Australia

Australia, written by The Shins’ James Mercer, is a story of a woman that has lost all of her dreams and ambitions, and therefore leads a pointless life. The girl uses the ideas of religion and love to provide a false sense of comfort, but she is merely hiding behind that idea that someone else will save her from herself. The speaker urges the girl to makes changes in her life before it becomes too late. In order for the woman to become fulfilled she must abandon the false ideals she has used to replace a meaningful life. The third verse reveals the implications of the girl’s religious beliefs. It becomes clear that the “duotone on the wall” is Jesus when the speaker refers to him as the “hopeless fool who hoped to save us all.” The picture is black and white, which demonstrates that although she believes in Christ, he has not brought any color or meaning to her life. Mercer uses the idea that Christ “never dreamt of such sterile hands,” to imply that Christ never meant religion as belief devoid of action. The woman may believe, but does not live up to the commands of Christianity. Instead she keeps her hands “folded in [her] lap,” not taking action and merely going along with what society dictates, except when she raises them up to “beg for scraps” of any comfort offered to obtain a fulfilled life. Mercer speaks of Jesus as “holding [her] down with the tips of his fingers,” despite her belief. The idea of the woman being held down by Christ demonstrates that her false sense of religion does not comfort her or motivate her to make positive changes in her own life. The religious ideals are not a real restraint, just as being held down by the tips of someone’s fingers would not truly restrain a person, but the woman lets herself be restrained. Mercer then ponders whether she will “be pulled from the ocean just a minute too late,” meaning that through religion the woman will eventually be saved, but only after death. Mercer stresses that if she follows this path she will not experience any transformation in her life. The woman’s religious beliefs lead into the idea that the woman is simply waiting to be saved by something or someone else. In the same verse Mercer emphasizes that only the woman can make herself happy, and she can’t sit around and wait for someone else to make changes in her life. The speaker ponders whether the woman hopes to be “changed by a potion,” or some magical force, and “find a handsome young mate for [her] to love” an unrealistic idea that someone else will save her from the monotony of her life. The speaker warns that if she looks to someone else to save her she’ll “be damned to pining through the window panes.” The window panes represent the limitations that depending on someone else for happiness present. If she chooses a dependent life, she’ll eventually be left longing to “trade her life for any ordinary Joe’s.” This situation will impose limitations that will leave her still wanting her own life. The woman will never truly be happy unless she takes the steps to give meaning to her existence. The woman should be taking steps to save herself rather than vainly hoping for a magic transformation. Religion and dependence on someone else are merely facades that will leave her wanting to trade her life for anyone else’s. The speaker urges the woman to make the changes necessary “now or grow old, your nightmares only need a year or two to unfold.” This is her chance to make herself happy, and if she doesn’t, it won’t be long before her life will be consumed by the nightmare it is becoming. James Mercer uses the song, Australia, to convey the idea that without dreams or ambition the woman is living, but not truly alive. The woman in this song is holding on to religion and hope for love as false aspiration to something better. The speaker in the song tries to convince the woman to make changes within herself to escape the monotonous life she leads. The song concludes with the speaker and the woman jumping out of the metaphorical window of self inflicted limitations.