keith has said when performing this song live that it's about "the beauty of lying to yourself every day"
all the stuff about classical executions is correct, but it serves as a metaphor for the real meaning of the song. you can especially tell at the end when he says "where is my head? / where is my heart?" people put up such fronts in their lives that they lose sight of everything real
but it doesn't matter because keeping up appearances and investing in materialism and decadence can be consuming enough that leading an empty life can still be entertaining ("i'll whistle the tune all the way to the gallows...")
keith has said when performing this song live that it's about "the beauty of lying to yourself every day"
all the stuff about classical executions is correct, but it serves as a metaphor for the real meaning of the song. you can especially tell at the end when he says "where is my head? / where is my heart?" people put up such fronts in their lives that they lose sight of everything real
but it doesn't matter because keeping up appearances and investing in materialism and decadence can be consuming enough that leading an empty life can still be entertaining ("i'll whistle the tune all the way to the gallows...")