At first, I wasn’t sure what this song was about. I enjoyed everyone’s take on it because it helped shape what my interpretation of it is. Yes, it is absolutely about the murders in Munich. If athletes are in the video, I have little doubt that is what they were focusing on. It is also very much about relationships and the two tie together. Munich is the extreme example of how bad things can go when fragile people, which all of us are, are broken. It is the example of the horrible results of relationships gone bad and it is hard to imagine a worse relationship than that one. I feel this song is exploring the boundaries of relationships between groups of people and individuals. So, while we have situations like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which impacts some people more than others, at an individual level we all have relationships. I think this is somewhat of a reminder/warning to people to be cognizant of the impact you have on people and people’s fragile state and how you can have a positive impact by assuming a nurturing role in someone’s life, “with one hand you calm me” and how you can have a negative impact “you’ll speak when you’re spoken to”. To me, the “you’ll speak when you’re spoken to” line is about emotionally abusive relationships and this line which closes out the song is kind of a cautionary command to us all to do what we can to make an effort “force it” to have healthy relationships with people. Because “it breaks if you don’t force it, it breaks if you don’t try.” I think the song is a frightening reminder of how delicate the human psyche is and that most atrocities that happen can be linked to bad/unhealthy relationships between groups and individuals.
At first, I wasn’t sure what this song was about. I enjoyed everyone’s take on it because it helped shape what my interpretation of it is. Yes, it is absolutely about the murders in Munich. If athletes are in the video, I have little doubt that is what they were focusing on. It is also very much about relationships and the two tie together. Munich is the extreme example of how bad things can go when fragile people, which all of us are, are broken. It is the example of the horrible results of relationships gone bad and it is hard to imagine a worse relationship than that one. I feel this song is exploring the boundaries of relationships between groups of people and individuals. So, while we have situations like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which impacts some people more than others, at an individual level we all have relationships. I think this is somewhat of a reminder/warning to people to be cognizant of the impact you have on people and people’s fragile state and how you can have a positive impact by assuming a nurturing role in someone’s life, “with one hand you calm me” and how you can have a negative impact “you’ll speak when you’re spoken to”. To me, the “you’ll speak when you’re spoken to” line is about emotionally abusive relationships and this line which closes out the song is kind of a cautionary command to us all to do what we can to make an effort “force it” to have healthy relationships with people. Because “it breaks if you don’t force it, it breaks if you don’t try.” I think the song is a frightening reminder of how delicate the human psyche is and that most atrocities that happen can be linked to bad/unhealthy relationships between groups and individuals.