The whole album presents a singular world where the government (monocle men) has absolute control. They control the labor (Kingfish Pies), brainwashing through superstition and ceremonies/parades (Some of Them Were Superstitious) (Anabel), and imposing outrageous laws that limit freedoms and escape from their society. This song presents a tragic story of a man described in the previous track (Balloon Maker) who has nothing left when the monocle men outlaw all balloons. He was already an outcast and discussed with his only friend that there might be more people like them somewhere outside of their society. Ironically, there seems to be more people who resent the government than he thought, as the song portrays a crowd of people following his progress and cheering at the prospect of escaping. The song implies that his wife died recently, and it's reasonable to assume that's what pushed him over the edge. The only flaw in his plan was that he picked a foggy day to try to escape, and he misjudged the distance he had traveled. He thought he had gone far enough and started to descend, but by the time he realized his mistake "something went wrong" and he couldn't stop the descent. He landed just inside the gate, where the monocle men were waiting for him and carried him away, likely to death or imprisonment.
The whole album presents a singular world where the government (monocle men) has absolute control. They control the labor (Kingfish Pies), brainwashing through superstition and ceremonies/parades (Some of Them Were Superstitious) (Anabel), and imposing outrageous laws that limit freedoms and escape from their society. This song presents a tragic story of a man described in the previous track (Balloon Maker) who has nothing left when the monocle men outlaw all balloons. He was already an outcast and discussed with his only friend that there might be more people like them somewhere outside of their society. Ironically, there seems to be more people who resent the government than he thought, as the song portrays a crowd of people following his progress and cheering at the prospect of escaping. The song implies that his wife died recently, and it's reasonable to assume that's what pushed him over the edge. The only flaw in his plan was that he picked a foggy day to try to escape, and he misjudged the distance he had traveled. He thought he had gone far enough and started to descend, but by the time he realized his mistake "something went wrong" and he couldn't stop the descent. He landed just inside the gate, where the monocle men were waiting for him and carried him away, likely to death or imprisonment.