Oddly, when I first heard this song, I thought it was dark rather than hopeful. The boiling frog (or crayfish) is always a warning when anyone else uses it as a metaphor, so I assumed he was doing the same thing.
Once you start thinking that way, the opening bit sounds an awful lot like a cult leader. In fact, it sounds like Charlie recruiting Squeaky Fromme. A lost and depressed kid at a bus stop, a person appears on the scene and gives love and self esteem and understanding, she throws away everything from her hopeless path and continues her life in trust—trust in Charlie, and in the Family she soon helped him recruit.
And the same could be with humanity. In fact, that's what demagogues are all about. They give desperate people something that feels like faith, and they become converts, trusting their leader absolutely.
But I'm pretty sure that's not what the song is about. Because once you actually get to the chorus, cult leaders and demagogues don't work by imperceptibly slippery slopes, they work by apocalyptic proclamations and dramatic actions.
Oddly, when I first heard this song, I thought it was dark rather than hopeful. The boiling frog (or crayfish) is always a warning when anyone else uses it as a metaphor, so I assumed he was doing the same thing.
Once you start thinking that way, the opening bit sounds an awful lot like a cult leader. In fact, it sounds like Charlie recruiting Squeaky Fromme. A lost and depressed kid at a bus stop, a person appears on the scene and gives love and self esteem and understanding, she throws away everything from her hopeless path and continues her life in trust—trust in Charlie, and in the Family she soon helped him recruit.
And the same could be with humanity. In fact, that's what demagogues are all about. They give desperate people something that feels like faith, and they become converts, trusting their leader absolutely.
But I'm pretty sure that's not what the song is about. Because once you actually get to the chorus, cult leaders and demagogues don't work by imperceptibly slippery slopes, they work by apocalyptic proclamations and dramatic actions.