i think this song is a play on the commonly-known scientific fact that every individual has a unique set of fingerprints. i'd have to disagree with simonfan a little here and say that i don't think paul means that even though our fingerprints are different our hands are similar - hence the essential similarity between human beings. I think the similarity he's acknowledging is on a more metaphoric level - like an inner thing rather than anything discernable on a physical level. As for the line 'there's no doubt about it, it was the myth of fingerprints, that's what that old army post was for' - i take that to mean that the 'myth' of fingerprints (our impression that we're all so different and have irreconcilable differences) is the reason why that army post was installed in the first place (with army post as a symbol for times of war) - i.e. human conflict is based on the 'myth of fingerprints'. What I'd like to know though is what the 'watermelon' in the chorus is about...
i think this song is a play on the commonly-known scientific fact that every individual has a unique set of fingerprints. i'd have to disagree with simonfan a little here and say that i don't think paul means that even though our fingerprints are different our hands are similar - hence the essential similarity between human beings. I think the similarity he's acknowledging is on a more metaphoric level - like an inner thing rather than anything discernable on a physical level. As for the line 'there's no doubt about it, it was the myth of fingerprints, that's what that old army post was for' - i take that to mean that the 'myth' of fingerprints (our impression that we're all so different and have irreconcilable differences) is the reason why that army post was installed in the first place (with army post as a symbol for times of war) - i.e. human conflict is based on the 'myth of fingerprints'. What I'd like to know though is what the 'watermelon' in the chorus is about...