So Says I

It's about the rise and fall of communism, a return to capitalism, and then more failed attempts at communism.

"In which every soul is duty bound To uphold all the statutes of boredom Therein lies the fatal flaw of the red age"

This verse is clearly talking about communism, especially when he mentions the "red age." But the red age "was nothing like they'd ever dreamt." It wasn't the perfect harmonious system that some people thought it would be because their "lust for life had gone away" when they had nothing to fight for--nothing to struggle for or against (the rent they hated).

"So we burned all our uniforms And let nature take its course again And the big ones just eat all the little ones That sent us back to the drawing board "

This verse refers the discarding of communism ("so we burned all out uniforms") in favor of capitalism, where "the big ones just eat all the little ones."

"We've got rules and maps and guns in our backs but we still can't just behave ourselves Even if to save our own lives so, says I We are a brutal kind "

This verse is outlining how people can't seem to make any system work (partly because of a perceived corrupt and brutal nature).

"Cause this is nothing like we'd ever dreamt tell Sir Thomas More we've got another failed attempt Cause if it makes them money they might just give you life this time"

This final verse refers to communism again, and more failed attempts that don't match up to Sir Thomas More's utopian version of communism (as illustrated in his book, Utopia). Finally suggesting that if communism were a prosperous system, maybe it would work (or "give life" to More's version).

That's how I see it.