| Andrew Bird – Tin Foil Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| I have also learned that a tin foil hat has a history related primarily to paranoia and mental illness--there is a belief that the hat can protect a schizophrenic person from hearing voices, for instance. There is a military history as well--something about a tin foil hat protecting people from radiation........ | |
| Andrew Bird – Tin Foil Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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The chorus of the song is, I believe, based on lines from the Tibetan Book of the Dead. While undoubtedly a dark song, it simply states the truth: the world is full of craziness, and we are fascinated by those who challenge convention and defy the rules---even the most basic rules of sanity and gravity. More to the point, all of our accomplishments are but vanities fulfilled only by death--nothing mankind creates endures. The song ends with a paradoxical image: a willful (perhaps courageous) person who chooses his own death (or at least chooses to dig and climb into his own grave)--a person who seems to be patiently waiting there for his death. The final image is one of beauty and life--the blackbirds come down to rest in his hair. The title "Tin Foil" suggests a certain superficiality of our society, and a need to see an accurate reflection of ourselves. |
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