Hourglass

i can't really say what this song means as i feel it was worded so well. let me just define a few things according to wikipedia (only because it is so easy to google) there are references to RED FLAGS (signs of problems requiring attention) and we do nothing as time runs out. yet with all of these red flags, does it not bother you? and i'll try to be as unbiased as possible in suggesting this interpretation: we can't rely on our governments or political parties to save us.

This parallels the apocalyptic theme of The Doomed. "Tokyo kitty", "swallow" "rose" and "canary" are symbols of goodwill and peacefulness. With the way things are going, those values are being destroyed as society plunges into darkness. Inevitable collapse of society cannot be saved by any currently existing system of government since these systems contain the ingredients for their own self-destruction.. The various systems of government breaking down just mean it's all fair game when it happens.

SUMMARY I thought this was a filler weird song with the lyrics sung in such a strange way at places. Came and looked at the lyrics and had a listen and then it seemed to click.

I think in a nutshell this song is about the importance of keeping balance between instant gratification (animal instinct) and both personal and social responsibility (the higher self).

I think it also points to the importance of us all moving more into the responsible role as a matter of urgency

WHY? Due to technology the world is changing so drastically and rapidly.

We can be more aware about some things (higher self) and at other times we are utterly distracted by short term, meaningless (animal instinct)

With the increasingly interconnected nature of the modern world, any catastrophe is increasingly more likely to effect everyone - so the stakes are high

CHORUS [Plutocrat?] breaks down too [Democrat] breaks down too [Oligarch] breaks down too [Republicrat] breaks down too [Aristocrat] breaks down too [Cenocrat] breaks down to [Oligarch] breaks down to [Republicrat] breaks down to No hope left in the hourglass

[label in robotic voice] (human voice)

It's interesting each individual [label] of the different kind of 'elite' is said with a robotic voice, followed by "breaks down too" in a human voice.

My interpretation is that this is contrasting the machine-like and insensitive actions of some among the 'elites' with the resulting human effects of their actions

COUNTING He counts down at the end and sometimes resets the count back to 10.

I think this is due a swinging back towards responsible action in our day to day (humans tend to oscillate between base desires and higher responsibility). Time resets due to our collective and individual daily activities have stabilized situations.

It ends on a count down 5 - 4- 3 and then goes quiet.... as if to say 'to be decided'

The message I would take from this song is to start paying attention and taking some responsibility for what's going on around you

.....or I could be talking nonsense!?

Like the rest of the album this is likely entirely relating to the current political climate, and I believe climate is the exact message of this song.

I believe the sentinels the song refers to are the various climate agreements, Kyoto, Paris, Warsaw and Durban.

Smashing the hourglass but the countdown carrying on I believe is a reference to trying to hide the problem of global warming but even if you break the clock time still passes.

Sentinel animal | definition of sentinel animal by Medical ... [Search domain medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/sentinel+animal] https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/sentinel+animal an animal deliberately placed in a particular environment to detect the presence of an infectious agent, such as a virus. An animal susceptible or sensitive to a particular environmental factor—e.g., a toxin, pathogen, radiation—whose illness or death serves to warn humans of an impending danger ...

Vineyards for centuries have been using roses to detect powdery mildew before the vines got infected. Roses, The Canary In the Coal Mine Vineyard Style! - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIa5pXm4gtc Video for canary in the coal mine rose ▶ 3:24 Jun 12, 2018 - Uploaded by Hoops and more!

The idea of using canaries is credited to John Scott Haldane, known to some as “the father of oxygen therapy.” His research on carbon monoxide led him to recommend using the birds, writes Esther Inglis-Arkell for Gizmodo. He suggested using a sentinel species: an animal more sensitive to the colorless, odorless carbon monoxide and other poisonous gases than humans. If the animal became ill or died, that would give miners a warning to evacuate. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/story-real-canary-coal-mine-180961570/

So if Tokyo Kitty swallowed rose and canary, these sentinels would die leaving everyone in danger. Perhaps, the sentinels in our recent past culture are referenced in "so Long, and Thanks for All the Fish" "Now Willy Wonka, Major Tom, Ali, and Leia have moved on Signal the final curtain call in all its atomic pageantry" If Tokyo Kitty swallowed the sentinels, it might be intended to symbolize a cute, shallow distraction from the warnings from our cultural sentinels.

I remember hearing this song live and I was blown away. This song brought tears to my eyes. What a sad but hopeful time we are living in.

I just wanted to add the "cannery" lyric makes me think about coal miners and how they'd bring a caged cannery down with them in order to escape suffocation.

Here's a link that relates it to all systems in society. Pretty interesting. https://io9.gizmodo.com/why-did-they-put-canaries-in-coal-mines-1506887813

I find it interesting that he goes out of his way to say democrats break down but says republicrats break down too and not republicans.

It’s another song on the album telling us the end is near, but in this case it’s not talking about nuclear war but environmental apocalypse. The sentinels mentioned are a number of species highly vulnerable to environmental changes. Tokyo kitty for example refers to the so called dancing cats fever in Japan, which was the first symptom of mercury poisoned fishes. Swallows, roses and canaries are also sentinel species. Calling out various groups of people in the refrain is clearly a message that when the disaster strikes, it will affect everyone and even the so called higher classes will break too.

I like to think of it as a song about eating the rich. Think about it.

A red flag will always be a red flag, but the persons who can recognize such warnings are dying out (getting silenced). The Millenials (cosplaying ”Tokyo kitty”) think they are free (Swallow) and all is beautiful (Rose), but they are just birds in a cage (Canary). Not fully capable to understand. They need help.

Can you recogize an apparent red flag? Can you recognize the effects by a trickle-down economy system happening right now. (Trickle down right in front of you”.)

(It's a hard burden on the younger generations, but the question is directed at you, the listener, both the older and the younger generation.)

By understanding this, can you (the listener) feel an odd feeling that something is wrong (neck hairs prickle) - aren't you feeling just a little bit worried? - as the people who recognize such red flags are getting silenced (verbally barbecued/grilled) and are soon all gone. This economy system cannot be contained and controlled (within the hourglass), it will crash (hourglass smashed). The countdown has already begun to when this will get out of control. The loss of control has not fully happened yet, but is dangerously close. (The countdown at this point ends at two.)

The economical elite is part of the problem. (Aristocrats). Historically political systems based on a prickle-down economy system (Timocrats) is problematic. The Oligarch is a novel example of such problem. Career seeking polititians are now part of the same problem (Repoblocrats).

You cannot place your hope on that this economical system can be contained and controlled (no hope left in the hourglass), it will ultimately brake down into an Plutocracy. (A political system govern by the wealthy and not the elected - by the people for the people - thus the warning, thus importance of recognizing red flags).

This message needs to be shouted out as a new distress code over radio (a ten-niner-eight), but the countdown will continue. (The countdown still ends at two). But if shouted out enough times, and people start to engage, it will make a change. At the end, the countdown ends at three. Bringing hope.