I think this is a John song, and the "notice on my door" that he finds on the 22nd floor is an eviction notice from his room, his "cell in the Lennox Hotel". Not a particularly nice hotel room, then. Maybe the undercurrent here is of hopelessness and poverty. The "perspective lines converging", from his picture window far above Atlanta, seem to underline his remoteness from ordinary life and human contact.
John seems uncertain whether or not the trees are little bombs, little destructive agents, or little pom-poms, cheering him on. It's a more widespread ambiguity for him -- as if he doesn't understand fundamental differences in his own life, can't distinguish the good things from the bad things.
Halfway through the song, when he finds the notice on his door, he notices the sun shining indifferently on the "little bombs", the "little pom-poms", and this underscores his remoteness. The trees aren't bombs or pom-poms, they're just trees. It's up to him to interpret what he wants them to mean for him, and he can't decide, but they make him think about the emptiness and anticlimax of his life, "not with a bang but a whimper" as several of you have said. Not even his failure is a mushroom cloud, just a fizzle.
Both characters in the songs on this album seem gradually to be fading out of existence. They note their fading, but don't stop it and perhaps can't.
I think this is a John song, and the "notice on my door" that he finds on the 22nd floor is an eviction notice from his room, his "cell in the Lennox Hotel". Not a particularly nice hotel room, then. Maybe the undercurrent here is of hopelessness and poverty. The "perspective lines converging", from his picture window far above Atlanta, seem to underline his remoteness from ordinary life and human contact.
John seems uncertain whether or not the trees are little bombs, little destructive agents, or little pom-poms, cheering him on. It's a more widespread ambiguity for him -- as if he doesn't understand fundamental differences in his own life, can't distinguish the good things from the bad things.
Halfway through the song, when he finds the notice on his door, he notices the sun shining indifferently on the "little bombs", the "little pom-poms", and this underscores his remoteness. The trees aren't bombs or pom-poms, they're just trees. It's up to him to interpret what he wants them to mean for him, and he can't decide, but they make him think about the emptiness and anticlimax of his life, "not with a bang but a whimper" as several of you have said. Not even his failure is a mushroom cloud, just a fizzle.
Both characters in the songs on this album seem gradually to be fading out of existence. They note their fading, but don't stop it and perhaps can't.