Sanssouci

Rufus said this song is about the palace just outside Berlin and also spending a lot of time in a hotel room. 'From the sublime .... to the sublime!'

Who will be at Sanssouci tonight? Surely not the one that loves me truly, only He's probably down at the stables, there Gently polishing my cabriolet

Only through the window you can see them Once the door is open, all will vanish

... so the only ones who are real in this song are the singer and his lover? The two of them, avoidance, and too much time in hotel rooms. Ennui kills the best of intentions. And the best of relationships.

"The boys that made me lose the blues and then my eyesight All together, playing games of cards Gambling the tiny shards of brass, once my heart"

does anyone else think this is to do with his past with crystal meths?

I think this song is a direct reference to "the Happy Prince" by Oscar Wilde. Sans-Souci is the palace the prince lived in..and if you were to read the short story you would notice other references..especially the lines quoted by rosie posie...in the story the prince gives up his eyesight to help people in his city.

i just read in spin that this song supposedly implies that he is not "totally satisfied with sobriety"

he used to be a meth head

Sanssouci is Sans Souci and means = without concern/ Without worry.

I learnt that from listening to Rhod Gilbert on BBC Wales radio

I know he supposedly briefly lost his eyesight due to meth abuse....maybe he's cross referencing that with the Oscar Wilde story? The boredom reference seems to clinch it for me that this song is somewhat about maintaining sobriety. It's fucking boredom that's the worst part about not using.

I love the little flute line in the background.

Since "sans souci" means "without worries" or something to that effect, this song always reminds me that no one really is without worries/concerns/problems. I'm reading it as if Sanssouci is some kind of bar or whatever that represents being entirely without worries - giving you time to drink and party and whatever. Being at Sanssouci means that you have no troubles.

"I just want to be at Sanssouci tonight"

• I want to have no worries.

"It's only when you're outside that you notice Only through the window you can see them Once the door is open, all will vanish Ain't nobody at Sanssouci tonight."

• The people that are entirely without worries only pretend that they are. They live the "happy" life with parties and drinks and the like, but it doesn't mean they have no problems even if they want it to seem that way. You can see them through the windows, but that is only an illusion - they are not really there, and they will vanish from sight as soon as you open the door, since they are not really free of troubles. This charade, you will only see when you enter Sanssouci yourself and see that there really is no one there.

Hell, I need to polish my skills in describing things, haha.