Bats in the Attic

what a fantastic song to discover the day of a break-up. and by fantastic I mean further heart-breaking

Wow. This one hits your nerve.

Anyway, my take on the song is:

The singer has grown old in misery and realizes he's lived thus far, without any essence. He believes he's wasted all his life reaching for something he couldn't, and has failed towards the end of it.

And I've gone silver on my travels, growing silver in my sideburns. I'm starting to unravel her, My heartbeats on a djembe, I counted eighteen on my pulse as Kilrenny Church struck three for three o'clock.

The singer essentially means, he's grown old both mentally and physically. "I'm starting to unravel her" is the act of unfolding his soul realizing his incompetencies and failures. "My heartbeats on a djembe" signifies his living is hanging by the thread and he may die any second. "I counted eighteen..." means he's in a physically brutal state and is too tired to think yet too hurtful to sleep.

"And you said twelve years in retirement. The hours go by like sips of water. The record lies unbroken, and no doubt, it's white flour in my diet. It's going to be the death of me, sweet drumroll for those embittered big ideas."

This essentially means he thought he'd live his life after he's taken care of all his responsibilities, i.e. once retired, he could live for himself, but everything's still messy and he cannot get a hold of himself. He planned to make the best out of his "late" life, but that again has failed.

"You mentioned bats in the attic, so now you're lifting up the tiles to get around these conservation rules. I walked down in the basement. I'm hanging upside down. I gag across my mealy mouth."

The singer signifies how he's been lonely all through his life. "Bats in the attic" to me means a motionless life. He's been still and probably just waiting for death, yet he doesn't die and is too tired of all the pain he's endured. He wants to quit, but neither does he die, nor can he kill himself willfully. A prime human condition, we're all too depressed with what we have but we generally cannot commit suicide.

"And how I'll laugh, I've loved about that. When I read your simple novel, it uses all our real names. And go make yourself a fortune, there's nothing left for us then us left dangling just a little shamefaced."

This is a cynical statement. The singer's being rhetoric about the fact that he looks back and laughs over all his miseries realizing his initial plans have all come to an absolute halt and he's no more material than an animal. The world understands his pain, and he understands the world's pain, yet everybody chooses to life in silence and anonymity neglecting the sadness of life, pursuing, perhaps an immaterial life to satisfy the rejection of ourselves in our souls.

But again. Songs are subjective. So are books, paintings, etc. Art can never be interpreted objectively, and this is why it's beautiful. We can all believe whatever we want to, not worrying least about what the true meaning behind an artist's work could be.

This song is so so beautiful.

It makes a drunken me well up when I have no business...

And how I'll laugh out loud about that.

-?-

I always interpreted the song as being about wasted potential. He had all of his life to live, he’s been retired for twelve years, but he still hasn’t done much. He sees others becoming successful and he mocks them, both out of jealousy and bitterness. The bats in the attic hang among the collection of his old possessions, and he is just the same. Sitting amongst the remains of his life and reflecting on and accepting his death and wasted time.