guard still offend, [ if the previous generation still oppresses you ] They got nothing left on which you depend, [ remember they have nothing you need ] So enlist every ounce [ so become wholly motivated ] Of your bright blood, [ of your youthful spirit ] And off with their heads, [ and overcome them completely ] Jump from the hook. You're not obliged to swallow anything you despise. [ referencing the metaphoric hook/lure; you don't have to accept a set of beliefs that you oppose ] See, those unrepenting buzzards want your life. [ ignoring their own mistakes, the older generation wants to conscript you to their purposes ] And they got no right-- As sure as you have eyes, [ as sure as you can think for yourself ] They got no right, [ they have no right to force their beliefs on you against your discernment of their falseness ] Just put yourself in my new shoes, [ experience things as he does, from a new (and therefore better) perspective ] And see that I do what I do, [ not “do what I do” but share in the understanding of what he does ] Because the old guard still offend. [ which he does in rebellion against the established order ] (Their pudgy hearts and slimy hands) [ emphasizes their corruption ] They got nothing left on which we depend. [ before the pronoun was a second person; now we are talking about efforts that exceed a lone individual ] So enlist every ounce Of your bright blood, And off with their heads. Jump from the hook. You're not obliged to swallow anything you despise. That you despise. My cat... is fat. |
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| The Shins – Red Rabbits Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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[The story is about some man tending a child who holds an innocent—but necessarily ignorant—perception of the world. The man brings back rabbits from hunting, and suddenly the child's fanciful storybook notions of humanized forest creatures causes a cataclysmic realization of the reality of death and consequent loss of innocence/ignorance. ] Hurled to the center of the Earth again, The place where it's hot, love, You know, it hurts to breathe in, [ in the previous three lines the speaker has to explain the idea of "Hell" to an innocent child who wouldn't otherwise understand what he was talking about ] And the watershed you balance on is begging it, [ the transition from innocence to realization ] Well did he ever know, [ did the child ever comprehend the dark reality before? ] Will he ever know? [ will he even now? ] The trees in the moonshine are a dark lattice, [ a small bit of illumination will produce dark connections ] So you catalog in the angle you notice, [ but the child is ignorant, he doesn't note anything more than the angle of the patterns formed ] In a vacuum you are charged to record this, [ ety. of record "commit to heart"; without any other knowledge, he must deal with the new things that he learns, even though they have no context ] So you won't make it easy on me. [ it won't be easy for the speaker to hide the truth because the child always notices these details ] And I can't go into this no more, [ the role of teacher--trying to enlighten the child while avoiding the corruption of innocence--is becoming too much ] It puts too many thorns on my mind, [ it's not just that it would be hard on the child; his own worldview is brought into jeopardy by trying to truthfully consider the questions ] And the necessary balloon lies a corpse on the floor, [ the 'necessary balloon' could be referring back to his mind, or it could (more likely) be the interpretation I give later ] We've pissed on far too many sprites, And they're all standing up for their rights. Born on a desert floor, you've the deepest thirst, [born in ignorance, but hungry for knowledge ] And you came to my sweet shore to indulge it, [ the speaker is experienced and the child looks up to him for answers ] With the wan and dreaming eyes of an orphan, [ all innocent and idealistic ] But there is not enough, There is not enough. [ the speaker just doesn't have all the answers to his questions ] Out of a gunnysack for red rabbits, [bloody hares from the hunt] Into the crucible to be rendered an emulsion, [a cooking pot] And we can't allow a chance they'd restore themselves, [there's no childlike hope of their coming back] So we can't make it easy on you. [reality won't change] Undaunted, you bathed in hollow cries, [protests of sorrow that can't change anything] The boils were swollen, sunburned eyes, [swollen from crying, sunburned from the severe light of knowledge] A reward for letting nothing under their skin, [because the boy never accepted any hard truths before, now things really come crashing down; if it was true earlier that he was an 'orphan' then he clearly chose willful ignorance in the death of his parents, but now the bloody corpses of rabbits do not allow him to ignore death] So help me, I don't know, I might, Just give the old dark side a try. [ either that he is going to physically punish the child, or that he might try to joint the child in his state of ignorance ] Don't cast your warring eyes on the shore, [ note that earlier the boy was in the desert; now he is in the sea, yearning with anger to go back to his former ignorance ] Did we even the score? [ the speaker got revenge for the boys questions by revealing to him the harsh truth of reality ] I still owe you for the hole in the floor, [ he still owes the child for putting holes in the foundation of his worldview (by asking difficult questions) ] And the ghost in the hall, [ as well as bringing back the painful memories relating to the speaker's own loss of innocence ] Who decides who paddles over the falls? Yeah, who makes the call, Who makes the call? [ who decides for someone to take the plunge from innocence? (water remains a symbol of knowledge) who decides who lives and who dies? (killing the rabbits) ] Well, I know there's an eventual Release from every scale of crime, [ there's forgiveness for what he did ] But the necessary balloon lies a corpse on the floor, [ the balloon represents hope/innocence/some bright aspect of childhood ("necessary" for happiness); but in time a balloon loses its full uplifting spirit and dies, never again to float above all the troubles of life ] We've pissed on far too many good intentions held by clever sprites, [ we've set up an idealized fantasy world for children but then betrayed that idealism with all our real-world dealings ] And they're all standing up for their rights. [ the anthropomorphisms of animals etc. from children's stories comes back to bite in the end by making reality something its not which later becomes a brutal reconciliation for the children we've lied to ] |
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