This song could mean one of two things for me. The simplified version is that we are relying entirely too much on media and technology to form our opinions about the world. The lines "What do you see when you turn off the TV", paired with the absurdity of the statements "believe you me, there are little people in the trees" and "there's a tailor in the sky" seem to suggest that we draw blindly from what we're presented in media and technology, and the song is asking us where we stand when we "turn off the machine."
But I'm more inclined to think that the repeated use (and variation) of the line "where do you stand?" is speaking of more than that. Where do you stand when "you turn off the TV"? What are your beliefs when you're not relying "on the machine"? To me this could be saying that to believe in something enough that you would stand up for it is better than utter apathy (possibly engendered by "the machine"?). Believing that there are little people in the trees or tailors in the sky, if you're willing to stand for that, is better than no belief at all.
This song could mean one of two things for me. The simplified version is that we are relying entirely too much on media and technology to form our opinions about the world. The lines "What do you see when you turn off the TV", paired with the absurdity of the statements "believe you me, there are little people in the trees" and "there's a tailor in the sky" seem to suggest that we draw blindly from what we're presented in media and technology, and the song is asking us where we stand when we "turn off the machine."
But I'm more inclined to think that the repeated use (and variation) of the line "where do you stand?" is speaking of more than that. Where do you stand when "you turn off the TV"? What are your beliefs when you're not relying "on the machine"? To me this could be saying that to believe in something enough that you would stand up for it is better than utter apathy (possibly engendered by "the machine"?). Believing that there are little people in the trees or tailors in the sky, if you're willing to stand for that, is better than no belief at all.