submissions
| Midlake – Paper Gown Lyrics
| 12 years ago
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Where did you get this idea? I'm very interested in that theory, and would like to know if it came from a member of the band, or if you are just making a guess for yourself. It would certainly make the lyrics much more powerful. |
submissions
| Midlake – kingfish pies Lyrics
| 12 years ago
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A tragic story told in a very upbeat and lighthearted way. Dark humor at its finest. The underlying message is simply how some technological advancements are unnecessary or inefficient. In other words, why would it take particle separation to make kingfish pies? They have to increase security to prevent theft of their expensive machines. They don't have room for tables or chairs anymore with the machines. "They", probably referencing the monocle men (controlling government referenced throughout the album), need them to work much faster to keep up with the machines, but they are in turn making their workers less efficient as a result. But I wouldn't look so far into this ones, as humor is the obvious intent. |
submissions
| Midlake – they cannot let it expand Lyrics
| 12 years ago
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This is by far the most ambiguous song on the album due to its simplicity. My theory is that the song is about balloons in the context of the later tracks Balloon Maker and He Tried To Escape. The "they" who can not let it expand would be the monocle men (the controlling government referenced throughout the album). In their desire to limit all thoughts, work, and most importantly escape, they decide to outlaw balloons - not letting them expand. Several other tracks on the album use "they" in an equally ambiguous way, though they all seem to point towards the monocle men. In Kingfish Pies, "'they' turn up the machines", and who else would be controlling manufacturing in this world? In Anabel, "'they' made a dragon stage" as part of an elaborate parade directly linked with the monocle men in Some Of Them Were Superstitious. In their all-controlling way, it seems only fitting that the "they" referenced in this song are the monocle men not letting anything happen outside of their plans and power. The switch at the end from 3rd person to 1st (implied) and the distinct change in vocals indicates that "It's pretty in here" is being spoken by someone entirely different than "they". Because this comes at the end of this song, which leads into "Balloon Maker", I don't think it's a stretch to say that the speaker is either the Balloon Maker himself, or more likely the speaker of that song as well. In either case "it's pretty in here" would be referring to inside the hot air balloon. The lyrics "come out to see the sun" from Balloon Maker back the idea that "in here" is in the balloon, and the view of the sun is "pretty". The other theories that I've read here don't play into the overall theme of the album very well, and it is very much a concept album, so I'd find it strange for this song to be so set apart. |
submissions
| Midlake – he tried to escape Lyrics
| 12 years ago
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The whole album presents a singular world where the government (monocle men) has absolute control. They control the labor (Kingfish Pies), brainwashing through superstition and ceremonies/parades (Some of Them Were Superstitious) (Anabel), and imposing outrageous laws that limit freedoms and escape from their society. This song presents a tragic story of a man described in the previous track (Balloon Maker) who has nothing left when the monocle men outlaw all balloons. He was already an outcast and discussed with his only friend that there might be more people like them somewhere outside of their society. Ironically, there seems to be more people who resent the government than he thought, as the song portrays a crowd of people following his progress and cheering at the prospect of escaping. The song implies that his wife died recently, and it's reasonable to assume that's what pushed him over the edge. The only flaw in his plan was that he picked a foggy day to try to escape, and he misjudged the distance he had traveled. He thought he had gone far enough and started to descend, but by the time he realized his mistake "something went wrong" and he couldn't stop the descent. He landed just inside the gate, where the monocle men were waiting for him and carried him away, likely to death or imprisonment. |
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