I think most of this song is a reference to WWII. He talks of industry and power as inspiration for Hilter to try and take over the world. Then he talks about a race for "acquisition" and "things that glow". This strikes me as an allusion to the nuclear arms race and space race between the United States and Russia during the cold war following WWII.
Dodging bullets and flying zeroes also fits with WWII. Zeroes were planes flown by the Japenese during the war.
When he talks about acting like you're rich at the end of the first verse it seems like he means if people think you are poor you will basically be nothing to them, you won't exist - so you should act like you're not.
I don't have much to say about the second verse but the third verse begins by mentioning Oppenheimer, the creator of the Atomic Bomb and thus essentially the ender of WWII, though at a great cost. I think Oberst is talking about Oppenheimer's death and saying at the end of his life maybe he realized what destruction he had caused - "the bane of his creation".
I don't think the line "wading through a wasteland where the town you loved once stood" is about New Orleans. I think he meant it to be about Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The two Japanese cities reduced to "wastelands" after the atomic bomb was dropped on them.
lastly I wanted to comment on the Napoleon line, I do think Oberst meant this to be about Napoleon Bonaparte. Though there is some evidence that Napoleon was actually normal height, his recorded height is 5'2" which has led most to believe he was a very small man. This is where the phrase "napoleon complex" comes from, used to describe someone who overcompensates in some aspects of their lives to make up for their height.
Anyway, my writing was probably terrible but I hope at least somewhat understandable.
I think most of this song is a reference to WWII. He talks of industry and power as inspiration for Hilter to try and take over the world. Then he talks about a race for "acquisition" and "things that glow". This strikes me as an allusion to the nuclear arms race and space race between the United States and Russia during the cold war following WWII.
Dodging bullets and flying zeroes also fits with WWII. Zeroes were planes flown by the Japenese during the war.
When he talks about acting like you're rich at the end of the first verse it seems like he means if people think you are poor you will basically be nothing to them, you won't exist - so you should act like you're not.
I don't have much to say about the second verse but the third verse begins by mentioning Oppenheimer, the creator of the Atomic Bomb and thus essentially the ender of WWII, though at a great cost. I think Oberst is talking about Oppenheimer's death and saying at the end of his life maybe he realized what destruction he had caused - "the bane of his creation".
I don't think the line "wading through a wasteland where the town you loved once stood" is about New Orleans. I think he meant it to be about Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The two Japanese cities reduced to "wastelands" after the atomic bomb was dropped on them.
lastly I wanted to comment on the Napoleon line, I do think Oberst meant this to be about Napoleon Bonaparte. Though there is some evidence that Napoleon was actually normal height, his recorded height is 5'2" which has led most to believe he was a very small man. This is where the phrase "napoleon complex" comes from, used to describe someone who overcompensates in some aspects of their lives to make up for their height.
Anyway, my writing was probably terrible but I hope at least somewhat understandable.