I see this song as the lament of a person who sees the world of the Plastic Beach all around him now, but still sort of new, like when a system has just begun to hit full swing. He knows what the world USED to be like and he resents this new age. He could have remained in the past, but he came along because of a woman and now he's a joke, a scary primitive stone gargoyle, in the shiny new plastic world.
I see this song as the lament of a person who sees the world of the Plastic Beach all around him now, but still sort of new, like when a system has just begun to hit full swing. He knows what the world USED to be like and he resents this new age. He could have remained in the past, but he came along because of a woman and now he's a joke, a scary primitive stone gargoyle, in the shiny new plastic world.