I feel like the meaning of this song is fairly straightforward--it's about growing up gay in an environment that isn't accepting. Let's analyze the first few lines:
"Back when I was young enough to know from where I came,
I saw my love be spat upon and shouted down in shame."
The first two lines describe the realization that you feel differently than the people around you. More specifically, it's the realization that you're attracted to people who you've been told you shouldn't be attracted to. The second two lines introduce the conflict: This unique kind of "love" is being "shouted down in shame", meaning that it is being condemned by a likely religious community.
Then, the subject of the song is told by "his honor"--likely a legal figure, that there's nothing to fear because "it always ends the same." This line suggests that the persecution that the subject faces in this life is insignificant, because we all end up in the same place eventually: dead.
The second stanza plays with the same themes introduced in the first stanza: The fear instilled in gay people that they are somehow damned for their feelings. As the subject battles with these emotions he seeks spiritual guidance from a preacher who assures him that "it always ends the same". In this case, that means that it doesn't matter what congregation members think about his sexuality, because only God can make judgement.
Then the first two lines in the third stanza stand out to me. I think that the "fishes" that are "terrified by what they can't explain" are actually the people that are vehemently anti-gay. They are flying in "circles" and they refuse to break that "circle" and go against the current. BUT "when the suburb and the sky are both awash in flame/the television won't survive.", meaning that when the world ends, the suburban ideals of what is good/bad that are conveyed on television won't matter anymore because everyone will die.
Then, the last stanza is a captivating thing to chew on. I'm not entirely sure what it means and I think that it's intentionally open to interpretation. The first line about "being old enough" to "learn to play the game" likely refers to living inauthentically in order to protect oneself from the hatred of queer people. But then it goes on to say that when he is able to do that--to live a false existence, then dinosaurs will roam the earth again. The combination of these lines indicates that the prospect of living inauthentically is highly improbable--much like the resurgence of dinosaurs on earth. He has decided to be true to himself. There's not a chance in hell that he will live a life that isn't authentic. The "victory song" that the dinosaurs would "hum" is likely a symbol for triumph over man and it's unkind and ugly influence on the planet. Then, the theme of "it always ends the same" is reiterated one last time. Human created ideals don't matter because everything we've created will cease to exist one day.
I feel like the meaning of this song is fairly straightforward--it's about growing up gay in an environment that isn't accepting. Let's analyze the first few lines:
"Back when I was young enough to know from where I came, I saw my love be spat upon and shouted down in shame."
The first two lines describe the realization that you feel differently than the people around you. More specifically, it's the realization that you're attracted to people who you've been told you shouldn't be attracted to. The second two lines introduce the conflict: This unique kind of "love" is being "shouted down in shame", meaning that it is being condemned by a likely religious community.
Then, the subject of the song is told by "his honor"--likely a legal figure, that there's nothing to fear because "it always ends the same." This line suggests that the persecution that the subject faces in this life is insignificant, because we all end up in the same place eventually: dead.
The second stanza plays with the same themes introduced in the first stanza: The fear instilled in gay people that they are somehow damned for their feelings. As the subject battles with these emotions he seeks spiritual guidance from a preacher who assures him that "it always ends the same". In this case, that means that it doesn't matter what congregation members think about his sexuality, because only God can make judgement.
Then the first two lines in the third stanza stand out to me. I think that the "fishes" that are "terrified by what they can't explain" are actually the people that are vehemently anti-gay. They are flying in "circles" and they refuse to break that "circle" and go against the current. BUT "when the suburb and the sky are both awash in flame/the television won't survive.", meaning that when the world ends, the suburban ideals of what is good/bad that are conveyed on television won't matter anymore because everyone will die.
Then, the last stanza is a captivating thing to chew on. I'm not entirely sure what it means and I think that it's intentionally open to interpretation. The first line about "being old enough" to "learn to play the game" likely refers to living inauthentically in order to protect oneself from the hatred of queer people. But then it goes on to say that when he is able to do that--to live a false existence, then dinosaurs will roam the earth again. The combination of these lines indicates that the prospect of living inauthentically is highly improbable--much like the resurgence of dinosaurs on earth. He has decided to be true to himself. There's not a chance in hell that he will live a life that isn't authentic. The "victory song" that the dinosaurs would "hum" is likely a symbol for triumph over man and it's unkind and ugly influence on the planet. Then, the theme of "it always ends the same" is reiterated one last time. Human created ideals don't matter because everything we've created will cease to exist one day.