The song Karn Evil 9 as a whole is about a future in which all of humanities imperfections are removed.
First impressions is about a future in which everything evil, corrupt or dangerous, or which can cause wars, corruption and the like, are no longer existant except as a display in a carnival show. This includes sex, violence, religeon, death, sadness and so on. We also get our first hint as to what will happen in the end of 3rd impressions during the line "Just behind that glass is a real blade of grass, be carefull as you pass, move along, move along" You see, grass is natural. Nature is viewed as imperfect in this future and this is the only remaining piece of grass. And unlike the other displays, the blade of grass is viewed as dangerous rather than entertaining.
All of this is reenforced at the end of First Impressions when he says "We would like it to be known the exhibits that were shown
were exclusively our own,
All our own. All our own.
" which shows that none of these things exsist outside this carival.
Now, this then leads into 3rd impressions. In third impressions, the final imperfection is destroyed: man. The computers that man made in the goal of perfection now view humans as imperfect. A war is fought and one man is spared. He thinks that he has won, and that, since all the other humans were recorded onto tape, that humanity can be restored. However, it is then revealed that the computer simply let him live, assumably to put on display in the carnival as a one of a kind example of the imperfections of man. Then, the final line the computer states "I'm perfect, are you?" and the rest fades out into computer noises as imperfection is whiped out.
So, the song is about the dangers of reaching for perfection as in a world where everything imperfect has been removed, there is no place for humanity, who is flawed by nature.
The song Karn Evil 9 as a whole is about a future in which all of humanities imperfections are removed. First impressions is about a future in which everything evil, corrupt or dangerous, or which can cause wars, corruption and the like, are no longer existant except as a display in a carnival show. This includes sex, violence, religeon, death, sadness and so on. We also get our first hint as to what will happen in the end of 3rd impressions during the line "Just behind that glass is a real blade of grass, be carefull as you pass, move along, move along" You see, grass is natural. Nature is viewed as imperfect in this future and this is the only remaining piece of grass. And unlike the other displays, the blade of grass is viewed as dangerous rather than entertaining.
All of this is reenforced at the end of First Impressions when he says "We would like it to be known the exhibits that were shown were exclusively our own, All our own. All our own. " which shows that none of these things exsist outside this carival.
Now, this then leads into 3rd impressions. In third impressions, the final imperfection is destroyed: man. The computers that man made in the goal of perfection now view humans as imperfect. A war is fought and one man is spared. He thinks that he has won, and that, since all the other humans were recorded onto tape, that humanity can be restored. However, it is then revealed that the computer simply let him live, assumably to put on display in the carnival as a one of a kind example of the imperfections of man. Then, the final line the computer states "I'm perfect, are you?" and the rest fades out into computer noises as imperfection is whiped out.
So, the song is about the dangers of reaching for perfection as in a world where everything imperfect has been removed, there is no place for humanity, who is flawed by nature.