The line "you can see yourself , swim along the giant whales down the street" refers to a mural by the conservationist/muralist Wyland of giant gray whales in downtown San Diego (Pinback's origins) . The verse, I think, describes the longing to set oneself free of the drudgery and monotony of life by imagining to swim along freely with giant whales. The question is how is this accomplished? The answer is what distro alludes to above with a man free-falling from a building and in turn, "swimming" with the whales on the mural as he descends and plummets ultimately to his death. As enchanting and melodic as the song is, it does have references to falling from a building, "there's a stain on the grass that's calling us home" and "pick me up, take me home, get me out of here". That is the beauty of this Pinback song; very hypnotic with an almost subliminal message of despair.
The line "you can see yourself , swim along the giant whales down the street" refers to a mural by the conservationist/muralist Wyland of giant gray whales in downtown San Diego (Pinback's origins) . The verse, I think, describes the longing to set oneself free of the drudgery and monotony of life by imagining to swim along freely with giant whales. The question is how is this accomplished? The answer is what distro alludes to above with a man free-falling from a building and in turn, "swimming" with the whales on the mural as he descends and plummets ultimately to his death. As enchanting and melodic as the song is, it does have references to falling from a building, "there's a stain on the grass that's calling us home" and "pick me up, take me home, get me out of here". That is the beauty of this Pinback song; very hypnotic with an almost subliminal message of despair.