I'm in the camp that maintains this song was mis-titled, and should have been "Solipsist's Dream Girl." Here's an interpretation that might seem like a small stretch, but which I would maintain is consistent, and will ring true for many people:
Theme: I read this as being about the process of realizing that you care about someone else more than you care about yourself. That, I don't think, is not so controversial. But try this on for size:
We start out with a vignette of a selfish kid; someone who dismisses people because of superficial disagreements ("my stepdad's a fool because he doesn't like David Bowie"). A more empathetic person might understand why someone with an uncanny resemblance to Bowie might get a little irked at having this pointed out repeatedly, and cut the guy some slack on matters of taste.
In the next verse we get another vignette of a couple in bed, feeling unsettled, unable to control their reactions to the situation they find themselves in. My guess? Resist the temptation to interpet this song romantically and take another approach: she's pregnant. At least that's a major reason a married couple might be waking up and feeling a bit out of their comfort zone.
Having children is the inflection point in the solipsist's life. It's the juncture where he realizes that his interests no longer come first, and he can no longer act in accordance with the philosophy he had adopted as a convient way to justify his selfish disposition.
I'm in the camp that maintains this song was mis-titled, and should have been "Solipsist's Dream Girl." Here's an interpretation that might seem like a small stretch, but which I would maintain is consistent, and will ring true for many people:
Theme: I read this as being about the process of realizing that you care about someone else more than you care about yourself. That, I don't think, is not so controversial. But try this on for size:
We start out with a vignette of a selfish kid; someone who dismisses people because of superficial disagreements ("my stepdad's a fool because he doesn't like David Bowie"). A more empathetic person might understand why someone with an uncanny resemblance to Bowie might get a little irked at having this pointed out repeatedly, and cut the guy some slack on matters of taste.
In the next verse we get another vignette of a couple in bed, feeling unsettled, unable to control their reactions to the situation they find themselves in. My guess? Resist the temptation to interpet this song romantically and take another approach: she's pregnant. At least that's a major reason a married couple might be waking up and feeling a bit out of their comfort zone.
Having children is the inflection point in the solipsist's life. It's the juncture where he realizes that his interests no longer come first, and he can no longer act in accordance with the philosophy he had adopted as a convient way to justify his selfish disposition.