Teacher

I honestly don't mean to be rude, but it's interesting how some fairly obvious meanings can get right past people.

Mycroft is the only person who got this tune. I mean, okay, some songs are truly ambiguous and there isn't one meaning to "get." Not this one.

This song is an amused, yet angry statement about people with shallow lives who want you to drop what you're working on, go out on the town with them, or the beach, or wherever, and tell you to "lighten up" about everything, until of course they need you for something.

I don't think it begins with the speaker "in a major funk." He is alone, and "the dawn was coming." There is the a word omitted from the next line in this copy of the lyrics -- the full line is "Or that is what I call myself," as in, a self-proclaimed expert on life.

"Heard him ringing on my bell" -- this is clearly a reference to the phone ringing and someone unfortunately being on the other end. The scene of a writer contemplating a creative work or trying to find peace in solitude & being interrupted by a rude telephone call from a jackass party-guy type is deliciously painted in Allen Ginsberg's "Victim of Telephone" poem, which may or may not have informed Ian A's lyrics here. Look it up.

Then the speaker finds nothing of the good times this "teacher" promises him -- he feels maladjusted, adrift "threw my world into the sea" while his friend makes merry on the speaker's dollar -- probably a typical nightmare for frustrated rock stars. "He thanked me for his ticket," i.e. for funding the road trip or party, is lying in bed (possibly in the speaker's house) and finding no more enlightenment than having gotten a tan.

This makes the questioning, cynical chorus so satisfying to the audient, and the guitars & drums reflect it by picking up the backbeat and playing a faster, keyed up version of the opening line. "What was that you said?" is an angry phrase, almost cinematic -- you can picture the typically meek, subdued artist suddenly jumping up & challenging his loser friend that never had a helpful agenda or actual encouraging word. In this context, "Something on my mind..." is a very dynamic phrase. It could mean what he was working on before the phone rang, could mean his skepticism about social gatherings, could mean what he's about to confront the guy ("saying what's on my mind") or all three.

My favorite part about that last line is that it paints a picture of an antisocial person stuck in a social-graces situation and still feeling contemplative & not letting go of his thoughts and inner searching. In context with the frowning, thoughtful flute/keyboard motif that the line leads into, it is just a beautiful and charming musical statement about a thoughtful person who takes himself seriously & his resident "lighten up" chiseling buddy.

How anyone could interpret this song as the teacher being a good guy & really teaching Ian all about the finer things in life and to relax etc. is absolutely beyond me. Words mean stuff in songs. Pay attention to them.