I think this album's sequencing is perfect. After exploring the flatlands of the suburbs (seeing how your childhood has been whitewashed over) and seeing the mountains beyond mountains of dead malls in the suburbs. The cities, the places where civilization started and where the people and culture are still actually abuzz, call out to your soul.
This album perfectly expresses what the suburbs are in mood and tone, how meaningless, duplicated, shallow and ultimately uniform they all are.
Every town has to have the same thing as every other town, leading to each town changing into being exactly the same thing. A pile of "dead shopping malls" that nobody is actually from, because it doesn't have any characteristics to call its own.
This song also explores how the whole world seems to be getting taken over by the unplanned, sprawling suburbs to the point where it will soon be inescapable.
Which is another central theme of the album, in my opinion, the fact that our lifestyle choices and civilization seem to be on the verge of wiping anything that's beautiful from the planet.
I keep thinking that the album is not so much about how horrible the Suburbs are, but how they represent the basic human condition. In this song she asks if she can ever escape from the sprawl. Well, no, because the same problems that you see in the suburbs can also be everywhere else. Even if you disappear into the wilderness of Alaska (or the jungles of New York) you will still have to face the realities of life.
I keep thinking that the album is not so much about how horrible the Suburbs are, but how they represent the basic human condition. In this song she asks if she can ever escape from the sprawl. Well, no, because the same problems that you see in the suburbs can also be everywhere else. Even if you disappear into the wilderness of Alaska (or the jungles of New York) you will still have to face the realities of life.
Agreed. I think this song is actually about how we romanticize the cities as being ultra-contemporary, liberal, etc but we can never escape the small-mindedness and other human problems that we complained about in the suburbs.
Agreed. I think this song is actually about how we romanticize the cities as being ultra-contemporary, liberal, etc but we can never escape the small-mindedness and other human problems that we complained about in the suburbs.
no kidding re: the sequencing. it's totally marvelous, and joyous in the face of some really depressing material to put the uplifting music at the end. (and then the hammer of the coda to The Suburbs, that they would love to grow up in the same way, again and again...)
no kidding re: the sequencing. it's totally marvelous, and joyous in the face of some really depressing material to put the uplifting music at the end. (and then the hammer of the coda to The Suburbs, that they would love to grow up in the same way, again and again...)
I think this album's sequencing is perfect. After exploring the flatlands of the suburbs (seeing how your childhood has been whitewashed over) and seeing the mountains beyond mountains of dead malls in the suburbs. The cities, the places where civilization started and where the people and culture are still actually abuzz, call out to your soul.
This album perfectly expresses what the suburbs are in mood and tone, how meaningless, duplicated, shallow and ultimately uniform they all are.
Every town has to have the same thing as every other town, leading to each town changing into being exactly the same thing. A pile of "dead shopping malls" that nobody is actually from, because it doesn't have any characteristics to call its own.
This song also explores how the whole world seems to be getting taken over by the unplanned, sprawling suburbs to the point where it will soon be inescapable.
Which is another central theme of the album, in my opinion, the fact that our lifestyle choices and civilization seem to be on the verge of wiping anything that's beautiful from the planet.
Makes me want to move to the city.
I keep thinking that the album is not so much about how horrible the Suburbs are, but how they represent the basic human condition. In this song she asks if she can ever escape from the sprawl. Well, no, because the same problems that you see in the suburbs can also be everywhere else. Even if you disappear into the wilderness of Alaska (or the jungles of New York) you will still have to face the realities of life.
I keep thinking that the album is not so much about how horrible the Suburbs are, but how they represent the basic human condition. In this song she asks if she can ever escape from the sprawl. Well, no, because the same problems that you see in the suburbs can also be everywhere else. Even if you disappear into the wilderness of Alaska (or the jungles of New York) you will still have to face the realities of life.
Agreed. I think this song is actually about how we romanticize the cities as being ultra-contemporary, liberal, etc but we can never escape the small-mindedness and other human problems that we complained about in the suburbs.
Agreed. I think this song is actually about how we romanticize the cities as being ultra-contemporary, liberal, etc but we can never escape the small-mindedness and other human problems that we complained about in the suburbs.
no kidding re: the sequencing. it's totally marvelous, and joyous in the face of some really depressing material to put the uplifting music at the end. (and then the hammer of the coda to The Suburbs, that they would love to grow up in the same way, again and again...)
no kidding re: the sequencing. it's totally marvelous, and joyous in the face of some really depressing material to put the uplifting music at the end. (and then the hammer of the coda to The Suburbs, that they would love to grow up in the same way, again and again...)