6 Meanings
Add Yours
Follow
Share
Q&A
Lazy Projector Lyrics
If memory serves us, then who owns the master
How do we know who's projecting this reel
And is it like gruel or like quick drying plaster
Tell me how long til the paint starts to peel
Is it like Pyramus or Apollo or an archer we don't know
Though history repeats itself, and time's a crooked bow
Come on tell us something we don't know
Now who's the best boy and the casting director
And the editor splicing your face from the scene
It's all in the hands of a lazy projector
That forgetting, embellishing, lying machine
That forgetting, embellishing, lying machine
They say all good things must come to an end
Everyday the night must fall
How it all came to this, I simply can't recall
Too many cooks in the kitchen
How the mighty must fall
But I can't see the sense in us breaking up at all
I can't see the sense in us breaking up at all
I can't see the sense in us breaking up at all
Breaking up at all
And it's all in the hands of a lazy projector
That forgetting, embellishing, lying machine
How do we know who's projecting this reel
And is it like gruel or like quick drying plaster
Tell me how long til the paint starts to peel
Though history repeats itself, and time's a crooked bow
Come on tell us something we don't know
And the editor splicing your face from the scene
It's all in the hands of a lazy projector
That forgetting, embellishing, lying machine
That forgetting, embellishing, lying machine
Everyday the night must fall
How it all came to this, I simply can't recall
Too many cooks in the kitchen
How the mighty must fall
I can't see the sense in us breaking up at all
I can't see the sense in us breaking up at all
Breaking up at all
That forgetting, embellishing, lying machine
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
Oh Andrew, bringing back that "time is a crooked bow" line from "Armchairs"... I love you for that, but you have to start confusing my meaning by throwing an "archer" reference into the line before, you violinist you.
That said, I adore this tune. Would love to hear what others make of it. It's still too fresh for me to get a good grasp on deeper meaning, though Andrew pontificating on the forces that we can't perceive which seem to sometimes control life (and relationships) and the way that when we revisit in memories later in life, they can be distorted and altered to meet our preferred point of view seems like a good place to start. Oh, that forgetting, embellishing, lying machine.
There's a clue about this towards the end: "How it all came to this, I simply can't recall [...] I can't see the sense in us breaking up at all". At the end of a relationship, the narrator is reflecting on the unreliable nature of memory. "Who owns the master?" he wonders -- how can one verify what really happened?
There's a clue about this towards the end: "How it all came to this, I simply can't recall [...] I can't see the sense in us breaking up at all". At the end of a relationship, the narrator is reflecting on the unreliable nature of memory. "Who owns the master?" he wonders -- how can one verify what really happened?
There's also some reflection on the seeming inevitability of history and repeating our past mistakes, with lines like "History repeats itself [...] Come on, tell us something we don't know" and "They say all good things must...
There's also some reflection on the seeming inevitability of history and repeating our past mistakes, with lines like "History repeats itself [...] Come on, tell us something we don't know" and "They say all good things must come to an end", etc.
Ah, Andrew actually did the work for us on the meaning and discussed it at his London show in March 5, 2012.
Via a YouTube clip of him discussing the song before playing it:
"This song is just questioning who is the editor in our minds when we play the film of our past. Especially at the end of a relationship, for instance. You know? Who's in charge of that? Who's playing the reel?"
Could this be at least partially about the breakup of a past band? The Squirrel Nut Zippers' breakup involved litigation about past due royalties and even more heartaches and headaches than that. (Who owns the master / too many cooks / mighty must fall) Also I think he said in an interview that he ended up going solo after Bowl of Fire members couldn't (wouldn't?) show up for a gig he was trying to organize. And from then on he spent however many years solo, that's one lonesome path.
It's all conjecture on my part, and he never, ever seems angry or bitter talking about past projects. But maybe this is a lament for old friends (I can't see the sense in us breaking up at all)
Also "an archer we don't know" = "I'm not sure we don't know" he's clever. Love his voice.
I think the beginning phrases are "And it's written in your marrow / That your passages are narrow"
it sounds like in the beginning he says something about the "is it really amero" which is a a new world order north american union currency that's been speculated will be implemented and they will make the us canada and mexio all one. Not sure if that's what he's referring to. But in his latest album Bird has a song called something Biblical, and in the song 'When that Helicotor comes" he write's their will be power in the blood. Any thoughts?