I agree with caboose, and I will add that I also believe the song has a lot to do with fear, extreme emotion, lying and turning on one another.. All human conditions. Basically, through out the entire album, we see natural disasters and at the same time we see human interpretations of these disasters, in a way. The disaster is paired in title with a human condition. All human caused and spread. As for this song, several parts stick out to me:
Are you smelling flowers, and looking around for the gardens, or are you smelling flowers and looking around for the coffins?"
I think of this line as "glass half empty, glass half full" to extremes. On one side, you have your average person looking at life through rose tinted glasses. everything can be changed for the better, everything has the potential for goodness. "Things will get better over time." On the other hand, You have the overly paranoid and fearful person who doesn't trust and is always waiting for the bad things to happen. "Things will get worse over time." Optimism and pessimism.
"The sheeps are with our wolves"
You've all heard of the term "Wolf in sheeps clothing", right? This makes me think of infiltrators.. Either used to gain trust and then attack, or perhaps to quietly instill fear in a group, or even to spread lies or convince the majority to do something they wouldn't normally do or that they are against, while feeling their future choices are right, since they are all one equal group, or "all sheep here". "Sheeps can safely graze" might mean the group has no idea anything is sour, even though they've changed their normal habits (The chorus changes from "Bags of blood here waiting", implying if anything bad happens, there is a lifeline to save them all, to "There is blood for breakfast lately, 'cause why not, we're all doomed?" which implies a drastic changed behaviour and mentality, without questioning or concern as to why.) The sheep feel safe, but in reality are quite vulnerable.
The wolves could loosely be interpreted as government, the sheeps can loosely be interpreted as the mass of people against. "We have ways to make you talk" and "So sign your petitions and go on to your meaningless marches" sound like a major looming force that may be intimidated by the masses but do not show their fear, and also have ways to bring them down from the inside (Again with the wolves vs/ sheep).
"There is no beauty that can be obtained- When all you got's a shovel, everything will look like a grave" could possibly be the middle ground. The people who are aware of corruption, who see the wolves in the crowd, but feel they are powerless.. The cogs in the machine. They have the power to fight with their knowledge, but are afraid of the consequences, so they remain shut-lipped. The observers as opposed to the fighters. "There is nothing I can do." This can go along with "Someday this will all be yours, we're gonna get what we came for, to whistle past the graveyard". Essentially I think this is the belief that someday everything will be okay, and the middle-grounders have the belief that even in staying out of the ordeal, the "right side" will prevail and the outcome will be better than before.
"someday this will all be yours" can be the promise from either side; The side of wolf or the side of sheep. It's the hopeful mantra of the clashing of sides. But on the same spectrum "Baby clams (Just a nickname, i'm sure), you thought you could have it all... and it'll bury you all" is the wolf looking over the hole it's dug for the sheep over time (Time catches up with us all. many protests/historical events/corrupt circumstances go on for years without any change, and sometimes are forgotten about or swept under the rug entirely) and yet still promises a good outcome for the sheep as it's burying them alive. "Someday this will all be yours.."
I agree with caboose, and I will add that I also believe the song has a lot to do with fear, extreme emotion, lying and turning on one another.. All human conditions. Basically, through out the entire album, we see natural disasters and at the same time we see human interpretations of these disasters, in a way. The disaster is paired in title with a human condition. All human caused and spread. As for this song, several parts stick out to me:
Are you smelling flowers, and looking around for the gardens, or are you smelling flowers and looking around for the coffins?"
I think of this line as "glass half empty, glass half full" to extremes. On one side, you have your average person looking at life through rose tinted glasses. everything can be changed for the better, everything has the potential for goodness. "Things will get better over time." On the other hand, You have the overly paranoid and fearful person who doesn't trust and is always waiting for the bad things to happen. "Things will get worse over time." Optimism and pessimism.
"The sheeps are with our wolves" You've all heard of the term "Wolf in sheeps clothing", right? This makes me think of infiltrators.. Either used to gain trust and then attack, or perhaps to quietly instill fear in a group, or even to spread lies or convince the majority to do something they wouldn't normally do or that they are against, while feeling their future choices are right, since they are all one equal group, or "all sheep here". "Sheeps can safely graze" might mean the group has no idea anything is sour, even though they've changed their normal habits (The chorus changes from "Bags of blood here waiting", implying if anything bad happens, there is a lifeline to save them all, to "There is blood for breakfast lately, 'cause why not, we're all doomed?" which implies a drastic changed behaviour and mentality, without questioning or concern as to why.) The sheep feel safe, but in reality are quite vulnerable.
The wolves could loosely be interpreted as government, the sheeps can loosely be interpreted as the mass of people against. "We have ways to make you talk" and "So sign your petitions and go on to your meaningless marches" sound like a major looming force that may be intimidated by the masses but do not show their fear, and also have ways to bring them down from the inside (Again with the wolves vs/ sheep).
"There is no beauty that can be obtained- When all you got's a shovel, everything will look like a grave" could possibly be the middle ground. The people who are aware of corruption, who see the wolves in the crowd, but feel they are powerless.. The cogs in the machine. They have the power to fight with their knowledge, but are afraid of the consequences, so they remain shut-lipped. The observers as opposed to the fighters. "There is nothing I can do." This can go along with "Someday this will all be yours, we're gonna get what we came for, to whistle past the graveyard". Essentially I think this is the belief that someday everything will be okay, and the middle-grounders have the belief that even in staying out of the ordeal, the "right side" will prevail and the outcome will be better than before.
"someday this will all be yours" can be the promise from either side; The side of wolf or the side of sheep. It's the hopeful mantra of the clashing of sides. But on the same spectrum "Baby clams (Just a nickname, i'm sure), you thought you could have it all... and it'll bury you all" is the wolf looking over the hole it's dug for the sheep over time (Time catches up with us all. many protests/historical events/corrupt circumstances go on for years without any change, and sometimes are forgotten about or swept under the rug entirely) and yet still promises a good outcome for the sheep as it's burying them alive. "Someday this will all be yours.."