Autograph of Time

Song Meaning

This track opens with a surreal image, suggesting that even fleeting thoughts, born from the "pointless part of waiting," can be significant, like an "autograph of time." The scene shifts to an "Aztec ceiling" where a grand artistic endeavor seems to lose its purpose or consequence, its "crime" dissolving. This sets a tone of grand, almost cosmic, but ultimately elusive meaning. The core tension seems to revolve around the alteration and corruption of original intent. The "chorus" is "altered" to "even up the meaning of the rhyme," implying a forced simplification or a distortion of a more complex truth. This act of "plagiarize the autograph of time" suggests a deliberate manipulation of history or memory, making even "secret pains" conform to a new, perhaps falsified, narrative. The repeated refrain, "After all the heat was hung, the fiddles flung," creates a sense of chaotic aftermath. The imagery of "heat hung" and "fiddles flung" evokes a dramatic, possibly violent, event that has concluded, leaving behind a residue of coldness. The "tack-filled tongue" and the song sung "much colder" further emphasize this chilling effect, where passion has been replaced by a brittle, sharp-edged delivery. Ultimately, the lyrics paint a picture of how grand ideas and historical moments can be warped and diminished. The "autograph of time," representing authentic experience or original creation, is susceptible to being rewritten or plagiarized. The effectiveness lies in the disorienting, fragmented imagery and the sense of a profound loss of original meaning, leaving behind a colder, altered echo.