| The National – Mistaken for Strangers Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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This song is most definitely not about the loss of innocence, as there was none to lose to begin with. We all know this person, the pragmatic, hands-on kind of guy who's all too eager to get into the petty "world of adults," with its intrigue and high finance and whatnot. His very life determined by this goal, he usually lacks what we may call a real personality, so he keeps adding bits and bits to it as he goes along, trying to build a coherent image which satisfies himself. He needs this lie to feel complete, but it is secondary to his ambitions and whatever, so he comes up with some general stance on world and human affairs that he can wear on his sleeve. In this case it is that naive kind of optimism so common among this kind of people, I think, as evidenced by the line "so you swear you just saw a feathery woman carry a blindfolded man through the trees," which brings up images of hope in humanity and other such nonsense. Now that that's taken care of, he can go on about his usual affairs of being a prick. That's my take on that line. |
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