I've been obsessed with these lyrics for a little bit now and have been reading others opinions on here. It makes sense that "youre what happens when two substances collide" refers to a sperm and an egg... it follows the theme of the album sort of, but it also makes sense that the song is about a drug addiction. A former mob affiliate named Henry Hill currently lives in North Platte as a cook, and I say former mob affiliate because he testified against another mobster and put him in jail. "Though th words we speak are banal/not one of thems a lie" might be his testimony. He also had a drug problem.
This doesnt really work with the rest of the song though, im not even sure if "North Platte" even means anything because the third verse uses "six miles north of South Platte" and it doesnt even seem like south platte even exists.
I can see the whole sperm and egg theory and the song revolving around several people. One who watches the history channel with a panel of experts explaining the hard journey of the sperm to the egg, and explaining to whoever is watching that they should have died before they two substances collided.
The second and third verses could about two different people. One is most likely a truck driver which explains the "streched out on the tarmac" as an 18 wheeler carrying 16 tons of hazmat. OR, he could be running from something or someone, the 16 tons of hazmat could be a metaphor for a lot of problems of some sort. This would tie with the next verse as he is trying to forget his problems with drugs, and he is in the bathroom with a sack full of coke or pills or something, wishing he had his life back before all the problems led him to run away. He could also be the one who was watching the history channel and reflecting on his life. Maybe he thought it was a waste after all, on all accounts he really should have died before he came to be.
Of course theres the line "over imbibed under the mister/barely alive we cover the blisters in flannel" suggests maybe the subject was burnt. The word imbibed could mean to soak up a liquid or to consume a liquid. Perhaps soaking up the water from the mister. I don't know what the flannel is for. "The words we speak are banal/not one of thems a lie" could be from the panel of experts again. They do speak without "freshness or originalty", but most of the time they speak the truth, i mean, they are the experts for a reason.
Another interesting point is that in the opening and closing verse, andrew bird uses the word "we" instead of "I", but in the second and third verses he tells a story of a specific person. I better stop thinking too much about it, or i'm not going to enjoy the song anymore
I've been obsessed with these lyrics for a little bit now and have been reading others opinions on here. It makes sense that "youre what happens when two substances collide" refers to a sperm and an egg... it follows the theme of the album sort of, but it also makes sense that the song is about a drug addiction. A former mob affiliate named Henry Hill currently lives in North Platte as a cook, and I say former mob affiliate because he testified against another mobster and put him in jail. "Though th words we speak are banal/not one of thems a lie" might be his testimony. He also had a drug problem.
This doesnt really work with the rest of the song though, im not even sure if "North Platte" even means anything because the third verse uses "six miles north of South Platte" and it doesnt even seem like south platte even exists.
I can see the whole sperm and egg theory and the song revolving around several people. One who watches the history channel with a panel of experts explaining the hard journey of the sperm to the egg, and explaining to whoever is watching that they should have died before they two substances collided.
The second and third verses could about two different people. One is most likely a truck driver which explains the "streched out on the tarmac" as an 18 wheeler carrying 16 tons of hazmat. OR, he could be running from something or someone, the 16 tons of hazmat could be a metaphor for a lot of problems of some sort. This would tie with the next verse as he is trying to forget his problems with drugs, and he is in the bathroom with a sack full of coke or pills or something, wishing he had his life back before all the problems led him to run away. He could also be the one who was watching the history channel and reflecting on his life. Maybe he thought it was a waste after all, on all accounts he really should have died before he came to be.
Of course theres the line "over imbibed under the mister/barely alive we cover the blisters in flannel" suggests maybe the subject was burnt. The word imbibed could mean to soak up a liquid or to consume a liquid. Perhaps soaking up the water from the mister. I don't know what the flannel is for. "The words we speak are banal/not one of thems a lie" could be from the panel of experts again. They do speak without "freshness or originalty", but most of the time they speak the truth, i mean, they are the experts for a reason.
Another interesting point is that in the opening and closing verse, andrew bird uses the word "we" instead of "I", but in the second and third verses he tells a story of a specific person. I better stop thinking too much about it, or i'm not going to enjoy the song anymore