To me this song is, like many by the band, weaves in between two levels. I think the "band" concept of watching/being the band on stage in a crowded room is the most valid surface interpretation, especially since a theme of alienation and agoraphobia run throughout Oberst's lyrics.
However, I'd like to refer to the album's title for the meaning of the chorus and title. Cassadaga is a spritualist community in Florida, referenced by the female speaker in the opening track. It's home or destination to a large number of psychics and mediums, and I think it's mediumship that's referenced here.
Oberst is comparing the life of a lyricist/performer to that of the medium. The opening line is analogous to the spiritual transcendance of a seance- the performer must bring his audience something "from the ether" for entertainment and enlightenment, just as the medium is called upon to "commune with the dead", to borrow a line from "Four Winds".
The last two lines in the first verse point out the hook of the song- that is, just as the reluctant messiah Donald Shimoda does in Richard Bach's Illusions, the narrator has grown tired of the constant demand of the audience. The fool that gets wise in the third line is the narrator after realizing the demand to perform is depriving his "seed", his creativity, of "sunlight", or inspiration.
The chorus is where the narrator begins to feel that his stage persona is now just that- a persona, and not a true reflection of his person. He's reduced to "I don't knows" and "maybe sos" to answer the demand, no longer capable of offering substance or real insight. His audience is oblivious, and his popularity grows, evident in the second line of the second verse.
The climax of the song is the narrator's acceptance of his plight though still in admiration of the dead and the birds, both capable of escaping the crowds and the demand.
Interesting song, and if I've left any loose ends, comment back and I'll tie up what I can.
To me this song is, like many by the band, weaves in between two levels. I think the "band" concept of watching/being the band on stage in a crowded room is the most valid surface interpretation, especially since a theme of alienation and agoraphobia run throughout Oberst's lyrics.
However, I'd like to refer to the album's title for the meaning of the chorus and title. Cassadaga is a spritualist community in Florida, referenced by the female speaker in the opening track. It's home or destination to a large number of psychics and mediums, and I think it's mediumship that's referenced here.
Oberst is comparing the life of a lyricist/performer to that of the medium. The opening line is analogous to the spiritual transcendance of a seance- the performer must bring his audience something "from the ether" for entertainment and enlightenment, just as the medium is called upon to "commune with the dead", to borrow a line from "Four Winds".
The last two lines in the first verse point out the hook of the song- that is, just as the reluctant messiah Donald Shimoda does in Richard Bach's Illusions, the narrator has grown tired of the constant demand of the audience. The fool that gets wise in the third line is the narrator after realizing the demand to perform is depriving his "seed", his creativity, of "sunlight", or inspiration.
The chorus is where the narrator begins to feel that his stage persona is now just that- a persona, and not a true reflection of his person. He's reduced to "I don't knows" and "maybe sos" to answer the demand, no longer capable of offering substance or real insight. His audience is oblivious, and his popularity grows, evident in the second line of the second verse.
The climax of the song is the narrator's acceptance of his plight though still in admiration of the dead and the birds, both capable of escaping the crowds and the demand.
Interesting song, and if I've left any loose ends, comment back and I'll tie up what I can.