Firstly, there's a few words wrong here. 'Words and music HE calculated', 'A FLASH in the sky IT was gone', 'The liar who lied in HIS song'. Not a big deal really, but little words can completely change the inflection of a line, or even the meaning of the whole song.
I think this is clearly a song about the fickle, shallow content of todays pop music. 'Week by week, it climbs up and comes on' refers to a song climbing the charts and being played on the radio, and 'But at the food court, the float's inflated People line up to see...' referring to lame public appearances where naff bands mime at a shopping mall. These two lines alone lead me to believe it is not about Will Sheff or Okkervil River.
Will talks of starry eyed kids, and the fact that the kids see these idiots as icons, Gods almost to be followed and worshipped, and that the worship is thoroughly undeserved, especially since the content of their 'art' is inherently flawed by being tawdry paint-by-numbers pish, written solely to sell records rather than say something worthwhile.
'And we're feeling alright, though we know it's all wrong' implies that the music is catchy, hence radio friendly, but that deep down we all know it's meaningless drivel.
I have to disagree massively with laviebonne who said 'SOMETIMES, just sometimes, THEY'RE ONLY LYRICS.' To imply that Will Sheff is guilty of doing exactly what he abhores in this song seems a little rash. To a songwriter of any worth no lyrics are JUST lyrics. Whether speaking from personal experience, or as a 3rd person narrative, I have no doubt that Will would have thought long and hard about every word in the song, and would not have just tossed them off to fit with the music.
Kaitling Grace - don't be upset, Will Sheff wrote a whole piece on the OR website forum about the awkwardness of talking to fans, check it out, it was nothing personal. If it helps, one time I saw them he buggered straight off back stage before anyone got a chance. I hung around a spoke to Ben, Scott etc, and they were lovely. I was sad enought to take a CD to sign, and Ben even took it backstage to ask Will to sign it. He did. It is one of my most prized possessions, signed by ever member of the Black Sheep Boy tour. Yay me. |
