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What will grow crooked, you can't make straight
It's the price that you gotta pay
Do yourself a favor and pack you bags
Buy a ticket and get on the train
Buy a ticket and get on the train
Cause this is fucked up, fucked up
Cause this is fucked up, fucked up
People get crushed like biscuit crumbs
And laid down in the bitumen
You have tried your best to please everyone
But it just isn't happening
No, it just isn't happening
And it's fucked up, fucked up
And this is fucked up, fucked up
This your blind spot, blind spot
It should be obvious, but it's not.
But it isn't, but it isn't
You cannot kick start a dead horse
You just crush yourself and walk away
I don't care what the future holds
Cause I'm right here and I'm today
With your fingers you can touch me
I'm your black swan, black swan
But I made it to the top, made it to the top
This is fucked up, fucked up
You are fucked up, fucked up
This is fucked up, fucked up
Be your black swan, black swan
I'm for spare parts, broken up
It's the price that you gotta pay
Do yourself a favor and pack you bags
Buy a ticket and get on the train
Buy a ticket and get on the train
Cause this is fucked up, fucked up
Cause this is fucked up, fucked up
People get crushed like biscuit crumbs
And laid down in the bitumen
You have tried your best to please everyone
But it just isn't happening
No, it just isn't happening
And it's fucked up, fucked up
And this is fucked up, fucked up
This your blind spot, blind spot
It should be obvious, but it's not.
But it isn't, but it isn't
You cannot kick start a dead horse
You just crush yourself and walk away
I don't care what the future holds
Cause I'm right here and I'm today
With your fingers you can touch me
I'm your black swan, black swan
But I made it to the top, made it to the top
This is fucked up, fucked up
You are fucked up, fucked up
This is fucked up, fucked up
Be your black swan, black swan
I'm for spare parts, broken up
Lyrics submitted by black_cow_of_death
Track duration: 04:49
"Black Swan" as written by Brad Germain, Ian Alexander Smith
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., CHRYSALIS MUSIC GROUP
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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To me it's wistful, as in there oughtta be a better way.
Definition of Black Swan = ''is a metaphor that encapsulates the concept that an event is a surprise (to the observer) and has a major impact. After the fact, the event is rationalized by hindsight''
The rest of the song continues to show this meaning,
''What will grow crooked, you can't make straight
It's the price you gotta pay''
A plant that needed support, it grew 'Crooked' (Synonyms - bent - curved - wry - dishonest - awry) Now the problem can't be solved ''you can't make straight''. Now you have to pay because of apathy towards the situation 'Supporting' the plant, being recognizing and dealing with the situation beforehand.
''This your blind spot, blind spot
It should be obvious, but it's not.
But it isn't, but it isn't''
= Blind spot - Part of eye with no photoreceptor cells, Since there are no cells to detect light on the optic disc, a part of the field of vision is not perceived
Not being able to see part of the issue, this oversight caused the problem, oversight, refusing to see
Referenace back to 'Bitumen' (roads) - A blind spot in a vehicle is an area around the vehicle that cannot be directly observed by the driver while at the controls, under existing circumstances
The circumstances of the situation caused this man to overlook the issue which caused the problem.
Overall -
Thom feels very strongly about issues like Global Warming, he said that 'The Eraser' was influenced by this issue, this song could be a reference towards world leaders ignoring the issue and that you cannot stop the effects of Global Warming if it is too late, the plant growing 'crooked' when it could have grown straight if given support.
Of course this could be a reference to any issue in which ignorance by the people supposed to deal with it is present.
Or it could be a codependent relationship.
A "Black Swan" is a high-impact event that isn't foreseen because it doesn't fit into the beholder's explanatory narrative.
The "Black Swan" is the harm caused by the "blind spot." The blind spot is caused by a false explanatory narrative derived from disjointed facts to create meaning. See "Black Swan Theory." It should be obvious, but it's not.
"What will grow crooked
You can't make straight
It's the price you gotta pay"
This suggests something is broken, but you're also complicit.
"Do yourself a favour and pack your bags
Buy a ticket and get on the train
Buy a ticket and get on the train
Cause this is fucked up, fucked up
Cause this is fucked up, fucked up"
It's so broken that you should escape it.
"People get crushed like biscuit crumbs
And lay down in the bitumen
You have tried your best to please everyone
But it just isn't happening
No, it just isn't happening"
Biscuit crumbs and bitumen are byproducts of consumptive processes. People are getting ground up like waste products by this consuming activity. You're getting this treatment because your all-consuming obsessive desire to fill an impossible role (like trying to please everyone in a broken relationship).
"And it's fucked up, fucked up
And this is fucked up, fucked up
This your blind spot, blind spot
It should be obvious, but it's not.
But it isn't, but it isn't"
Your narrative doesn't reflect reality. You're clinging to it like the Titanic while it's dragging you down. I'm trying to explain this to you, but it doesn't fit into your theoretical framework, so you reject it as too improbable to worry about. This is where the black swan-iness comes into play.
"You cannot kickstart a dead horse
You just crush yourself and walk away
I don't care what the future holds
Cause I'm right here and I'm today
With your fingers you can touch me"
I think this is a dialogue. The first two lines are Thom/narrator, and the last three are the other person. As in: "This relationship is so broken that it's hurting you, so we should break up. Nah, I don't see it that way as long as I can touch your sweet meat now." That's my narrative for explaining these otherwise disjointed/contradictory lines, and I'm sticking to it.
"I'm your black swan, black swan
But I made it to the top, made it to the top"
I am a harmful to you that and you can't see it because of your blind spot.
Being on top = domination. I exploited your weaknesses.
"AND THAT is fucked up, fucked up"
Agreed.
"You are fucked up, fucked up
This is fucked up, fucked up"
Your perception/reaction/the situation is effed up.
"WE ARE black swanS, black swanS
AND for spare parts, WE'RE broken up.
NOW for spare parts, broken up" (the second time)
I'm pretty sure the above lyrics changes in CAPS are correct. "WE are black swans" suggests codependence. "Spare parts, broken up" means a couple of things. First, spare parts are useless/dysfunctional/redundant. Second, it could suggest that the useless narrative is now deconstructed. In the book "Black Swan," the author disparages our tendency to create false explanatory narratives out of disjointed, "broken up" facts. These narratives give us meaning, but blind us to the "outlier" "black swans" they fail to incorporate. Facts and events that fall outside the explanatory narrative are only given meaning in retrospect when a new, broader narrative is created to justify their occurrence.
People get crushed... I think this is saying that ordinary people are less than worthless to the elites and are just numbers (Too many). Little they can do will stop war no matter how good they are, as it is in the economic interests of certain countries to make war. The U.S. now privately contracts much of it's war machine and so large corporations are driving this even harder. The war on terror is a war without end. Iran antagonism even scarier. The elites don't care if there's a population cull as a result - bonus for them. The huge profits and keeping the US and UK economies afloat I'd say were incentive number one. Propaganda is a just our everyday media fodder.
I thought the lyric in the next chorus was 'it should be out there, but it's not' ie the truth x-file stylee. The gist of all the chorus's is that this is all fucked up! (I'm a genius I know :)) A black swan is something that was previously accepted as truth, but was actually untrue.
You cannot kickstart a dead horse... Like the first verse, if it's that bad, you can't try and fix it. Simply the whole capitalist system. Look up the Bill Still films on youtube, and you'll see the madness in letting private banks create and control money.
I think NK47 (A couple of posts above) gets the last part spot on.
Great song, check out how he does it at Lattitude.
I also meant to say how I think the whole album is an apocalyptic warning, but relating to our leaders and their puppetmasters, not so much the environment etc. Thom Yorke apparently wanted Harrowdown Hill on Hail to the thief, but the others supposedly didn't. It makes sense why this is a much more political album, and reflecting some more leftfield views than maybe the rest of the band.
Peace and love.
(Hint: Swans mate for life!)
The words appear to be a loving reminder not to become TOO caught up in 'trying to save the world' (which is and always has been a 'fucked up' place) and contain a warning that Thom might well burn himself out fighting a lost cause. ("What will grow crooked you can't make straight")
But mostly it's a gentle admonition not to allow the political/environmental crusades he's involved with to steal ALL his time and energy away from her and their children - people who have a real physical need for his love and attention ("I don't care what the future holds / cause I'm right here and I'm today / with your fingers you can touch me").
To my mind, this is a personal song in the vein of Atoms For Peace.
"Walk a road crooked
You can't make straight
It's the price you gotta pay
Do yourself a favour and pack your bags
Buy a ticket and get on the train
Buy a ticket and get on the train"
Once he's established this theme, he reflects back on it and concludes:
Cause this is fucked up, fucked up
Cause this is fucked up, fucked up
I think the lyrics at this point serve to drive the established theme home:
People get crushed like biscuit crumbs
And lay down in the bitumen
You have tried your best to please everyone
But it just isn't happening
No, it just isn't happening
And it's fucked up, fucked up
And this is fucked up, fucked up
This your blind spot, blind spot
It should be obvious, but it's not.
But it isn't, but it isn't
You cannot kickstart a dead horse
You just crush yourself and walk away
I don't care what the future holds
Cause I'm right here and I'm today
With your fingers you can touch me
It's not until the end that the meaning behind Thom's lyrics directly relate to the title, "Black Swan." Black Swans can refer to statistics outliers or events outside of our normal expectations, like a swan turning out to be black. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/…):
I'm your black swan, black swan
But I made it to the top, made it to the top
This is fucked up, fucked up
You are fucked up, fucked up
This is fucked up, fucked up
Be your black swan, black swan
I'm for spare parts, broken up
In a nutshell: He's comparing himself to the "Black Swan," calling himself an extremely rare occurence. He may also be encouraging others to strive to be that extremely rare occurence and go against the grain in an attempt to beat the astronomical probabilities against them. He may also be leaning towards the idea that his success, and being at "the top" is, in the grand scheme, not his doing but simply the arbitrary nature of the universe.
.....curious to know if anyone feels the same? thinks I'm a total idiot?
The relationship is a dead horse and there is no point in kickstarting it (flogging a dead horse...) However, Thom sweeps in as a Black Swan--hits the reset button. The changes incurred by a Black Swan fuck everything up....your Gestalt is disintegrated, and all components are just "spare parts." Live for the tangible, what you can touch.