Lyrics for Particle Man as interpreted by Irrational

Particle Man Lyrics
Particle man, particle man
Doing the things a particle can
What's he like?
It's not important
Particle man
Is he a dot, or is he a speck?
When he's underwater
does he get wet?
or does the water get him instead?
Nobody knows
Particle man

Triangle man, Triangle man
Triangle man hates particle man
They have a fight
Triangle wins
Triangle man

Universe man, Universe man
Size of the entire universe man
usually kind to smaller man
Universe man
He's got a watch with a minute hand
millennium hand and an eon hand
when they meet it's a happy land
Powerful man, universe man

Person man, person man
hit on the head with a frying pan
lives his life in a garbage can
Person man
is he depressed or is he a mess?
does he feel totally worthless?
who came up with person man?
degraded man, person man

Triangle man, triangle man
triangle man hates person man
they have a fight
triangle wins
triangle man

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  • 39 Comments
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Sometimes...
09-09-2005

Rated 0 
I agree with Wavin. TMBG is a fun band, but they don't write songs about nothing. I think you can interpetate this song however you want to. ^_^ Personally, I like to think of Universe Man as God. It seems to make sense, and it feels good to think of it that way, so.. :D

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ninja_monkee123
10-01-2005

Rated 0 
http://trianglemansh.ytmnd.com/

Just another way of interpreting it.

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dmesg
01-20-2006

Rated 0 
I think like most TMBG songs the interpretation says more about the interpreter than the song. Still, to me it's about three ancient philosophers: triangle man is Pythagoras (he thought everything could be reduced to geometry and math), particle man is Empedocles (he thought everything was made of little particles), universe man is Parmenides (he thought everything in the universe was One, and was generally kind to disagreeing philosophers. He even out-talked Socrates at one point but wasn't an ass about it), and person man is Diogenes the Cynic (he lived in a garbage can and got beaten up a lot). Pythagoras (triangle man) hated atomists like Empedocles and humanists like Diogenes (or Cratylus), and in the end his philosophy won out and ended up creating the modern (meaning post-450 AD) world.

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destinytomorrow
08-11-2006

Rated 0 
Ozymandius

Ozymandius rocks.

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HighInAustin
08-28-2006

Rated 0 
Kachingo, do you have a link or something to where they reference flatland? I had read it a couple years ago, and when I first heard this song, I thought it was just a weird coincidence. The whole book is about different planes of existence on which points, 2-d shapes, and 3-d shapes live, and what happens when the points and shapes traverse the different planes. Good reading, weird choice for a song inspiration though.

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edguidry
10-14-2006

Rated 0 
Namingway--you are the bomb!! I have thought this exact thing for years, but never found anyone else who though this! Triangle man being the Trinity/Christianity and ultimately kicking everyone else's butt, and person man not much better off for it. As for people who don't believe TMBG lyrics mean anything--you are sooooooo wrong. I admit some are pretty abstract, but there are obviously meanings to most. Try to think past kindergarten level.

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onionblaster
11-04-2006

Rated 0 
the stanza about person man and especially the line "who came up with person man" makes me think that they're trying to say that with all these superheroes who cares about a regular person. I'm not sure what the superheroes represent but I love the line about Universe Man's watch.

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PlutoniumBoss
12-09-2006

Rated 0 
The lyrics and rhythm of the song are an obvious play on the old Spiderman cartoon theme song.

"Spiderman, Spiderman,
Does whatever a spider can.
Spins a web, any size,
Catches thieves just like flies..."

And so on.

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ROBRAM89
02-09-2007

Rated 0 
As for the whole Watchmen thing, it's disturbingly appropriate.

Dr. Manhattan seems to fit aspects of both Universe Man and Particle Man. He has no personality ("What's he like? It's not important"), his symbol is the hydrogen atom, etc. He's also a godlike figure, and, even better, is constantly connected with watch imagery. Also, the line "when they meet, it's a happy land" is a horrifying description of the ending, where the "doomsday clock" running through the series strikes midnight, and the villain's scheme to cause world peace, through killing a massive amount of people (it makes sense in the story, I just don't want to spoil it), goes off, creating a "happy land" through fear of a greater enemy. Universe Man could also be that "threat," as it is enormously powerful and more directly tied to the "watch hands" motifs, and unspeakably large.

Triangle Man is Ozymandius. OK, screw the spoiler thing, he's the villain. First, he is paired consistently with the pyramid, which is what, everybody? A TRIANGLE! Good, children! He also kills our apparent Person Man (Rorschach, I'll get to him) and causes Particle(/Universe?) Man to go away forever. He "wins" in the end, i.e. beating everybody.

Person Man, as noted, is Rorschach. He lives most of his life as a bum, i.e. "in a garbage can," and is depressed, a mess, and generally feels totally worth-less. (Yes, you have to type it that way, captures the inflection). Hell, he's downright insane in a lot of ways. And, of course, they have a fight, and Triangle wins.

It sounds weird, but it fits nearly every word of the song in some way, so it does make you think.

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UndeadCustard
02-14-2007

Rated 0 
STOP TRYING TO CREATE ABSURD MEANINGS FOR AN ABSURD SONG! Do think Particle Man represents how technology rules our life? Is Universe Man a personification of fate? NO! FOR CRYING OUT LOUD ITS A TMBG'S SONG! THEY WROTE DR. WORM DAMMIT! THEY ARE OFF THEIR HEADS!

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Jelreyn
05-24-2007

Rated 0 
This song is about the life and development of a 'particle man'. Think Anakin Skywalker, but not turning out quite so lucky. Particle Man is so untouched by anyone that he has absolutely no connections to anyone at all.

This next bit I'm not completely sure of:
When he's dipped into the Common Consciousness (the water) it's unknown if he's affected by it at all.

When an ('evil') triangle man attacks him (as opposed to a square and circle men) he's defeated easily. So he evolves into a universe man - thinking he can be every type of person that exists. He's powerful in this state.

He steals from the rich and gives to the poor, usually, just by his design. He also has some precognition abilities, and like a clock tries to time everything to perfection.

However he'll get stressed out at some stage and will have a mental breakdown and turn into a regular person man. i.e. he's lost any power he had and has become a worthless person, totally depressed. He now knows he was a particle man, mainly 'cos he'll remember this song. And he'll lose any fight to any triangle man in the vicinity. Game over dude.

BTW this is something that happens to Giants (English people IIRC) - thus 'they might be giants'

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ragweed
04-18-2008

Rated 0 
Lol. Some of these interpretations are pretty wacky.

I always thought this was about the small, the big, and the person-sized, only triangle man throws me off. Why does he pick fights with everybody? Okay, so maybe he's a personification of mathematics, but that still doesn't give him the right.

"who came up with person man?" - definitely a dig at the "Creator". On the other hand, /they/ made him up.

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HearSay Songs
07-18-2008

Rated 0 
I've been listening to this song since I was a child. It Rocks! HearSay Songs and Music Reviews

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clovus
12-10-2008

Rated 0 
Haha, we need to have a fight between likes-to-interpret-TMBG-lyrics-man and thinks-TMBG-are-nonsense-that-shouldn't-be-overanalyzed-man. Triangle Man would win that one, duh.

My favorite part of this song has always been the part about the particle getting wet. If you drop a particle of salt into water does it get wet, or does the water get salty? How can a “particle” get wet? The idea is absurdly funny. “Wet” is only a condition that makes sense on a macroscopic level. Something has been covered with water molecules. You can surround a salt particle with all the water you want and it won’t be “wet”. However, a salt block can certainly get wet.

Somehow I had never thought of “Flatland” when listening to this song. I loved reading all the other interpretations, and laughing at the “oh noes! people are analyzing things!” comments. Of course, that happens with any song on songmeanings moronically simple. It always helps when the artist (like Bob Dylan) likes to give silly meanings to his songs, or pulls a “this means nothing” move like Mark Twain.


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