I think this song is about deception; deceiving yourself and others, and about how deception is universal. The thing each verse has in common, is that people are giving up what's really important (Apostles - saviour for anything gold; angels - your soul; businessmen - their own soul for money; using a college education to seem important rather than actually learning), and deceiving themselves in the process- Believing what they are getting is better than what they gave in exchange.
The business men, selling their trash. In order to sell something, you need to highlight it's good aspects and brush over (if not completely ignore) it's bad aspects. To be emotionally bankrupt, is to have nothing left to give, yet they are still selling. They're selling useless things, and making money yet their soul is in shambles and they're left feeling empty.
Angels, something that everyone looks up to as holy, sacred and all-good yet they are just as corrupted as everyone else and would give something truly important yet intangible in exchange for something material
All the people you knew were the actors is pretty self explanatory - Everyone you knew, and everything you thought you knew about them was just an act they put up.
College is somewhere you go to learn, yet it is being used in a shallow self-serving way to make people believe you are more than you are, and more important.
Some people have mentioned that the last line doesn't really fit, but I think it fits perfectly. It becomes more personal, instead Isaac pointing fingers at others, he admits that he too is guilty of deception.
I think this is one of Modest Mouse's most emotionally in depth song - I absolutely love it
I think this song is about deception; deceiving yourself and others, and about how deception is universal. The thing each verse has in common, is that people are giving up what's really important (Apostles - saviour for anything gold; angels - your soul; businessmen - their own soul for money; using a college education to seem important rather than actually learning), and deceiving themselves in the process- Believing what they are getting is better than what they gave in exchange.
The business men, selling their trash. In order to sell something, you need to highlight it's good aspects and brush over (if not completely ignore) it's bad aspects. To be emotionally bankrupt, is to have nothing left to give, yet they are still selling. They're selling useless things, and making money yet their soul is in shambles and they're left feeling empty.
Angels, something that everyone looks up to as holy, sacred and all-good yet they are just as corrupted as everyone else and would give something truly important yet intangible in exchange for something material
All the people you knew were the actors is pretty self explanatory - Everyone you knew, and everything you thought you knew about them was just an act they put up.
College is somewhere you go to learn, yet it is being used in a shallow self-serving way to make people believe you are more than you are, and more important.
Some people have mentioned that the last line doesn't really fit, but I think it fits perfectly. It becomes more personal, instead Isaac pointing fingers at others, he admits that he too is guilty of deception.
I think this is one of Modest Mouse's most emotionally in depth song - I absolutely love it