Ship of Fools

It is a melancholic look at some of the unfortunate attitudes towards homosexual love and how even in its most innocent and sweet ways... people have become corrupted/jaded by those who wish to treat them differently or as inferior beings. The main hints are "Baby of the class you know," assuming this in reference to a boy in a different class of society that frowns upon homosexuality. "He really didn't know that one and one was two..." instead of refering to that one and one make three... A couple having a child. This suggests to me that the person was also very naive in his outlook ("Young and so uncertain"), innocent in what he wanted and who he wanted to love. (Not surprising when you consider the album this song is taken from is titled "The Innocents.")

This song is about how cruel the world could be for the sensitive, the shy, maybe the gay, the weak... We live under a dictatorship of the arrogant, the handsome, the divas, the abusers, the alfa macho... But disgraces are for everyone after all...In any case, we all sail on a ship of fools, society stinks, society is foolish, it's better to have a look above it and deal with it as you can and life sometimes could be precious.

I think this song is like an inkblot test ..The meaning depends upon your state of mind . I have always thought that this one is about a person ...who is innocent & still unaware of the wicked ways of the world . The line one & one was two , two & two was four ..is a metaphor for the liabilities that love comes with ....as in he falls in love without thinking of the consequences . This is one of my fav. erasure songs . There's a sense of urgency & the whole song screams tragedy !!

I agree with bait - it can mean different things to different people. Here's my two cents: The Ship of Fools refers to the world itself and its inhabitants. Many of us are innocent deep down but we really don't have a good idea about how things work. In the U.S. anyway there's talk about how the nation is getting dumber, how people are less educated than before, so we are, fools in a way. We didn't even know "that two and two are four." We're just a bunch of naive fools sailing through space on planet Earth.

I really love this one. espcially the slowed down acoustic version. My take on it would be that its sung from the point of view of a girl, who has feelings for someone , who has kept his innocence and naivity, where as the protaganist has been conditioned in the ways of the world. its a mismatch entirely, but they both feel for each other, and cant help the enevitable, that getting together would equate to him (and even herself) getting hurt oh very so.. love it

Beautiful song, I find it relating to my current situation. Have recently fallen for relatively new, slightly younger and closeted colleague (matched on a dating app is how I know!). He doesn't know the extent to which I like him- "why can't you see what you're doing to me my head is spinning?" The lyrics about him being young and uncertain accurately describe him. Whilst we are in regular contact, and there are definite feelings there, he seems too scared to let me any closer. My heart breaks for him that even now in 2019, he still seems to fear being who he truly is. There is a lot of potential there, I just hope he can overcome it one day!

This is clearly about finding out about something you didn't know, in the hard way, when something bad happens to you. That "something" is probably supposed to be a common knowledge. The song is vague and can fit various contexts. One of them is definitely facing discrimination as a LGBT individual though.