Sprawl I (Flatland)

Ok, I'll just analyze this bit by bit...

Took a drive into the sprawl To find the house where we used to stay I couldn't read the number in the dark You said "let's save it for another day"

Here I believe he is going into his old neighborhood (suburb) to find where he used to live, and he couldn't even recognize his own house even though it was something he truly anticipated, and another person who doesn't seem sentimental about the situation says "let's save it for another day", like it doesn't really matter if they ever see it again or not.

I took a drive into the sprawl To find the places we used to play It was the loneliest day of my life You're talking at me, but I'm still far away

Again, connecting to the roots of his past. He goes to all the places he remembered as a child, but when he hears the other person's voice, he feels far away and disconnected from those memories - as if he doesn't belong there at all.

Let's take a drive through the sprawl Through these towns they built to change And then you said "The emotions are dead" It's no wonder that you feel so estranged

Here he is driving through places he knew from the past, but they have all been obliterated and replaced by 'changes', and he doesn't feel 'at home' even though he feels like he should. And the other person points out that "the emotions are dead" (meaning that the place has been so changed, there is no value to it whatsoever), and it seems the narrator is in a sort of denial. He really does want to belong there, but deep inside he knows that it's true - the emotions are dead... He barely knows where he is, and he does, indeed, feel 'estranged'.

Cops showing their lights On the reflectors of our bikes Said "Do you kids know what time it is?" Well, sir, it's the first time I felt like something is mine Like I have something to give

By saying "it's the first time I felt like something is mine" I think he is speaking about his neighborhood, and about his supposed 'home'. And I believe he is saying "like I have something to give", not because he wants to contribute in any way, but because he feels like he has to 'give' his home/neighborhood back, because it's really not his. He really craves a place where he can call "home", but he really can't find it as much as he wants to.

The last defender of the sprawl Said "Well, where do you kids live?" Well, sir, if you only knew what the answer's worth Been searching every corner of the earth...

This is very powerful in my opinion... Here the man is asking where they live, and he explains that he has been searching for his true home everywhere, yet he has not yet found it. Therefore, he is technically not living anywhere. He has no permanent 'home'.

I believe the message of this song is that there shouldn't be a stereotype on what a home should be. Because a lot of times in movies/songs/etc., it shows people trying to find themselves by going back to their roots and their childhood. Any place could potentially be a home, but then again, no place truly is a home. Maybe he is trying to imply that a home is the people you are with, and not the place. Because a land or a house will never fill the 'void' of not knowing where you belong. If you really are surrounded by people you care about, a home can be found anywhere.

It's also a song about change - nothing ever stays the same. Sometimes you stay the same, but the place changes. Sometimes the place stays the same, but you change, and sometimes both you and the place change.

This is definitely (in my opinion) the best song on 'The Suburbs'... It's so powerful in a way I can't even describe.