I've enjoyed the lyrics to this song for years, even though I misheard some critical lyrics. I, too, thought the line was: " I'm just an oil slick in a wind-up world with a nervous tic." Also, I always thought this song was about a jaded, sleazy pickup artist. First stanza talks about his pickup routine, sometimes successful, sometimes not ("History repeats the old conceits, the glib replies, the same defeats'). Part of his arsenal was to feign interest in causes to get the attention of his target ("crocodile tears," etc)
When he writes "Charged with insults...," my take is that he has aroused the interest of his "Alice" with a banter that mixes flattery and mild deprecation.
He then is disgusted with himself for being the consummate empty pickup artist, and thus "beyond belief" ("And now you find you fit this identikit completely").
Most of the rest of the song is a gauzy look at his post pickup encounter with "Alice." California's fault, Geneva's vault, Mars' canals = metaphors for female anatomy. Then the lyrics fan out more generally into romance and the battle of the sexes.
@poolhallace: A decent analysis, but I can\'t see a way the narrator is successful in his wobbly advances. In fact, I think the whole song is in the "decision space" where he decides whether to approach or not.\r\n\r\n"My hands were clammy and cunning,\r\nShe\'s been suitably stunning,\r\nBut I know there\'s not a hope in Hades"\r\n\r\n"I got a feeling, I\'m gonna get a lot of grief" He knows how this ends. (But maybe he goes for it anyway)...
@poolhallace: A decent analysis, but I can\'t see a way the narrator is successful in his wobbly advances. In fact, I think the whole song is in the "decision space" where he decides whether to approach or not.\r\n\r\n"My hands were clammy and cunning,\r\nShe\'s been suitably stunning,\r\nBut I know there\'s not a hope in Hades"\r\n\r\n"I got a feeling, I\'m gonna get a lot of grief" He knows how this ends. (But maybe he goes for it anyway)
I've enjoyed the lyrics to this song for years, even though I misheard some critical lyrics. I, too, thought the line was: " I'm just an oil slick in a wind-up world with a nervous tic." Also, I always thought this song was about a jaded, sleazy pickup artist. First stanza talks about his pickup routine, sometimes successful, sometimes not ("History repeats the old conceits, the glib replies, the same defeats'). Part of his arsenal was to feign interest in causes to get the attention of his target ("crocodile tears," etc)
When he writes "Charged with insults...," my take is that he has aroused the interest of his "Alice" with a banter that mixes flattery and mild deprecation.
He then is disgusted with himself for being the consummate empty pickup artist, and thus "beyond belief" ("And now you find you fit this identikit completely").
Most of the rest of the song is a gauzy look at his post pickup encounter with "Alice." California's fault, Geneva's vault, Mars' canals = metaphors for female anatomy. Then the lyrics fan out more generally into romance and the battle of the sexes.
My take anyway. Could be totally off.
@poolhallace: A decent analysis, but I can\'t see a way the narrator is successful in his wobbly advances. In fact, I think the whole song is in the "decision space" where he decides whether to approach or not.\r\n\r\n"My hands were clammy and cunning,\r\nShe\'s been suitably stunning,\r\nBut I know there\'s not a hope in Hades"\r\n\r\n"I got a feeling, I\'m gonna get a lot of grief" He knows how this ends. (But maybe he goes for it anyway)...
@poolhallace: A decent analysis, but I can\'t see a way the narrator is successful in his wobbly advances. In fact, I think the whole song is in the "decision space" where he decides whether to approach or not.\r\n\r\n"My hands were clammy and cunning,\r\nShe\'s been suitably stunning,\r\nBut I know there\'s not a hope in Hades"\r\n\r\n"I got a feeling, I\'m gonna get a lot of grief" He knows how this ends. (But maybe he goes for it anyway)