20 Minutes Of Oxygen Lyrics
Build a time door and visit my youth
This cigar burn is for effect
In the future you won't forget
When you're trapped in that airtight room
Flick the red switch but not the blue
If you remember me
That'd be the rip-cord in my destiny
Your life to be hangs on this one choice
Keep your Hilti near, you'll know when
Twenty minutes of oxygen
If you remember me
That could be the rip-cord in my destiny
So, if you remember
If you remember me
That could be the rip-cord in my destiny
It's too late now and I'm still dumb
Twenty minutes of oxygen
You won't remember me
There'll be no rip-cord in my destiny
No, you won't remember
You won't remember me
There'll be no rip-cord in my destiny
This song is set in a science fiction universe, with a hapless spacehopper trapped in an airtight room with 20 minutes of air left him. While railing agsinst his predicament, he muses on the possibility of building a device to allow him to visit a younger version of himself and provide sufficient warning to prepare for and escape from this trap (the "rip-cord in my destiny"), in the form of a cigar burn (as a reminder) and an exhortation to keep a "Hilti" (a type of power drill) on his person.
I really like the image/phrase "ripcord in my destiny" - something that instantly slows the action and takes you out of danger.
I also like the term "time door" rather than "time machine" - it's instantly obvious that it's basically the same thing, but it sounds like the singer actually knows what he's talking about.