I tend to think the line "It was hard to avoid/I suppose it was the shame" means he got picked out of a group of people for having human emotions (see "Only a Downstat") such as shame. The next few lines seem to serve to explain why he was singled out ("We'd never met and they didn't have names, there was nothing I could do.")
Protagonist then starts turning on a crowd of onlookers, who are presumably used to the sight of people being taken away like this (coming from a little background on Numan's supposed story that lead to this album), so he starts freaking on them, letting them know it could have been anyone being taken.
Those last couple lines.. I'm not sure on them. The way Numan says "so I said..." just doesn't sit right with me, especially because from there the reaction seems to be that he got off scot-free. I believe this may be a case of unreliable protagonist--it would also explain why it cuts off so abruptly mid-story.
@nostopthat Interesting, but ultimately over thinking this. 20-year old Gary was, to some extent, just throwing interesting lines together. It's moe about feeling than a clearly defined story with beginning/middle/end.
@nostopthat Interesting, but ultimately over thinking this. 20-year old Gary was, to some extent, just throwing interesting lines together. It's moe about feeling than a clearly defined story with beginning/middle/end.
I tend to think the line "It was hard to avoid/I suppose it was the shame" means he got picked out of a group of people for having human emotions (see "Only a Downstat") such as shame. The next few lines seem to serve to explain why he was singled out ("We'd never met and they didn't have names, there was nothing I could do.")
Protagonist then starts turning on a crowd of onlookers, who are presumably used to the sight of people being taken away like this (coming from a little background on Numan's supposed story that lead to this album), so he starts freaking on them, letting them know it could have been anyone being taken.
Those last couple lines.. I'm not sure on them. The way Numan says "so I said..." just doesn't sit right with me, especially because from there the reaction seems to be that he got off scot-free. I believe this may be a case of unreliable protagonist--it would also explain why it cuts off so abruptly mid-story.
@nostopthat Interesting, but ultimately over thinking this. 20-year old Gary was, to some extent, just throwing interesting lines together. It's moe about feeling than a clearly defined story with beginning/middle/end.
@nostopthat Interesting, but ultimately over thinking this. 20-year old Gary was, to some extent, just throwing interesting lines together. It's moe about feeling than a clearly defined story with beginning/middle/end.