To me, it's pretty clear: this is a folk song about living in our times, and how a lot of folks my age, who were too young to get in on a good life, are feeling now as the problems deepen. Robin Pecknold is only about 2 years younger than me and has probably seen this firsthand at some point.
"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.
I must say I have just seen this comment and it reflexes the way I feel it much more that what I actually wrote jaja... I agree, The meaning of this song is quite clear if you have lived it..
I must say I have just seen this comment and it reflexes the way I feel it much more that what I actually wrote jaja... I agree, The meaning of this song is quite clear if you have lived it..
To me, it's pretty clear: this is a folk song about living in our times, and how a lot of folks my age, who were too young to get in on a good life, are feeling now as the problems deepen. Robin Pecknold is only about 2 years younger than me and has probably seen this firsthand at some point.
"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.
YES. This. I was a child of the 80's, and I watched this play out then too. It's much worse this time around though.
YES. This. I was a child of the 80's, and I watched this play out then too. It's much worse this time around though.
I must say I have just seen this comment and it reflexes the way I feel it much more that what I actually wrote jaja... I agree, The meaning of this song is quite clear if you have lived it..
I must say I have just seen this comment and it reflexes the way I feel it much more that what I actually wrote jaja... I agree, The meaning of this song is quite clear if you have lived it..
People like us should start a revolution. We need one.
People like us should start a revolution. We need one.