Let's have bizarre celebrations
Let's forget who forget what forget where
We'll have bizarre celebrations
I'll play the Satyr in Cypris you the bride being stripped bare

Let's pretend we don't exist, let's pretend we're in Antartica

Let's have bizarre celebrations
Let's forget when forget what forget how
We'll have bizarre celebrations
We'll play Tristan and Izolde but make sure I see white sails

Let's pretend we don't exist, let's pretend we're in Antartica

Maybe I'll never die
I'll just keep growing younger with you
And you'll grow younger too
Now it seems too lovely to be true
But I know the best things always do

Let's pretend we don't exist, let's pretend we're in Antartica


Lyrics submitted by testemunha, edited by JustGr8, ciotog, Badgerlord

Wraith Pinned to the Mist Lyrics as written by Kevin Barnes

Lyrics © BUG MUSIC OBO APOLLINAIRE RAVE

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Wraith Pinned to the Mist (And Other Games) song meanings
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  • +5
    General Comment

    Great song. But now it's a radio commercial for Outback Steakhouse. I'm not kidding, I've heard it like 3 times, and each time my soul has become a little more shrunken and withered.

    melissssaon August 20, 2006   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    They also changed the lyrics for the Outback commercial. I die a little each time I see the commercial.

    Good song other than that though!

    _mycocoon October 08, 2006   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    This might clear things up over the whole Outback thing:

    "When Outback approached me, I was in this really weird state of mind where I was so indifferent I didn't really care," Barnes says. "I was pretty heavily medicated with antidepressants that were pushing me in this weird direction. I was very indifferent, very detached. It was helping me with all this anxiety and paranoia and this crazy depression stuff, but it made me make a bad decision."

    Right when I heard it, I was thinking, "They were probably too drugged up to even realize what Outback was asking." I guess I was right.

    thepoptimiston March 30, 2007   Link
  • +3
    Song Meaning

    Due to all the various references I believe this song is about:

    • (positive aspects of) nihilism
    • bedroom play
    • whimsey in all things

    Wraith in the Mist: Longfellow poem (which to me seems to be about the nature of what we build and how we present ourselves being pure fabrications. I didn't look up other people's interpretations because of my confirmation bias).

    Pin the tail on the donkey: Simple childish party game. Whimsey

    Bizarre Celebrations: Having a good time in whatever way strikes your fancy. Freeing yourself of normalicy.

    Let's forget who forget what forget where: Rejecting arbitrary concepts we commonly hold to be truths.

    Satyr: Usually depicted as horny dudes/fertility symbols.

    Cypris: Just a Mediterranean island. A classical setting. Bride being stripped bare: Duchamp glass craft work. Critical interpretations range from eternal suffering, to male/female desires complicating each other, to a ridicule of artistic critism itself.

    Satyr in Cypris, you the bride being stripped bare: Fun/role playing in the bedroom, and references to rejection of criticism and thus categorization.

    Let's pretend we don't exist: Dropping your external self and the faces you create

    Let's pretend we're in Antarctica: Dropping your concepts of locality at all. Might as well be the moon, except it is still grounded on earth, so you won't be amazed at being in space. You won't care where you are at all. Also, there's not much to do in Antarctica but stay warm (a great reason to get frisky)

    Tristan and Izolde: Arthurian myth about a man who becomes ill, and only Izolde can cure him.

    White sails: Seen conflicting info, but the basic premise is that a code is formed where if (his friend?) returns on a ship with Izolde, he will wave white sails on the ship. If he returns empty handed, he will wave black sails. When the ship returns, the sails are white. Tristan is told (by his wife? He was having an affair with Izolde?) that the sails are black, though, so he goes ahead and dies. I think this is both about deciding to change things and have a happy ending, as well as to show that we're capable of creating our own interpretation of reality, so we should form it how we wish.

    Never die, keep growing younger, you too, too lovely to be true, but I know the best things always do: Allowing yourself to see things as a farce allows you to create whatever reality you want, so you are free to believe what you wish and be happy because of it.

    Sources - other answers on here, Wikipedia, and thesunlandictwins.blogspot.com/

    kavikaon February 19, 2012   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    When Tristan gets mortally wounded, he sends his servant for Isolde, since she's the only one who can cure him. If Isolde comes back with the servant, he is supposed to put up white sails, and black sails if she doesn't come. White sails are up, but Tristan's wife lies and says that the sails are black, and Tristan dies of a broken heart.

    fratboy_rickon August 13, 2005   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    makes.me.dance.

    tropical icelandon February 07, 2006   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    Oh and obviously of montreal came first. They didn't rip off a commercial, honestly.

    goeataclamon February 23, 2008   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    This song loves you too.

    TBeasleyon June 05, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    At first I heard it as "Let's pretend we're in an article" and I still sing it that way:)

    Svrakataon June 27, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Of Montreal are money grubbing whores like the rest of America. So what? I still love their music.

    JaquesLamureon November 05, 2006   Link

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