Me and Michael

This song has no concrete interepretation, but here are a few meanings I came up with. But first, here's the official word from the artist. The lead singer of MGMT said that he started with a melody and a generic chorus called "me and my girl". He didn't really like it, so he changed it to "me and Michael" and wrote lyrics with a "great ambiguous story". So ironically, all we know for sure is that we don't know everything. That said, it's still worth trying to figure out what the general story is and where the ambiguity lies.

I think the first question we should ask is "Who is Michael?" From my own interpretation and the people I've spoken to, Michael is either:

A. The narrator's imaginary friend. B. The narrator's childhood friend. C. The narrator's brother. D. Someone who the narrator is in a homosexual relationship with. E. A combination of two answers.

Either way, we can tell from the nostalgic melody that the narrator has been close to Michael for quite some time.

To start, let's imagine that Michael is imaginary, since that's the easiest. The first verse is about him remembering playing with Michael, but as he grew older, an imaginary friend became a "danger sign" that he was insecure or unstable. However, he kept his imaginary friend into adulthood, despite the stigma that was attached to it. The narrator admits that he feels pressure from people see him as the immature "losing side", but is proud that he stuck to his identity.

Next, let's say that Michael is a real friend. Michael and the narrator have been friends since childhood, but as they grew, their lives took them in different directions and they adapted to different social circles. Eventually this put a strain on their relationship. As the "binary sun" that is their friendship sets, Michael tries to rekindle the friendship, but it's up to the narrator to make it rise again. He has a choice to make that will either end the friendship or solidify it. The phrase "It's not a question now" implies that the narrator has come to a decision, but we never learn what it is.

The brothers interpretation is basically the same as the friend one, except the split may have been due to their parents divorcing.

My last interpretation is that Michael and the narrator's childhood friendship grew into a romantic attraction. However, the conflict lies in pressures from their homophobic friends and family. Alternatively, the narrator may be a heterosexual who is beginning to feel uncomfortable now that Michael wants to become more than friends.

These stories can have some overlap, since they all have the same structure of a close friendship, a conflict, and a choice. Personally, I like to think that they all have a happy ending. I'm most inclined to believe that it's the second version about childhood friends, but the imaginary friend one interests me the most.

the conspicuously excessive mythos behind this song is obviously a complicated hoax which to some extent we have been let in on. In my view this should include the idea that it was originally called “Me and My Girl”. That then, put together with the the True Faith version and the Russian version meant to actually have been made in the 80s I am forced to ask why should we assume that the “original song was called me and my girl” version of its history would be any less of a put on. In fact let’s go just a little further and rather than read the printed lyric or title let’s, for now, just listen. To me it sounds like Andrew is singing the words “Me and my goal” which makes perfect sense in the context of the video and the other lyrics at least to me. The whole thing revolves around the pursuit of a goal at any expense. The video shows us that the version of mgmt depicted there would lie cheat and steal effectively and perhaps literally losing their souls in pursuit of their fame goals. Of course I could be putting you on as well. I’m not, but I could be. Maybe that’s more to the point . Anyway apologies to any lovers of the notion that the lyric actually is as the title suggests but what the overall message that I see in the way this song was presented to the public would certainly suggest at bare minimum the possibility if not the probability that it would not be that simple. “Me and my goal, solid as they come. Me and my goal it’s not a question now