To Us, the Beautiful

Song Meaning

The lyrics kick off with a defiant toast: "To us, the beautiful!" It’s a bold declaration, immediately followed by a darkly humorous curse for any dissenters. This sets a tone of fierce self-acceptance and a desire for something grand, something to "scream and shout about." The narrator claims to possess just that, a potent force ready to erupt. Beneath this bravado, a current of struggle runs through the verses. The narrator admits to dreaming of "fights and frustrations," seeking ways to "shame the shameless." This suggests a world where genuine beauty or worth is constantly under attack, requiring a forceful response. The lyrics then introduce a compelling metaphor: the devil as an "author" who "edits every page" and "steals the stage light," implying external forces actively try to corrupt or diminish what is valuable. However, this metaphor undergoes a crucial shift. The devil is re-envisioned not as a creator of evil, but as one who "only edits what is there." This subtle change re-centers the source of the struggle, suggesting that the flaws and dark impulses are internal, merely amplified or revealed by external pressures. The lyrics then pivot to money, not as the root of evil, but as a "dowsing rod" that unearths one's "true self," for better or worse. The song culminates in a complex, almost breathless list of desires: "meaningful, but casual and sensual and juvenile," "valuable, fanatical, palpable and tangible and tragic." This cascade of contrasting qualities highlights the messy, multifaceted nature of wanting something real. Ultimately, the repeated plea, "We just want to be magic," distills this complex yearning into a simple, powerful desire for an extraordinary existence, a state of being that transcends the everyday struggles and perceived imperfections.