Kids

You know, I always thought this was just another catchy dance song until I listened to it on my own, and realized how sad I felt suddenly. Then I watched the music video and realized it was something entirely different. Some of these comments are really great, but I maintain that it's simply about the loss of innocence; not only that which occurs in a child, but also the entire human race. The child version pretty much speaks for itself, it's about a kid being exposed to the world as it really is, and realizing the world is fucked up. And like everyone else, he eventually grows up and succumbs to being an adult. But it also shows how our society has lost it's innocence as well. No one in modern society is truly innocent, with everyone being portrayed as a monster and what not. And when the kid is in the car and sees the monsters outside and his mother turns on the TV with the weird looking puppets and colors... that just shouts media, pumping crap into our minds to distract us from important issues and the world around us. In the animation there's a dancing pig (innocent and cute) that explodes into ham and burgers and pizza, mass consumption and consumerism. And at the very end of the video, the child is running away from some kind of fiend in a hoodie and escapes into the giant hand of a massive Andrew VanWyngarden, and appears to wave to him trying to signal help, and Andrew just gives him this sad look and explodes into a multitude of monsters that swallow the boy and send him into darkness... With the quote at the beginning of the video (given to Mark Twain but really Nietzsche) I thought this symbolized how God has abandoned us (God is dead).

As for the song/lyrics itself? I think it's just MGMT's best advice on how to deal with the loss of innocence: control yourself, be modest, do your best to maintain your own innocence (like a child would), take only what you need. Man, it really takes you back to a simpler time.