OK, I am seeing too many people way off the mark with their interpretations. In terms of lyrics, listen to the song on youtube where there is a live version, he usually sings slower.
So lets hear it from the horses mouth. This song is about WORK. Working a 9-5, 5 days a week and being miserable until you die. Australia was originally a PRISON COLONY where they sent convicts to work in work camps and where they couldn't escape. Listen to So Says I for similar themes.
Interview with James Mercer nerve.com/content/hot-fuzz :
Let's talk about your lyrics. I've never liked a band more in which I understood the songs so little. For instance, one of my favorite songs on the album is "Australia." ::
Well that song isn't about Australia, first of all. That's from my memories of working in offices. I've had a hundred different jobs, and there is a special kind of sickness doing a job in an office. I was a bookkeeper and a secretary, and there is something so horribly boring and defeating about it. That song is also about this woman from Texas who was just awful, a racist and a miserable person. I felt sorry for her. In Australia, she's Himmler. So it's partly me wondering, "Is this what humans are meant to be doing?" You're in this fucking cage and there's people you can see through the window and you see the gardener and you're so fucking jealous.
OK lets look at the song again:
Born to... Born to multiply?
Born to gaze into night skies? <-------what is the meaning of life?
All you want’s one more Saturday <------ all you look forward to is the weekend
Well look here until then,
They’re gonna buy your life's time. <---- your boss pays for your time
So keep your wick in the air and your feet in the fetters <---wick=candle=hopes and dreams. Fetters are what they would hold convicts in.
'Till the day... <-------Till the day YOU DIE
You come in doing cartwheels <---so full of hope and energy
We all crawl out by ourselves. <----which gets sucked out of you
And your shape on the dance floor <--- dancing is expression
Will have me thinking such filth and gouge my eyes <----(but you look so depressed that I cant look any more)
You’d be damned to be one of us girl
Faced with a dodo’s conundrum
I felt like I could just fly
But nothing happened every time I try <--- dodo, a fat flightless bird that was hunted to extinction. you have hopes and dreams that get crushed as you grow older.
Wooo, ooooh!
A dual-tone on the wall
A selfless fool who hoped he’d save us all <-people who try to make the world better...
never dreamt of such sterile hands<------dont realise nobody wants to get their hands dirty
You keep 'em folded in your lap, <-nobody bothers to rise up and make the world better
Raise them up to beg for scraps<- all you do is keep going to work under your boss who pays you 'scraps' ie nothing
You know he's holding you down
With the tips of his fingers just the same <- and is controlling you by doing this
Well you'll be pulled from the ocean<--- now mercer is looking at the possibilities.
But just a minute too late
Or changed by a potion
You’ll find a handsome young mate for you to love<---will it be too late for you or will you escape and find a happy ending?
You'll be damned to pining through the windowpanes,<-stuck in the office, watching life go by...
You know you'll trade your life for any ordinary Joe<--you wish youd be able to get rid of it all and live a happy life. a 'gardener' from the interview linked above.
'Well do it now or grow old<--escape now! or itll be too late!
Your nightmares only need a year or two to unfold<- You will be old sooner than you think, life passes by quickly
Been alone since you were twenty-one <- this stanza is pretty obvious. you pretend as if you are happy but you are not.
You haven't laughed since January
You try and make of this as so much fun
But we know it to be quite contrary
La la la la la la la
Dare to be one of us girl
Faced with the android's conundrum
I felt like I should just cry
But nothing happens every time I take one on the chin<- android=robots=no emotions= you will become numb to life
Yeah, Himmler in your coat, you don't know how long I've been<- himmler= evil nazi boss.
Watching the lantern, starved of oxygen<-lantern starved of oxygen= lamp in the mines starved of oxygen. need fresh air.
So give me your hand and let's jump out the window<- Escape...FREEDOM!
This description gets my vote and is the way I understand the song for the most part, but like any great song (and this is definitely one of them) it can stand in for many life situations....In this case any situation in which oneis manipulated/enslaved/imprisoned/exploited...Seems to me as if this guy has managed to "crawl out" by himself.... removed his "ear covers" (and/or blinders)...and can recognize the signs in this girl that she is enslaved/manipulated/exploited in the same way and wants to encourage her/help her escape to into that FREEDOM!...
This description gets my vote and is the way I understand the song for the most part, but like any great song (and this is definitely one of them) it can stand in for many life situations....In this case any situation in which oneis manipulated/enslaved/imprisoned/exploited...Seems to me as if this guy has managed to "crawl out" by himself.... removed his "ear covers" (and/or blinders)...and can recognize the signs in this girl that she is enslaved/manipulated/exploited in the same way and wants to encourage her/help her escape to into that FREEDOM!
Just one more quick comment: I just watched the official video for the first time after posting my reply here....and "I felt like I could just cry".... happy tears that is :) It just confirms what I was thinking about how this guy is wanting to help free this girl....symbolized by the freeing of the balloons. What a bunch of cutie pies/heros ;)
Just one more quick comment: I just watched the official video for the first time after posting my reply here....and "I felt like I could just cry".... happy tears that is :) It just confirms what I was thinking about how this guy is wanting to help free this girl....symbolized by the freeing of the balloons. What a bunch of cutie pies/heros ;)
I love your analysis. However "facing the dodo's conundrum” has to mean more than what you say or it would not be a conundrum. The dodo’ conundrum works in both respects of your analysis though. Think of the conundrum as such, a flightless bird noted for having too easy of a life, so it did not have to evolve or try at life, so it eventually became prey/extinct. Now view it as a metaphor for the woman (possibly a pretty girl without much else going on) who has life far to easy for her own good, or...
I love your analysis. However "facing the dodo's conundrum” has to mean more than what you say or it would not be a conundrum. The dodo’ conundrum works in both respects of your analysis though. Think of the conundrum as such, a flightless bird noted for having too easy of a life, so it did not have to evolve or try at life, so it eventually became prey/extinct. Now view it as a metaphor for the woman (possibly a pretty girl without much else going on) who has life far to easy for her own good, or possibly someone just cashing a check at a job, but slowly dying. The conundrum is not having to try, not having to evolve, because your are living a life of "quiet desperation,” like a Thoreau might say. A life too easy, so easy you this conundrum, you don’t have to try, so you don’t and you die.
OK, I am seeing too many people way off the mark with their interpretations. In terms of lyrics, listen to the song on youtube where there is a live version, he usually sings slower.
So lets hear it from the horses mouth. This song is about WORK. Working a 9-5, 5 days a week and being miserable until you die. Australia was originally a PRISON COLONY where they sent convicts to work in work camps and where they couldn't escape. Listen to So Says I for similar themes.
Interview with James Mercer nerve.com/content/hot-fuzz : Let's talk about your lyrics. I've never liked a band more in which I understood the songs so little. For instance, one of my favorite songs on the album is "Australia." :: Well that song isn't about Australia, first of all. That's from my memories of working in offices. I've had a hundred different jobs, and there is a special kind of sickness doing a job in an office. I was a bookkeeper and a secretary, and there is something so horribly boring and defeating about it. That song is also about this woman from Texas who was just awful, a racist and a miserable person. I felt sorry for her. In Australia, she's Himmler. So it's partly me wondering, "Is this what humans are meant to be doing?" You're in this fucking cage and there's people you can see through the window and you see the gardener and you're so fucking jealous.
OK lets look at the song again: Born to... Born to multiply?
Born to gaze into night skies? <-------what is the meaning of life? All you want’s one more Saturday <------ all you look forward to is the weekend Well look here until then, They’re gonna buy your life's time. <---- your boss pays for your time So keep your wick in the air and your feet in the fetters <---wick=candle=hopes and dreams. Fetters are what they would hold convicts in. 'Till the day... <-------Till the day YOU DIE You come in doing cartwheels <---so full of hope and energy We all crawl out by ourselves. <----which gets sucked out of you And your shape on the dance floor <--- dancing is expression Will have me thinking such filth and gouge my eyes <----(but you look so depressed that I cant look any more)
You’d be damned to be one of us girl Faced with a dodo’s conundrum I felt like I could just fly But nothing happened every time I try <--- dodo, a fat flightless bird that was hunted to extinction. you have hopes and dreams that get crushed as you grow older.
Wooo, ooooh!
A dual-tone on the wall A selfless fool who hoped he’d save us all <-people who try to make the world better... never dreamt of such sterile hands<------dont realise nobody wants to get their hands dirty You keep 'em folded in your lap, <-nobody bothers to rise up and make the world better Raise them up to beg for scraps<- all you do is keep going to work under your boss who pays you 'scraps' ie nothing You know he's holding you down With the tips of his fingers just the same <- and is controlling you by doing this
Well you'll be pulled from the ocean<--- now mercer is looking at the possibilities. But just a minute too late Or changed by a potion You’ll find a handsome young mate for you to love<---will it be too late for you or will you escape and find a happy ending?
You'll be damned to pining through the windowpanes,<-stuck in the office, watching life go by... You know you'll trade your life for any ordinary Joe<--you wish youd be able to get rid of it all and live a happy life. a 'gardener' from the interview linked above. 'Well do it now or grow old<--escape now! or itll be too late! Your nightmares only need a year or two to unfold<- You will be old sooner than you think, life passes by quickly
Been alone since you were twenty-one <- this stanza is pretty obvious. you pretend as if you are happy but you are not. You haven't laughed since January You try and make of this as so much fun But we know it to be quite contrary
La la la la la la la
Dare to be one of us girl Faced with the android's conundrum I felt like I should just cry But nothing happens every time I take one on the chin<- android=robots=no emotions= you will become numb to life Yeah, Himmler in your coat, you don't know how long I've been<- himmler= evil nazi boss. Watching the lantern, starved of oxygen<-lantern starved of oxygen= lamp in the mines starved of oxygen. need fresh air. So give me your hand and let's jump out the window<- Escape...FREEDOM!
This description gets my vote and is the way I understand the song for the most part, but like any great song (and this is definitely one of them) it can stand in for many life situations....In this case any situation in which oneis manipulated/enslaved/imprisoned/exploited...Seems to me as if this guy has managed to "crawl out" by himself.... removed his "ear covers" (and/or blinders)...and can recognize the signs in this girl that she is enslaved/manipulated/exploited in the same way and wants to encourage her/help her escape to into that FREEDOM!...
This description gets my vote and is the way I understand the song for the most part, but like any great song (and this is definitely one of them) it can stand in for many life situations....In this case any situation in which oneis manipulated/enslaved/imprisoned/exploited...Seems to me as if this guy has managed to "crawl out" by himself.... removed his "ear covers" (and/or blinders)...and can recognize the signs in this girl that she is enslaved/manipulated/exploited in the same way and wants to encourage her/help her escape to into that FREEDOM!
Just one more quick comment: I just watched the official video for the first time after posting my reply here....and "I felt like I could just cry".... happy tears that is :) It just confirms what I was thinking about how this guy is wanting to help free this girl....symbolized by the freeing of the balloons. What a bunch of cutie pies/heros ;)
Just one more quick comment: I just watched the official video for the first time after posting my reply here....and "I felt like I could just cry".... happy tears that is :) It just confirms what I was thinking about how this guy is wanting to help free this girl....symbolized by the freeing of the balloons. What a bunch of cutie pies/heros ;)
I love your analysis. However "facing the dodo's conundrum” has to mean more than what you say or it would not be a conundrum. The dodo’ conundrum works in both respects of your analysis though. Think of the conundrum as such, a flightless bird noted for having too easy of a life, so it did not have to evolve or try at life, so it eventually became prey/extinct. Now view it as a metaphor for the woman (possibly a pretty girl without much else going on) who has life far to easy for her own good, or...
I love your analysis. However "facing the dodo's conundrum” has to mean more than what you say or it would not be a conundrum. The dodo’ conundrum works in both respects of your analysis though. Think of the conundrum as such, a flightless bird noted for having too easy of a life, so it did not have to evolve or try at life, so it eventually became prey/extinct. Now view it as a metaphor for the woman (possibly a pretty girl without much else going on) who has life far to easy for her own good, or possibly someone just cashing a check at a job, but slowly dying. The conundrum is not having to try, not having to evolve, because your are living a life of "quiet desperation,” like a Thoreau might say. A life too easy, so easy you this conundrum, you don’t have to try, so you don’t and you die.
@yaiir this is awesome. now that i look at it, this is exactly what it means. good explanation!!!
@yaiir this is awesome. now that i look at it, this is exactly what it means. good explanation!!!