I think that this song is about terrorism and stornoway are urging the listener not to give in to fear and become suspicious about everybody.
"You're standing on the only chair
And you're singing to the screens and the moving stairs
All on your own in the arrivals"
I think that this verse is about a terrorist attack on an airport, he (the singer) is talking to the terrorist and sort of narrating the events as they unfold. For example the lines about standing on a chair and singing could be a metaphor for a terrorist shouting about his intent, the 'chair' is the means by which he's making himself heard in this case the 'chair' might be an explosive of some sort.
"You heard it in the watchman's cry
And you saw it in the bleeding evening sky
You got a Swiss army in your pocket
Cause here comes the blackout"
I think in this verse the singer is talking to another terrorist e.g. "heard it in the watchmans cry" means that the terrorist gets the signal to act after a security guard shouts. "here comes the blackout" might refer to the death of the terrorist during the attack.
"Now the hooded snake controls your mind
It stole your eye on the 7th of July
We've got to learn to love our neighbour
Before our neighbour starts scaring the love out of us"
Here I think that "hooded snake" is a metaphor for the fear people are feeling in the wake of terrorism. The "hooded snake" stole people's eyes (hope, trust etc) on the 7th of July (2005), the day of the London bombings. In the last lines the singer is urging people not to let fear take over and to trust people before the fear takes over.
"In the story of the matchstick girl
She was freezing on the streets of Peter's (bird?)
She lit a match and found a warmer world
But here comes the blackout"
I don't really understand the first two lines of this verse but the last two are quite self-explanatory, a girl lights a match and kills herself.
@blunte I might be a bit late but I think this is a great analysis of the song. But the Little Matchstick Girl is a story by Hans Christian Andersen essentially about a girl who has to sell matches in the cold lest she returns home to an abusive father for not selling enough. She uses the matches for warmth and sees comforting images in the flames, however she eventually runs out and freezes to death. The story is essentially about compassion (or lack thereof) from the passers by who ignored here. I think it links to the overall theme...
@blunte I might be a bit late but I think this is a great analysis of the song. But the Little Matchstick Girl is a story by Hans Christian Andersen essentially about a girl who has to sell matches in the cold lest she returns home to an abusive father for not selling enough. She uses the matches for warmth and sees comforting images in the flames, however she eventually runs out and freezes to death. The story is essentially about compassion (or lack thereof) from the passers by who ignored here. I think it links to the overall theme of the song that is as a society “the hooded snake controls your mind” and we are not looking out for our “neighbours” and often demonising them.
I think that this song is about terrorism and stornoway are urging the listener not to give in to fear and become suspicious about everybody.
"You're standing on the only chair And you're singing to the screens and the moving stairs All on your own in the arrivals" I think that this verse is about a terrorist attack on an airport, he (the singer) is talking to the terrorist and sort of narrating the events as they unfold. For example the lines about standing on a chair and singing could be a metaphor for a terrorist shouting about his intent, the 'chair' is the means by which he's making himself heard in this case the 'chair' might be an explosive of some sort.
"You heard it in the watchman's cry And you saw it in the bleeding evening sky You got a Swiss army in your pocket Cause here comes the blackout" I think in this verse the singer is talking to another terrorist e.g. "heard it in the watchmans cry" means that the terrorist gets the signal to act after a security guard shouts. "here comes the blackout" might refer to the death of the terrorist during the attack.
"Now the hooded snake controls your mind It stole your eye on the 7th of July We've got to learn to love our neighbour Before our neighbour starts scaring the love out of us" Here I think that "hooded snake" is a metaphor for the fear people are feeling in the wake of terrorism. The "hooded snake" stole people's eyes (hope, trust etc) on the 7th of July (2005), the day of the London bombings. In the last lines the singer is urging people not to let fear take over and to trust people before the fear takes over.
"In the story of the matchstick girl She was freezing on the streets of Peter's (bird?) She lit a match and found a warmer world But here comes the blackout" I don't really understand the first two lines of this verse but the last two are quite self-explanatory, a girl lights a match and kills herself.
Could be true, there have been a couple terrorist events that are tied to july 7th in England.
Could be true, there have been a couple terrorist events that are tied to july 7th in England.
@blunte I might be a bit late but I think this is a great analysis of the song. But the Little Matchstick Girl is a story by Hans Christian Andersen essentially about a girl who has to sell matches in the cold lest she returns home to an abusive father for not selling enough. She uses the matches for warmth and sees comforting images in the flames, however she eventually runs out and freezes to death. The story is essentially about compassion (or lack thereof) from the passers by who ignored here. I think it links to the overall theme...
@blunte I might be a bit late but I think this is a great analysis of the song. But the Little Matchstick Girl is a story by Hans Christian Andersen essentially about a girl who has to sell matches in the cold lest she returns home to an abusive father for not selling enough. She uses the matches for warmth and sees comforting images in the flames, however she eventually runs out and freezes to death. The story is essentially about compassion (or lack thereof) from the passers by who ignored here. I think it links to the overall theme of the song that is as a society “the hooded snake controls your mind” and we are not looking out for our “neighbours” and often demonising them.