This is really a great, underrated Beck song. It has always reminded me of Southeast Asia ("they're chewing dried meat in a house of disrepute"..."trawlers"): and actually I just looked up Myna birds and apparently they are native to Southeast Asia, although they've been introduced to other tropical locations around the world. Mangroves are also a tropical/coastal species of tree. More evidence of the SE Asia connection would be the references to opiates and prostitution (by no means unique to Asia though). Also leading me to this conclusion is Beck's sometimes explicit references to Asian locations (such as in the Midnite Vultures album).
I second what pianoguy wrote about the themes of decay (the quintessential Beck theme I'd say), pious detachment, and hedonism. I think also there is a fairly obvious theme of prostitution/the sex tourism industry (syphilis patients on brochure vacations, matrons and gigolos, house of disrepute, vanity of slaves), specifically in Southeast Asia. Also, "The skin of a robot vibrates with pleasure" (Hah! One of my all time favorite lines... what a great surreal image) I think is a meta-comment on the dehumanizing effects of prostitution; both for the prostitutes themselves and those utilizing said services. It's not clear which one the robot is and I think that is intentionally left vague.
I think also there is a connection to the larger theme of colonialism/capitalist exploitation of the developing world which shows up in other Beck songs (Tropicalia for example)-- evidence of this is the almost Victorian/Edwardian quality to the lyrics ("carouse in the parlor"... "the magistrate puts on his gloves"), as that era was essentially the apex of European colonialsm, and is continued today largely by the United States. Coupled with the constant theme of decay and moral/literal corruption, it amounts to a prescient condemnation of capitalism. Because it's now becoming very obvious that we've reached the limits of what the Earth can sustain-- the result is that despite the projected image of glorious expansion and technological advancement (another colonial-era-based worldview) the reality is and will be decay, "broken equipment," ruins and the industrial wasteland which Beck often alludes to.
This is really a great, underrated Beck song. It has always reminded me of Southeast Asia ("they're chewing dried meat in a house of disrepute"..."trawlers"): and actually I just looked up Myna birds and apparently they are native to Southeast Asia, although they've been introduced to other tropical locations around the world. Mangroves are also a tropical/coastal species of tree. More evidence of the SE Asia connection would be the references to opiates and prostitution (by no means unique to Asia though). Also leading me to this conclusion is Beck's sometimes explicit references to Asian locations (such as in the Midnite Vultures album).
I second what pianoguy wrote about the themes of decay (the quintessential Beck theme I'd say), pious detachment, and hedonism. I think also there is a fairly obvious theme of prostitution/the sex tourism industry (syphilis patients on brochure vacations, matrons and gigolos, house of disrepute, vanity of slaves), specifically in Southeast Asia. Also, "The skin of a robot vibrates with pleasure" (Hah! One of my all time favorite lines... what a great surreal image) I think is a meta-comment on the dehumanizing effects of prostitution; both for the prostitutes themselves and those utilizing said services. It's not clear which one the robot is and I think that is intentionally left vague.
I think also there is a connection to the larger theme of colonialism/capitalist exploitation of the developing world which shows up in other Beck songs (Tropicalia for example)-- evidence of this is the almost Victorian/Edwardian quality to the lyrics ("carouse in the parlor"... "the magistrate puts on his gloves"), as that era was essentially the apex of European colonialsm, and is continued today largely by the United States. Coupled with the constant theme of decay and moral/literal corruption, it amounts to a prescient condemnation of capitalism. Because it's now becoming very obvious that we've reached the limits of what the Earth can sustain-- the result is that despite the projected image of glorious expansion and technological advancement (another colonial-era-based worldview) the reality is and will be decay, "broken equipment," ruins and the industrial wasteland which Beck often alludes to.