Written from the perspective of a male patient in a mental hospital. He is deluded that a nurse loves him. He sometimes speaks in the second person--possibly emotionally easier for him; sometimes he speaks in the first person.
The music is whimsical, and beautifully orchestrated. String parts, tones, oboes, bird-like sounds, and vocals are lovely. Some of the lyrics, when taken out of the overall context of the song are also rather ethereal: "I'm taking her home with me, all dressed in white. She's got everything I need..."; "Say hello to all the apples on the ground. They were once in your eyes, but you sneezed them out while sleeping."; "Say hello to the rugs topography. It holds quite a lot of interest with your face down on it." The sonic veneer makes some of the lyrics seem playful and enchanting. But, the song's overall meaning has deeper and much darker overtones. The beautiful sound may be a mockery and simultaneously a mimicry of the meaningful disturbance beneath it.
Possible general themes include: mental illness, drug dependence, delusion, confinement, a great sense of loss and hopelessness.
There are some good plays on words: "Shrinking in your head" evokes the "head-shrinking" performed by a psychiatrist. It could also represent a sensation the patient experiences while in the psych. ward due to drugs and environment.
"..taking her home...all dressed in white" - Nurse wears white; a bride wears white.
"apples..once in your eyes" - evokes 'apple(s) of one's eye' or those that one holds especially dear.
As some other interpreters have indicated, the patient confuses the professional care of the nurse as romantic love (delusional belief). He also confuses "pharmacy keys" and "pills in a little cup" as "everything he needs." That is to say, all that he needs for love. His love is based on a need for drugs/medication and imagined intimacy.
It seems unlikely that the nurse has "fallen hard" for the patient or that he "can see it in her eyes" or that she "acts just like a nurse with all the other guys" and behaves differently toward him. In any event, it's unlikely that he's "taking [the nurse] home with [him], as he's unlikely leaving this place any time soon.
He must "say hello" (read: get used to) an orderly's knee in his back while his face is pressed down on the hospital floor's rug. Or, possibly, the pills from the little cup might make the rug's topography actually seem interesting to him. He's forced to deal with--"say hello" to--the reality that he must keep everything he's left behind in his memory. The things he's left behind can't be touched, either due to physical barricade of the hospital, or possibly he has isolated or been abandoned by his past relationships activities. These might be the apples on the ground that were lost while he was sleeping.
For now he needs, or, at least must settle for: confinement, pharma-drugs, the nurse who helps him, the shrinking in his head, and something to find interesting: memories of loves, people and things he's left behind; and maybe even the rug's topography.
Great lyrics by Failure and an intricate and lovely treatment by A Perfect Circle!
Written from the perspective of a male patient in a mental hospital. He is deluded that a nurse loves him. He sometimes speaks in the second person--possibly emotionally easier for him; sometimes he speaks in the first person.
The music is whimsical, and beautifully orchestrated. String parts, tones, oboes, bird-like sounds, and vocals are lovely. Some of the lyrics, when taken out of the overall context of the song are also rather ethereal: "I'm taking her home with me, all dressed in white. She's got everything I need..."; "Say hello to all the apples on the ground. They were once in your eyes, but you sneezed them out while sleeping."; "Say hello to the rugs topography. It holds quite a lot of interest with your face down on it." The sonic veneer makes some of the lyrics seem playful and enchanting. But, the song's overall meaning has deeper and much darker overtones. The beautiful sound may be a mockery and simultaneously a mimicry of the meaningful disturbance beneath it.
Possible general themes include: mental illness, drug dependence, delusion, confinement, a great sense of loss and hopelessness.
There are some good plays on words: "Shrinking in your head" evokes the "head-shrinking" performed by a psychiatrist. It could also represent a sensation the patient experiences while in the psych. ward due to drugs and environment.
"..taking her home...all dressed in white" - Nurse wears white; a bride wears white.
"apples..once in your eyes" - evokes 'apple(s) of one's eye' or those that one holds especially dear.
As some other interpreters have indicated, the patient confuses the professional care of the nurse as romantic love (delusional belief). He also confuses "pharmacy keys" and "pills in a little cup" as "everything he needs." That is to say, all that he needs for love. His love is based on a need for drugs/medication and imagined intimacy.
It seems unlikely that the nurse has "fallen hard" for the patient or that he "can see it in her eyes" or that she "acts just like a nurse with all the other guys" and behaves differently toward him. In any event, it's unlikely that he's "taking [the nurse] home with [him], as he's unlikely leaving this place any time soon.
He must "say hello" (read: get used to) an orderly's knee in his back while his face is pressed down on the hospital floor's rug. Or, possibly, the pills from the little cup might make the rug's topography actually seem interesting to him. He's forced to deal with--"say hello" to--the reality that he must keep everything he's left behind in his memory. The things he's left behind can't be touched, either due to physical barricade of the hospital, or possibly he has isolated or been abandoned by his past relationships activities. These might be the apples on the ground that were lost while he was sleeping.
For now he needs, or, at least must settle for: confinement, pharma-drugs, the nurse who helps him, the shrinking in his head, and something to find interesting: memories of loves, people and things he's left behind; and maybe even the rug's topography.
Great lyrics by Failure and an intricate and lovely treatment by A Perfect Circle!