Man of Oil first starts with what seems like a broken man in a relationship .. "my head on your queezy stomach, can not keep my chin up.." he wakes to "sweats in the night" reflecting on life and death and how feeling something makes you "alive". He further says he's afraid to "forget the smell of you" another sensation that can only be felt when you are alive.
he goes on to explain the conflict he is facing "wizard with a wand competing with the lightning" - a conflict that is not in your favor with a higher power. he clarifies by saying it involves a coward, and also a "king" - a common reference to god, and a "man of oil." - which someone talked abut a reference to the tin man from wizard of oz. what this represents is a man who feels incomplete, the tin man does not have a heart, also meaning he may not have feelings at all.
he explains further by saying his words that he texts may be insincere, as they are not even moving him so much as floating logs on a dark stream. He seems to be trying to say he is lacking compassion, and his lover has told him this, but it is "so hard to hear..."
to go on further with that he is actually referring to God himself being able to hear him. The silver lining is when he explains how "you have to have the top guts to be hung like a human.." God was hung like a human "to watch the young nuts grow" - symbolism of a scarecrow but if you look at a scarecrow it is in the same shape as God on a cross. I think this song really boils down to a man's relationship with God, and his frustration with being able to guide through life when it seems like he's never there. It's somewhat of another symbolism of what is the yellow brick road. This song has some very interesting metaphors and may be one of my favorite lyrically by this band.
Man of Oil first starts with what seems like a broken man in a relationship .. "my head on your queezy stomach, can not keep my chin up.." he wakes to "sweats in the night" reflecting on life and death and how feeling something makes you "alive". He further says he's afraid to "forget the smell of you" another sensation that can only be felt when you are alive. he goes on to explain the conflict he is facing "wizard with a wand competing with the lightning" - a conflict that is not in your favor with a higher power. he clarifies by saying it involves a coward, and also a "king" - a common reference to god, and a "man of oil." - which someone talked abut a reference to the tin man from wizard of oz. what this represents is a man who feels incomplete, the tin man does not have a heart, also meaning he may not have feelings at all. he explains further by saying his words that he texts may be insincere, as they are not even moving him so much as floating logs on a dark stream. He seems to be trying to say he is lacking compassion, and his lover has told him this, but it is "so hard to hear..." to go on further with that he is actually referring to God himself being able to hear him. The silver lining is when he explains how "you have to have the top guts to be hung like a human.." God was hung like a human "to watch the young nuts grow" - symbolism of a scarecrow but if you look at a scarecrow it is in the same shape as God on a cross. I think this song really boils down to a man's relationship with God, and his frustration with being able to guide through life when it seems like he's never there. It's somewhat of another symbolism of what is the yellow brick road. This song has some very interesting metaphors and may be one of my favorite lyrically by this band.