Fortune

Seeing the video reveals much about the lyrics... noticed this in LD's releases, they're integrated works with video much of the time.

I agree with hwhy that 'fortune' can mean the poisonous nature of success and how one tends to be a slave to it rather than the opposite, forsaking much of who you once were... but I think, esp considering the video, that it has a deeper meaning.

The video starts with a house that, step by step, becomes a sprawling, grotesque castle fortress. This can be 1) the technological progress of mankind, or 2) Little Dragon's success.

Out of this fortress, an angel rises, but is then imprisoned in a jewel, which becomes a monstrous dragon, belching blue fire. This can be how humanity's exit-strategy-less consumption of resources, in an age where we are well past the tipping point of irreversible damage to the environment, has created a literal monster, chasing profit. It can also be LD's interpretation of themselves, coming from relative obscurity (the angel) into the big stars (the dragon) they are.

We zoom into the eye of the dragon, and find a flawed jewel which becomes a vector-drawn skull, obviously the lure of success and how it can be poisonous:

"Mountain of pearls to sooth the soul Gold and silver and silk to cover the old Clocks and rubies crushing these hard bones I'm going blind from to many shiny stones"

A man with a bird, finds the jewel/skull and imprisons it in it... he speaks, and his words turn into a ghost which shoves out the bird, becoming a real skull, or Death, as he walks through a convincing Japanese-style graveyard, full of ghosts. Wandering, transfixed on the Death jewel, he ignores the blue bird as it watches him walk away. This is most likely a symbol of humanity, with the bird meaning virtue/conscience, finding the jewel of money/profit/success/conquest, which puts virtue on the backburner and eventually corrupts enough to forsake it entirely. The words are the man's breath, or life, which then is imprisoned in the jewel. Not much need to explain more there. Seduced, he wanders on the path to death while virtue can do nothing but wait for him to come to his senses, if ever. Reminds me of Japanese tales of siren-like demons that lured men to their deaths.

We exit the eye of the dragon, as it flies low over a sea with many waves, seeing the bird and a unicorn fly past it, and again see the jewel/skull in its eye. As the dragon was flying high in the clouds before, now he's only able to fly just shy of the breakers... success/money/fame/corruption making him weak, as he sees other things forsake him now, as he once did them. A fitting description of how we're struggling with disease, crime, political pettiness, and corporate power in the current global economy.

"Sleep on ugly dreaming wave Vivid life turn into grey No friends want to stay around So moving on to a different part of town"

We return to the grotesque castle, now gray and dull, and see it torn down piece by piece, revealing a bed of flowers under a huge, leafless tree, which springs back to life. The blue bird alights in its branches, and unicorns sit on clouds above. Then the mountains around the tree become green and lush, with Japanese 'oni' (demons, but here they are nature spirits) and even Japanese mountain people smiling to the right. A rainbow breaks over an idol (not sure if it's Jesus or perhaps a Buddhist image) as the scene pans out, and ends with the man riding the dragon back to the tree. The jewel, no longer a skull, twinkles as stars above.

What isn't obvious if you just listen to the song without watching the video, is that the band have given this a happy ending.

This last part is obviously the old corrupt, miserable establishment being taken down, and nature being allowed to regain its former life and vitality. It can also mean a return to/focus on roots (see what I did there?) for perhaps the band, perhaps mankind. Virtue alights in the branches of this newly healthy tree, as well as attracts more virtue and good things from exile... or friends and loved ones regain contact with LD and only things of substance and integrity surround them? Nature thrives and spreads, and the mountain people and oni are strong symbols of returning to more simple ways, working with and respecting nature rather than destroying it (not to mention the idol symbol). The jewel is allowed to be just a jewel, to be admired from afar, where only then can it be beautiful.

One of my favorite Little Dragon tunes...

This song is absolutely brilliant.. so melancholic/eerie/dreamlike FANTASTIQUE!

Brilliant indeed! As for the meaning of the song, it seems to be about being on "the top of the mountain" and exploiting it. While being well aware that the fortune would result in a major backlash, making people think that you're obnoxious!

its a play on the nature of success and failure, and how far we are willing to stretch our integrity to get what we desire...success can test ones meddle just as much as failure