A Dark Design Lyrics

Lyric discussion by Splishee 

Cover art for A Dark Design lyrics by Mew

Interpretations here are good in their own ways, but my personal interpretation is that this song is a narrative about the narrator's journey with this girl. I think he absolutely despises her, as she uses other people (or perhaps just men) for her own gain or pleasure. But then the narrator decides to get his revenge on her... but then realises that he has just become just like her. I'll explain using the lyrics:

"Hi, I'm twice coloured."

I think this imagery involves imagining people's personalities as colours. Good virtues and morals are white, jealous individuals are red, and black is the colour of evil or hate. There is a reference to this in the last verse: "Hi, I'm twice coloured. I made a truce with the blackness dyer." - Dying yourself black; becoming evil. So she is twice coloured - appears to be the colour of white, but her soul is really black.

"Wait 'til you see, They're in love with my sickness."

Perhaps she is sick in the head, or just crazy, but she has this twisted pleasure out of how she can manipulate men. I think this girl is just twisted and ill, and the rest of this verse is a mixture of her thoughts and the narrator's commentary:

"There is no more time for the weaklings with an unfamiliar smile." - girl (referencing to how she throws away those who she doesn't know or care about.) "A self destructive mind of dark design." - narrator talking about the girl. "We may just live through life, watching it from sweet repose cut out with knives." - girl. I think this is further description of how sick she is, and that she mutilates herself out of this sickness and the narrator despises her for it.

And I think suddenly in the song there is a shift. The narrator begins talking about his plan to take away the power she has over people and learn a lesson:

"Opens up her face To the delight of their red piercing beaks. It didn't hurt this time. MY dark design."

I capitalised "MY" because I think the narrator is saying how he has turned all the men/people against her... his dark design.

"Slits into her, all convinced That she's (still) their favourite way."

She then begins to self harm to make herself feel better as she is delusional, refusing to believe that these people have turned against her. She still hopes she's their favourite person.

I think the next verse is a realisation of the narrator; he realises he has become just as sick and twisted as the girl he despises.

"So, hi. I'M twice coloured. Wait 'til you see - I made a truce with the blackness dyer."

I think that is the narrator saying this, admitting that he now knows his soul is black, and he thinks he is now the evil one.

"I feel so carsick and alone."

And he is repulsed with himself.

That's my opinion. I've spent a lot of time thinking about it and thought I needed to write my interpretation somewhere. :P