I agree that St. Vincent's lyrics tend to work on multiple levels, and there were a couple bits that jumped out at me:
"poison in your ear" is likely an allusion to Hamlet (Act I, scene 5) where the ghost of Hamlet's father tells him he was murdered by the current king. Possibly also to Act I, scene 5, where words are equated to a poison in the ear.
Paris was certainly bombed to pieces in WWII, but the multiple uses of "black" and the "open rejoice revolting" made me think of the riots, mainly by black Africans in Paris in the summer of 2005,
I agree that St. Vincent's lyrics tend to work on multiple levels, and there were a couple bits that jumped out at me: "poison in your ear" is likely an allusion to Hamlet (Act I, scene 5) where the ghost of Hamlet's father tells him he was murdered by the current king. Possibly also to Act I, scene 5, where words are equated to a poison in the ear.
Paris was certainly bombed to pieces in WWII, but the multiple uses of "black" and the "open rejoice revolting" made me think of the riots, mainly by black Africans in Paris in the summer of 2005,