Song Meaning

The lyrics paint a picture of a man whose life is rigidly structured by routine, yet his inner world is a whirlwind of grand, unfulfilled ambitions. He's digging and weeding, taking coffee at eleven and tea at four-thirty, a seemingly placid existence. But this external order masks an internal chaos, a mind burdened with the weight of global problems. He's 'planning the world,' 'ending wars, changing laws,' but these monumental thoughts yield no tangible results, leaving him in a state of profound frustration. The central tension lies in the stark contrast between the man's mundane daily actions and the vast, overwhelming scope of his mental preoccupations. The refrain, "what's the use?" acts as a constant, weary echo of this futility. His mind is 'working hard,' wrestling with 'population, starvation,' and societal ills, but these efforts are ultimately 'locked away,' unable to break through the confines of his routine or the world's inertia. This creates a palpable sense of helplessness. The lyrics employ a striking juxtaposition of grand ideals and personal decay. The man is described as 'our hairy friend,' a somewhat dismissive yet intimate label, whose 'cessation, repetition' leads to his demise. The 'funeral for an age of decay' suggests his personal end mirrors a broader societal malaise. He 'failed to escape' not from his physical circumstances, but from the mental burden of trying to solve the world's problems, a burden that ultimately consumes him.