The armadillo is actually progressive rock, ELP, and Keith Emerson himself, and the song is actually a paranoid foretelling of his own future downfall. As the progressive armadillo, ELP overcomes several enemy genres of Rock (country, metal, and disco?), but is finally defeated by the Mantichore of Punk Rock, which makes him look Passé. Seriously wounded, the ELP Armadillo drifts away down a river to a fate of unknown oblivion, since the Artists couldn’t be bothered to disclose what became of him. You get the feeling they were more interested in doodling around than telling a real story. As for the Mantichore, since it was probably The Ramones, it toiled in obscurity until it finally got a modest amount of cash. Then it promptly died. But its battle songs were used in commercials until it became posthumously revered, unlike the poor armadillo who is having a hard time aquatically drifting into the Hall of Fame. Even the monstrous form of the Donna Summers beat out this modest beast.
The armadillo is actually progressive rock, ELP, and Keith Emerson himself, and the song is actually a paranoid foretelling of his own future downfall. As the progressive armadillo, ELP overcomes several enemy genres of Rock (country, metal, and disco?), but is finally defeated by the Mantichore of Punk Rock, which makes him look Passé. Seriously wounded, the ELP Armadillo drifts away down a river to a fate of unknown oblivion, since the Artists couldn’t be bothered to disclose what became of him. You get the feeling they were more interested in doodling around than telling a real story. As for the Mantichore, since it was probably The Ramones, it toiled in obscurity until it finally got a modest amount of cash. Then it promptly died. But its battle songs were used in commercials until it became posthumously revered, unlike the poor armadillo who is having a hard time aquatically drifting into the Hall of Fame. Even the monstrous form of the Donna Summers beat out this modest beast.