This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
I take a steam train to work
Just like the one my father took
And I pass over the walls
I see the people as I look
I see there's the block
For folks with purple skin
There's the block for folks who have no chin
There's the block for me & all my kin
And over there's the change cage where we throw the rebels in
I work the change cage
Here on our side of the wall
And I will hold the key until the day they say the cage will fall
I work the change cage
Here on our side of the wall
And I will hold the key until the day they say the cage will fall
Walls of iron bolted with steel
Two miles high that should hide how we feel
And in the city we've walled off each block
This should work to segregate any racial melting pot
Long ago we learned of the trouble
When a man steps out of his life's plastic bubble
So we walled off the city, caged thoughts that were free
And now our lives are safe from any change that
Could have come between you & me
I work the change cage
Here on our side of the wall
And I will hold the key until the day they say the cage will fall
I work the change cage
Here on our side of the wall
And I will hold the key until the day they say the cage will fall
They say an artist from block 616
Revived some old art just for his own kicks
They say his pictures were lude
They say his women were nude
So we throw them inside
Well now that artist can run, he can hide
But sooner or later we'll throw him inside
I don't think the people should see
Well that's not art to me
So we'll throw them inside
I work the change cage
Here on our side of the wall
And I will hold the key until the day they say the cage will fall
And I will hold the key??
Just like the one my father took
And I pass over the walls
I see the people as I look
I see there's the block
For folks with purple skin
There's the block for folks who have no chin
There's the block for me & all my kin
And over there's the change cage where we throw the rebels in
I work the change cage
Here on our side of the wall
And I will hold the key until the day they say the cage will fall
I work the change cage
Here on our side of the wall
And I will hold the key until the day they say the cage will fall
Walls of iron bolted with steel
Two miles high that should hide how we feel
And in the city we've walled off each block
This should work to segregate any racial melting pot
Long ago we learned of the trouble
When a man steps out of his life's plastic bubble
So we walled off the city, caged thoughts that were free
And now our lives are safe from any change that
Could have come between you & me
I work the change cage
Here on our side of the wall
And I will hold the key until the day they say the cage will fall
I work the change cage
Here on our side of the wall
And I will hold the key until the day they say the cage will fall
They say an artist from block 616
Revived some old art just for his own kicks
They say his pictures were lude
They say his women were nude
So we throw them inside
Well now that artist can run, he can hide
But sooner or later we'll throw him inside
I don't think the people should see
Well that's not art to me
So we'll throw them inside
I work the change cage
Here on our side of the wall
And I will hold the key until the day they say the cage will fall
And I will hold the key??
Lyrics submitted by rjbucs28
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Hayalperest
Hayalperest
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
oh My Dear God ...how come nobody had commented this wonderfull lyrics ...abney park are a band with great conception and truly unique vison of art ...this song is full of metaphores of today's society ...the idea of this change cage "where we throw the rebels in" -the eternal artist's drama,cause the the artist is always a rebel .it's a picture of our crappy world full of "walls" between the different kinds of people ,and of course only a few can see trough them and really see the people .... the change cage is one of those lovely steampunk metaphores ... big rusty metal steam machine which changes the different ones and makes them same ... "and I will hold the key until the day they say the cage will fall " ... it means until the day when you all realize that we are all the same actually and we don't need blocks and walls... peace & love :D
Steampunk before they were steampunk. :)
Not for nothin' but the title of this song is "The Change Cage", it's even in the lyrics...
...and I think he's content to live in a world free from walls and he's not going to make the first step to live differently, as referenced in "And I will hold the key until the day they say the cage will fall"; once "they" say the cage is done with then he'll let out all who were locked up for being different. I'm guessing he's a bit of a small-cog in the big-machine type.