| MGMT – Pieces of What Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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"PIECES of WHAT" Interpretation First, the song is like a chapter in a bigger story, just a portion of a bigger picture. In this so-called chapter, a man, who has been living a life of corruption and evil, sees that there is some sort of hope. The hope is weak, and he feels like having hope is useless, but the hope is still there. He realizes that the cold world he's been living in gives him only disappointment. There's nothing good, no love. It has nothing good to offer him but only more evil. However, he notices that there is something that is broken and unlike the corrupt environment that surrounds him. He gives his attention to it and tries to "pick up the pieces" of whatever it is, but he thinks it's useless. The shattered pieces are a symbol of the good in the world that used to live, but the current world is so evil that the pieces of this memory no longer matter. As he looks to the sky and moon, he realizes there still is something beautiful left in this perverted, corrupted world. For that quick moment, he forgets about his fears of the surrounding evil. He remembers how it was before corruption, and he builds the strength to believe that, sooner or later, the goodness and beauty of the world will be restored over the hatred and ugliness it is currently in. There are too many shattered pieces of how it used to be. There are enough remnants of goodness that they simply cannot be forgotten. The man believes that all of these pieces will soon cover the world's scars (evil and corruption). With a now stronger hope for better life, he decides to remove himself from the evil he is used to, represented by the violence of the dragon and steel sword he has dropped. He no longer wishes to keep fighting to survive. He does not want to keep on pushing his way into obstacles and gates. Instead, he will wait to be helped. Someone will give him a meal instead of he himself having to get it on his own. The ending is very open- he might be helped by someone, which means that he is right about restoring order. By having someone help him, that means that there is still hope for goodness in the world. On the other hand, he can also be left to die in this world of evil. Either way, the story in "Pieces of What" tells three things: One must never let the goodness in him shatter into pieces. One should never forget where he came from because his origin (home) could someday be the only good thing in his life of corruption and evil. One must take a chance if he is ever to change his future and, in turn, the world around him. |
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| MGMT – Time to Pretend Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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Interpretation of "TIME to PRETEND" Rider On the surface, "Time to Pretend" talks about a rockstar's movement into a life of fun and pleasure. He has his eyes set on what he wants, which is to "live fast and die young" doing whatever he wants, regardless of what may happen. Looking back at life prior to being a rockstar, he sees what he has left behind as a result of following his aspirations, but to him, it seems he has already gone too far, and there's no turning back. He only hopes something will save him. Underneath the story, there is an important theme practically everyone can relate to- people often are driven by society's standard, and they live with aspirations of becoming a part of that standard. As a result, they realize that it's not what they truly want, and that their real aspiration in life is somewhere else. In other words, man grows up and matures the way society wants him to. If he feels that his lifestyle isn't right for him, then he is only pretending and not following his true desires. In this story, the standard is a rockstar's life. The character in the song thinks that he wants to live as a rockstar, and so he becomes one. He does everything that a rockstar is "supposed" to do (take drugs, buy fancy cars, act rowdy around people). He thinks that's how it has to be, so he continues doing it. Meanwhile, he realizes that after all the rockstar things he's done, he still misses the simpler things in life: his family and ordinary lifestyle, which both mean a lot to him. By this point, you should understand that deep inside, he did not really want the rockstar lifestyle; he wanted the ordinary life, but society told him that a rockstar's life is awesome, so he pretended to himself that an awesome lifestyle was what he wanted. By the end of the song, he realizes this, but it's too late. He felt that going back to a simpler lifestyle was of no use. Ironically, the man became what he intended to be: a rockstar. But, his intentions were not the same as his true desires: to live with the family who loves him. It doesn't have to be the same for all stories. For example, one could aspire to become a doctor because society's standards say that a doctor is a respectable figure. But if the person deep down inside does not really want to become a doctor (maybe he just wants to be a writer), then he is only pretending to himself about what he really desires. |
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