Ballad of a Politician

I think this is a very interesting song with several stages. In the first part of the song the politician lays a careful plan and wins the hearts of the people, causing them to forget who they are.

Then comes this part:

"But I am But I am But I am not a number, not a name

But I am But I am But I am"

Since the rest of the song is told from an outside perspective we can assume that the "I" is the narrator, not the politician. Given Regina's Jewish background it seems reasonable to assume that this could be a reference to Nazi style prison camps, in which people are just numbers.

The narrator is fed up with this and says "I am a carefully laid plan." I feel this means that the people then plan to rise up and overthrow the cruel leader.

I agree with the other interpretations that this song is about a politician who is misusing his powers. However, I wanted to mention one very interesting reference that no one else really went into.

"You know that it won't last You're gonna taste the ground real soon You're gonna taste the grass"

I think the first part about tasting the ground is referring to death, with a mouthful of dirt, buried in the grave. However, I think the second part about tasting the grass is a clever reference to the Biblical story of King Nebuchadnezzar, who according to the Bible was so pompous and boastful that God took his sanity and he spent seven years living like a wild animal and eating grass.

So all told this song is about the rise to power, abuse of power, and fall from power of a politician.