Change (In the House of Flies)

Definitely a twisted and sinister song clearly illustrating the inner-workings of man who actively seeks to destroy the object of his desire to both be redeemed and feel powerful.

I watched you change Into a fly

• As a fly on the wall, he watches and observes the "change." Here, there is a strong indication that he is perhaps watching a young girl change into adolecence, but that is an entirely different interpretaion that I may attempt later and isn't exactly the point. The most significant revelation to You, the audience, is that HIS mentality is changing, yet he blames it on us, the audience. Watching a human being, a woman, change into a fly, reveals that he views her as a creature...no...not even a creature...a fly...he has successfully dehumanized the listener which is the foreshaddow of what is to unfold.

I looked away You were on fire

• Notice the shif of blame, again. Fire is universally associated with hell; consumation; desolation; and he attributes that to the woman (or the listener) which is the first inclination of guilt...he looked away.

I watched a change in you It's like you never had wings

• "As if you never had wings," I believe, indicates that he once idolized or adored the woman, which both surmount to objectification and delivers nicely the distortion of his perceptions; idealized to dehumanized.

And you feel so alive I've watched you change

• Here he withdraws from his connection to the audience; where You was first, the listener, he now is admitting the spark within himself, the seed of hate for the woman and it makes him feel alive. [I believe the different usages of "you" to be correct because he cannot feel her alive, it's within himself and as he watches her change, he is witnessing himself change]

I took you home Set you on the glass

• "I took you home," suggests ownership. Think of it this way; when you replace you with her, what does that suggest? "I took her home," creates the idea that he is taking her to her home, but you is synonymous with it; "I took you home," "I took it home." Anyhow, "set you on the glas," as if on display...it...an object.

• Side note: I feel as though the electronic distortion of his voice also parallels the distortion of his thinking, adding to the morbid complexity of the song.

I pulled off your wings Then I laughed

• This is the major transition and is the most riveting [chills], where he first allows us to glimpse how he successfully abolishes his own inner-tormoil...by pulling off her wings. While in the begining he watched the change within himself, he conquers this emotion by eradicating the defining symbol of demoralization; the wings. Since wings are usually associated with angels or with freedom, this illustrates that now she is completely defiled and imprisioned...he has gained control and feels guilty about it, internally hates himself for it, and then has to laugh [tranferrence of his own emotions onto his object to relieve any guilt, for he must see himself as human in order to maintian control.

I watched a change in you It's like you never had words

• Now, he completely dominates and feels as if a king; as emporer. By subtracting value from the woman, he is adding value to himself, where none was before. Not even her words matter. She is mute; deleted.

Now you feel so alive I watched you change

• "You feel so alive," is now identified as being the woman. He wants to believe that the pain and suffering he inflicted upon her makes her feel alive, as if he is responsible for "breathing life" into his object.

• The instramentals through the entire song and especially here really do suggest a sultry/sexual tempo and is significant, but I won't delve into that here.

I look at the cross And I look away

• His guilt finally catches up with him and is awful. He cannot accept it nor face it, so...

Give you the gun Blow me away

• He allows her to hurt him, he begs of it so that the cycle may repeat, for in order to maintain control, he MUST hate.

Blah, there it is, although there are so many differnt subtle themes and metaphors that I didn't cover but can see. Anyhow, while I usually like songs that are dark, this one totally freaks me out, and that's probably the point.