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I was raised up believing I was somehow unique
Like a snowflake distinct among snowflakes, unique in each way you can see
And now after some thinking, I'd say I'd rather be
A functioning cog in some great machinery serving something beyond me
But I don't, I don't know what that will be
I'll get back to you someday soon you will see
What's my name, what's my station, oh, just tell me what I should do
I don't need to be kind to the armies of night that would do such injustice to you
Or bow down and be grateful and say "sure, take all that you see"
To the men who move only in dimly-lit halls and determine my future for me
And I don't, I don't know who to believe
I'll get back to you someday soon you will see
If I know only one thing, it's that everything that I see
Of the world outside is so inconceivable often I barely can speak
Yeah I'm tongue-tied and dizzy and I can't keep it to myself
What good is it to sing helplessness blues, why should I wait for anyone else?
And I know, I know you will keep me on the shelf
I'll come back to you someday soon myself
If I had an orchard, I'd work till I'm raw
If I had an orchard, I'd work till I'm sore
And you would wait tables and soon run the store
Gold hair in the sunlight, my light in the dawn
If I had an orchard, I'd work till I'm sore
If I had an orchard, I'd work till I'm sore
Someday I'll be like the man on the screen
Like a snowflake distinct among snowflakes, unique in each way you can see
And now after some thinking, I'd say I'd rather be
A functioning cog in some great machinery serving something beyond me
But I don't, I don't know what that will be
I'll get back to you someday soon you will see
What's my name, what's my station, oh, just tell me what I should do
I don't need to be kind to the armies of night that would do such injustice to you
Or bow down and be grateful and say "sure, take all that you see"
To the men who move only in dimly-lit halls and determine my future for me
And I don't, I don't know who to believe
I'll get back to you someday soon you will see
If I know only one thing, it's that everything that I see
Of the world outside is so inconceivable often I barely can speak
Yeah I'm tongue-tied and dizzy and I can't keep it to myself
What good is it to sing helplessness blues, why should I wait for anyone else?
And I know, I know you will keep me on the shelf
I'll come back to you someday soon myself
If I had an orchard, I'd work till I'm raw
If I had an orchard, I'd work till I'm sore
And you would wait tables and soon run the store
Gold hair in the sunlight, my light in the dawn
If I had an orchard, I'd work till I'm sore
If I had an orchard, I'd work till I'm sore
Someday I'll be like the man on the screen
Lyrics submitted by zaphod488
Track duration: 05:03
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Another take I lean towards contrasts the one above. In modern western culture, we value our individualistic and independence freedom. We like the idea of being individualists and many of us have forgotten that we are part of the a grander community or grander design. This interpretation is a bit of a spiritual one. The song writer indicates that he grew up believing his individualistic uniqueness were he'd “rather be a functioning cog in some great machinery serving something beyond me”. The spin this interpretation take is a “non-incorporated”, non mundane perspective. It is something “greater” and something “beyond”. The songwriter also mentions that he would RATHER be a part of something grander forsaking our western view of individualism and the idea that life revolves around him only. In my opinion, he searching for true identity of a “creator” or a “designer”
In the midst of a confusing world with different beliefs, the songwriter is not sure where that would be. He does not wanna give into an enslaving “religious” belief into the “armies of night that would do such injustice to you”. Meaning he does not wanna settle for a religious mindset believing a set of rights and wrongs and finding himself giving into a narrow mind . That's why he'll “get back to you someday soon you will see” He will continue searching of something greater that will not enslave him. Until then he will continue searching.
In the midst of this confusion, he holds onto the belief that everything he sees in this world outside is so “inconceivable” leaving him speechless.
I'm not really sure about the working in an orchard take. I think the more he searches the more he is confused. I think maybe until he finally rests his mind by “working in an orchard” he will find what he's looking for.
"I was raised up believing I was somehow unique
Like a snowflake distinct among snowflakes, unique in each way you can see
And now after some thinking, I'd say I'd rather be
A functioning cog in some great machinery serving something beyond me"
The first verse relates to how every child is told that they're special and will do great things. But the singer has come to realize that that isn't true - most people are just cogs in the machine.
"But I don't, I don't know what that will be
I'll get back to you someday soon you will see"
He doesn't know exactly what his purpose in life is yet. I think the "you" he refers to throughout the song is his true identity - he'll find himself once he discovers his purpose.
"What's my name, what's my station, oh, just tell me what I should do
I don't need to be kind to the armies of night that would do such injustice to you"
Again, he doesn't know who he is or what he is supposed to be yet. He wants to find himself and let his identity determine what he is supposed to do. I'm not sure what "armies of night" refers to, but I think it's something in the world that is preventing him from discovering himself by forcing him to conform.
"Or bow down and be grateful and say 'sure, take all that you see'
To the men who move only in dimly-lit halls and determine my future for me"
Again, not sure who the "men..." are, but maybe they refer to the people who are influencing him to go down a particular path. He doesn't want them to take his identity from him.
"And I don't, I don't know who to believe
I'll get back to you someday soon you will see"
He isn't sure who to listen to.
"If I know only one thing, it's that everything that I see
Of the world outside is so inconceivable often I barely can speak
Yeah I'm tongue-tied and dizzy and I can't keep it to myself
What good is it to sing helplessness blues, why should I wait for anyone else?"
Asking himself, why should he wait for someone to tell him what to do?
"And I know, I know you will keep me on the shelf
I'll come back to you someday soon myself"
He will keep himself on a shelf, as in, push back and ignore who he truly is if he listens to other people.
"If I had an orchard, I'd work till I'm raw
If I had an orchard, I'd work till I'm sore
And you would wait tables and soon run the store
Gold hair in the sunlight, my light in the dawn
If I had an orchard, I'd work till I'm sore
If I had an orchard, I'd work till I'm sore
Someday I'll be like the man on the screen"
He's figured out that what he wants to do is work in an orchard. He'll gladly do it until he is raw/sore because he knows that it will make him happy and it is what he is supposed to do, based on his own identity. Someday, his life will end happily and he will be content, like the "man on the screen," a movie or TV show character.
This is such a great song. It really reminds me of myself, as I have no idea what I want to do with my life or who I really am, and I'm being pressured by my family to go to college and get into careers I know I won't enjoy. Hopefully I'll find my orchard someday.
"I was raised up believing I was somehow unique
Like a snowflake distinct among snowflakes, unique in each way you can see
And now after some thinking, I'd say I'd rather be
A functioning cog in some great machinery serving something beyond me".
Simply put, I describe this verse as the narrator gaining awareness of his ego and that its his own instinct that place us in a spot where everything centers around us. He is giving up to life, finally realizing that we all are a minuscule part of this beautiful universe whose greater mysteries might never be revealed to us and falling in love with it.
"What's my name, what's my station, oh, just tell me what I should do
I don't need to be kind to the armies of night that would do such injustice to you
Or bow down and be grateful and say "sure, take all that you see"
To the men who move only in dimly-lit halls and determine my future for me"
The narrator is aware of the things that are wrong in the world and wont take part of them. He thinks that men who want to take part of that unfair system(army) are not seeing things as clearly as he does (move only in dimly-lit halls).
"If I know only one thing, it's that everything that I see
Of the world outside is so inconceivable often I barely can speak
Yeah I'm tongue-tied and dizzy and I can't keep it to myself
What good is it to sing helplessness blues, why should I wait for anyone else?"
After you choose to believe that we form part of this call it "infinite system", any time during the day you take to think about how miraculous everything is you will feel complete and happy. He wants to share it with everyone else but people just wont understand. Instead of singing Helplessness Blues and be sad about no one being able to relate with him he decides to enjoy his stance.
"If I had an orchard, I'd work till I'm raw
If I had an orchard, I'd work till I'm sore
And you would wait tables and soon run the store
Gold hair in the sunlight, my light in the dawn
If I had an orchard, I'd work till I'm sore
If I had an orchard, I'd work till I'm sore
Someday I'll be like the man on the screen"
He is telling us that he would do the best at any circumstance that he is presented to and be able to see the beauty in it.
"I don't need to be kind to the armies of night that will do such injustice to you.
Or bow down and be grateful, and say: "Sure, take all that you see!"
to the men who move only in dimly-lit halls and determine my future for me"
He's showing that he feels his love is much purer than the armies of night, who do such an injustice to such a beautiful and incredible thing (remember that in Montezuma he says "Oh, how could I dream of such a selfless and true love?". I believe that to understand this song, you have to pay attention to every single song in this album). On the other hand, he is showing his disapproval of this society, which intends to take what doesn't belong to them, the men who move only in dimly-lit halls (men who do not want their faces to be seen, You think why...) and determine his future, cause they are in power, they HAVE to control our future, and they have no right to do that.
Apart from that, you have moments in life in which you don't know what's important, you might think: I must be part of something greater than me.
or maybe: I must be unique, perfect in each way, I must be myself and live my life as I wish.
But what he is sure about, is that he'll get back to his love someday soon.
"If I know only one thing, it's that everything that I see
Of the world outside is so inconceivable often I barely can speak
Yeah I'm tongue-tied and dizzy and I can't keep it to myself
What good is it to sing helplessness blues, why should I wait for anyone else?"
Here, he is showing how inlove he is with the world, how much it dazzles him to see all the perfection around him, all the great things of life... He realizes that he shouldn't wait for anyone else, he should live his life, but once again, his love for that special person keeps bringing him back to this world, "I'll get back to you someday soon, myself"
So, he has to live his life, but his feelings tell him to go back to her, because in her he sees everything he longs for, the perfection, the happiness, Innisfree...
He keeps having crossed feelings about what he has to do, what he wants to do, and what he does, but in the end, perfection, art (showing the love for the beautiful things in this world) and love keep showing up. This is all he needs to keep living:
"Gold hair in the sunlight, my light in the dawn...
If I had an orchard, I'd work till im sore...
Someday I'll be like the man on the screen..."
Well, that is my conclusion about this song after listening to this album and this song repeatedly for many months...
I hope you enjoy it and I strongly recommend that you listen to the full album all the way, reading the lyrics and feeling the songs.
By the way, the song and the whole album seem to have a connection to drugs, and the state in which you are completely happy...
Dude wants to fit in, is tired of feeling alone, so he starts to fit in.
Hates fitting in
Wants out.
I agree that this song is about communism. Not only do i get that from the lyrics, but even the music seems so much like a communist working song.
"I was raised up believing I was somehow unique
Like a snowflake distinct among snowflakes, unique in each way you can see
And now after some thinking, I'd say I'd rather be
A functioning cog in some great machinery serving something beyond me"
I believe this first stanza is in reference to the capitalist idea of separation of labor, which marx wasn't fond of. Everyone doing their specialty, but their individualism is lost among the masses. "a snowflake distinct among snowflakes, unique in each way you can see." But who sees the differences among snowflakes? unless you're looking, they're all the same. Now, he thinks perhaps communism is the way to go. being a worker, working for greater society.
"But I don't, I don't know what that will be
I'll get back to you someday soon you will see"
This is pretty self explanatory. He knows that capitalism is pushing him around, and he doesn't want to anymore, but he doesn't know what he has to do.
"What's my name, what's my station, oh, just tell me what I should do
I don't need to be kind to the armies of night that would do such injustice to you
Or bow down and be grateful and say "sure, take all that you see"
To the men who move only in dimly-lit halls and determine my future for me"
In communist nations (such as China) people we're put into communes and told what to do. It's important to note that at the time, people didn't consider this a bad thing, they were happy to be a part of the new society. I think (though im not too sure about this one) that the "armies of night" refer to western countries trying to bring down communism. "bow down and be grateful... to the men who move only in dimly light halls..." This refers to capital owners. "Take all that you see." is how marx viewed capitalism. Workers working, and capital owners comming in and taking all the production for themselves.
"If I know only one thing, it's that everything that I see
Of the world outside is so inconceivable often I barely can speak
Yeah I'm tongue-tied and dizzy and I can't keep it to myself
What good is it to sing helplessness blues, why should I wait for anyone else?"
I think this stanza talks about the worker in this story turning his back to the ideals of communism. He doesn't know what to think, doesn't know what to do. He's helpless. I think "Why whould i wait for anyone else" is saying that he doesn't need to wait for someone to tell him what to do, he can figure it out his own wants and desires (a fall back to capitalism).
The rest of the song, about the orchard is his want to become a landowner himself. He no longer wants to be told what to do. he wants to work where he wants, and work as much as he wants (until hes sore) because its what he wants.
I'm curious about what others think of my interpretation!
"I was raised up believing I was somehow unique
Like a snowflake distinct among snowflakes, unique in each way you can see"
This is what we were fed as kids back in the 90s, the idea that we were all special, and that all we had to do was hold onto our dreams and work for them and we'd be rewarded. Times were good and optimism ran high.
"And now after some thinking, I'd say I'd rather be
A functioning cog in some great machinery serving something beyond me"
This is the reality we face now. Those of us who get anonymous, low-wage jobs in call centers or factories as a "functioning cog" are the lucky ones.
"What's my name, what's my station, oh, just tell me what I should do
I don't need to be kind to the armies of night that would do such injustice to you
Or bow down and be grateful and say "sure, take all that you see"
To the men who move only in dimly-lit halls and determine my future for me"
This is about our dilemma: we can either keep trying to ingratiate ourselves to the banks, the government, and the police state (the "armies of night") that have let us down, or we can be left asking "just tell me what I should do?"
"If I know only one thing, it's that everything that I see
Of the world outside is so inconceivable often I barely can speak"
We're watching our freedoms erode at a rate that we often find difficult to accept or express, but we still feel the need to speak out.
"If I had an orchard, I'd work till I'm sore
Someday I'll be like the man on the screen"
These two lines say a lot. "If I had an orchard..." I've found myself thinking that a lot. Just a few thousand dollars for a plot of land and some cherry trees. It's a response to the Baby Boomers and Gen-Xers who had it made while the pickings were good, who think that my generation's misfortunes are because we don't have their work ethic, and blame us for being broke.
"Someday I'll be like the man on the screen," as in all these successful, happy career men with a McMansion and 2.3 children. The American Dream, now seen mainly on TV screens and played by actors for the sake of propaganda.
I think the meaning of this song is crystal clear to anyone who has actually lived it.
Basically this guy has lost a betterment part of his life and is solo and doesn't live the good life. He's roamed been lost and is looking for himself, his girl and his home.
He wants to be the man on the screen (the ideal man from TV fiction)
He is hopeful. I wonder if what on earth inspired this album, maybe it was autobiographical. Either way it is universal for everyone to know themselves and their place in this old earth.