Lyric discussion by Lins-o-Rama 

Cover art for Fickle Cycle lyrics by Animal Collective

My personal interpretation of this song is that it's a sort of pondering of the future. It's a realization that people die and we die, and sort of a celebration of life. To me, it's also about history and leaving pieces of yourself behind, becoming a part of the past by the acts that we do. I know this is probably a very debatable interpretation, but, it's the tone of the song and the hints I get from the lyrics that make me think this is what it may be about. For example, "kissing the people that you'll all burn. Trusting your friends without thinking best" sort of reminds me of the process in life of gaining new friends, losing old ones, or making enemies. It's this uncertainty of the future and not knowing what people we will meet in our lives. The lines "one day our homes will all fall down, one day our bodies, etc" are discussing our inevitable deaths and the fact that our possessions in this life will be destroyed or lose all ties to ourselves. The singer of this song often sits and thinks about this, about his nonexistence, and it's a difficult subject to comprehend. Earlier in the song, it mentions that "rooms can be lonely," which I think may be a reference to being unrecognized or unremembered in future generations. It's a lonely sort of feeling. Though, he doesn't care if he has a son who "floats and flies," which means he doesn't want to have a child that will be well known for something and gains some sort of power in this world (which would mean he'd then be recognized through his son). He wants a daughter with humanizing, humble qualities. Someone who is just simply passionate about life. I think that the thought of his nonexistence, the thought of everyone's non existence can be somewhat gloomy, but he's okay with it. "Time to feast, don't wait to play," because we're all going to perish. As for "I wonder who will win" is mocking the fact that people are always competing for recognition, but no one will win because eventually even our own planet will cease to exist. I'm really not sure of any of this, though. I don't even know if there is a real meaning behind the song. I have to say I just love the part about feeling "like kings, some got hurt and some did sing," and then it goes into a bout of powerful melody with raw emotional voices. Absolutely beautiful!