Tiny Apocalypse

something new and different happens everyday that may not amount to anything the day it happens but sooner or later will.

I cream my pants everytime I hear this song. Poetic. Visceral. Sobering.

This is an incredible song, I'm suprised there aren't more comments on it.

I think this song (and this is also a list of the cw's for my interpretation) is a description of the experience of repetition and monotony from severe depression and panic disorder; self harm thru alcohol, impulsive sexual behaviors, possibly a suicide attempt; and hospitalization of any type - mental or physical.

"Comin' home with a little apocalypse It comes, now do you have time for this?" Seems to describe a mental health (imo a panic attack) event happening and the protagonist having to just deal with that regardless of their exhaustion or anything else they may be doing at the time.

"A 3-tone carpet and a Jackie Chan spear Lookin' at a hairdo and a belly full of beer Well I ain't no poet, ain't got no rhyme Well I got me a car and I don't know how to drive" The protagonist sits in their bare living room, thinking about how, [reading between the lines, they're in or approaching middle age] but have very little in terms of possessions or education. They decide to go driving while drunk, potentially as a [semi-]suicidal impulse.

"In the event of pressure loss All our lines are busy now I will be laughing out loud anyhow" There is no feeling more lonely, nor more shocked-into-laughing absurd, than calling a suicide hotline and getting a busy signal.

"Lay down, lay down next to this Lookin' at the body well I don't even know his name Call me in this morning was a friend of mine" Compounding the breakdown are habits of sexual impulsivity, leading further down the spiral of self hate, especially if the protagonist is a man (or on any part of the trans spectrum etc.) and feeling internalized shame for being queer.

"Well the wind so strong, it's blown us all around Wind so strong, nobody settle down"... "Little sister gotta take her medicine Baby brother, gonna do it all again Runnin' fast but cannot catch the bus Funny feelin', this is part of us" I think these lines are recognizing the weather-like inescapability of mental illness (re: you can't stop the wind) and that it is happening to like every person in this world, as well as viewing sufferers of it as younger siblings that we should feel the need to protect.

"Please read the print advisory Would you like to go ahead?" I think this is the protagonist checking into a hospital and having to read a brochure and/or read through the intake forms to consent to inpatient treatment.

The word list has meaning I can't quite parse into words but I think also lends itself, like the consistent beat of the song and melody of the piano, just repeating, speaks to the monotony of every day feeling the same - I believe this describes living in the general world with mental illness but even more so describes the experience of living in a hospitalized setting with such intense repetition and controlled routine to your every day, as well as chemical sedation.

"And you must take your medicine Getting better everyday Good for a limited time feelin' fine" Mental health medication which, if the above lines about a "tiny apocalypse" is about panic attacks, would make sense as things like Benzos are only helpful for a short period of time, after which the depression and general anxiety returns (versus SSRIs don't have any peaks and valleys). The more you stop panic attacks the less chemicals (adrenaline, norepinephrine, cortisol, etc) are in your bloodstream to cause further panic attacks to be more likely.

"We will return your things to you When it's time for you to leave So quiet nobody knows tippytoes" The protagonist will eventually feel better enough to leave and will be checked out very subtly so as not to overly disrupt the routine of other residents. This connects to me with the earlier line "Dancin' wherever she goes tippytoes" which may describe another resident the protagonist views when checking in who, for whatever reason, is also trying to be quiet - either a hospital policy or a resident who is very sensitive to sound. Or could be a parallel between joyful tippytoeing and the kind that comes from shame or trying to make yourself smaller, more invisible. The repetition makes me feel it's significant but I guess I haven't fully figured out how haha.

Sorry for so many words but I was surprised no one else had any version of any of this as a possible interpretation and wanted to fully explain my thoughts on it so it would make sense because it's a fully different approach instead of just contributing to similar theories which needs less thorough explanation to make sense

I feel this song is about the little apocalypses that happen to all of us, like hearing that you are critically ill or that you suffer from serious mental illness. And about the experiences that come with that. Helplines that are unreachable, meaningless material possesions, the formulaic banality of medical treatment, the loss of control over your personal life when you enter hospital. And the wish to escape it all, tiptoeing away. There seems to be a female protagonist, but the song is also a comment on how society in general deals with these kind of things nowadays.