Plus 81 (BBC Session)

Song Meaning

The lyrics paint a picture of a bustling, overwhelming urban environment, likely in Japan given the refrains. The narrator observes a city that's constantly "building, building from the side to side," filled with "cell-phone talkers" and "people" who "get louder amongst the neon lights." There's a sense of being crowded and perhaps lost in the sheer scale and activity, with "legions of circle tread on my tar." The dominant tension seems to be between the overwhelming, almost mechanical nature of the city and the individual's experience within it. The repeated "choo, choo-choo-choo, beep beep" chorus evokes the sounds of trains and traffic, a relentless sonic backdrop. This is juxtaposed with fragmented, almost stereotypical images of Japan like "Pagodas, kimonos, cars," suggesting a surface-level understanding or a tourist's view of the place. A striking element is the imagery of "clouds are coming down" and then "coming up," creating a disorienting, almost claustrophobic atmosphere. This visual of the sky descending onto the "sky high towers" and "crash crash town" amplifies the feeling of being submerged in the urban sprawl. The repeated instruction to "train when you won't look down" suggests a coping mechanism, a way to navigate the overwhelming environment by avoiding direct engagement with its intensity. Ultimately, the lyrics effectively capture a feeling of sensory overload and detachment within a hyper-modern, densely populated setting. The fragmented structure and repetitive sounds mirror the chaotic energy of the city, making the listener feel the narrator's sense of being both present and adrift in a place that is constantly in motion and visually assaulting.