Riot Gear

wow. maybe i'm way off, but i got the impression that this was another futuristic song, like Machine and Consequence of Sounds. the sound of this song is happy, but the lyrics aren't. The narrator can't even leave the house without armor!

in these lines: "But in the library of my house I have a laugh Medieval jokes are just as funny now If you've got a degree" nothing's allowed to be funny unless you have an education to explain why it's entertaining. Either that, or everything is over-analyzed. Even timeless jokes like "why did the chicken cross the road?" require a degree in order to be justified as funny.

"The night comes Time to go on the town And in my best Sashimi dress And marble arch supporting shoes I am a vision in my horse-drawn tank"

Everything is so calculated. Once it's night, the narrator knows it's "time to go" out to have a good time. She puts on her best dress (that sounds like some sort of sushi, though i don't know what Sashimi really is.) and the last line here is ironic, illustrating how there's no point to paying attention to your appearance when you can't even leave the house without entering armor and an army tank. there is also a comparison of the past, and the assumed future (or the present, in the case of this song). Rather than an old-fashioned horse and buggy, people need to travel in tanks. Regina spends a substantial amount of interview time on this subject: everyone's scared, nothing's safe, and the world is trying very hard to, well, suck. Ghost of Corporate Future, Consequence of Sounds, Machine, and arguably Pavlov's Daughter all support this.

"Stay out Drinking into the night And they are saying those same things And I'm like "Ha, ha, ha, hee, hee, hee" 'Til half-past three And then it's time for me to go"

clearly, this good time isn't s enjoyable. the woman is just going through the motions, creating the image of someone enjoying their time in the bar (or wherever). The speaker isn't the only one faking a good time-she's hearing the same old jokes from more than one other party. This passage is ironic, too, because most people don't plan from early on in the day to stay out until 3:30 am. this is the result of having so much fun that you forget the time, not a calculated item on a strict schedule.

"Heaven help the ones who know What makes the world go slow What makes the world go slow"

i'm still working this out, but i think this person is basically calling attention to the fact that they're oblivious to why they're unhappy. time moves rather quickly when you're having fun, when you're passionate about what you're doing. Time moves slowly when you're waiting, when you're bored, and when you're not stimulated. It is implied in this passage that time is moving slowly for a vast majority. But "the ones who know" are those who are, presumably, on the "outside"--those who can see what the problem is with leading this shell of a life.

"Come home Take off my tuna dress Put on my collard greens And in my sleep What dreams may come Before I'm woken by alarms Put on my riot gear"

This final stanza shows that this is a cycle. Day in and day out, this woman lives the same meaningless, impersonal life.

NOTE: Just re-read, and noticed a couple of overlooked lines: "what dreams way come before i'm woken by alarms"

These lines say that people aren't meant to be this way. their brains seek out stimulation in the only way they can: dreams. everything is structured: sense of humor, literature, entertainment, travel, work. Even human interaction is staged and shallow. But the highlight of the day (or night) is during sleep. The only interest the narrator shows in her own life is her wondering about her dreams.

That's my take on it, and comparing it to what others have already said, i guess i wasn't completely off the mark: While i think this song has a futuristic, bleak vibe, rather than being about a certain social set in today's society, they /are/ rather comparable. Maybe the year is 2559 A.D., and maybe it's not, but the message is the same: wake up, be you, and enjoy your life.

Oh, and i just thought i'd add: FAR(T) ROCKS MY SOCKS!