Song Meaning
The lyrics paint a picture of pervasive unease and a world that feels slightly off-kilter. The opening lines, with their almost surreal imagery of lapping malachite from a tender bone, set a tone of delicate, perhaps fragile, pleasure that quickly gives way to a sense of disorientation. The narrator questions where to direct their fleeting moments, a question met with the unsettling response that "nobody knows," amplified by the palpable "anxiety in the clocks" and "anxiety in the hands." This feeling culminates in a visceral reaction: "nervous smiles / are nauseated even more," suggesting a deep-seated discomfort with the present situation.
The core of the song seems to reside in a profound sense of dissatisfaction, encapsulated by the repeated, almost resigned refrain, "So it's not very good." This sentiment is echoed and amplified throughout the verses, hinting at a widespread malaise. The second verse contrasts the overwhelming influx of "a hundred news stories and one television" with the harshness of the external world, described as "under the fur of snows and windswept streets." The imagery of windows spewing gossip like porridge suggests a pervasive, almost suffocating, spread of information and social commentary that feels both chaotic and unappetizing.
A particularly striking element is the narrator's observation of the sun appearing to split, becoming "two on the side," with "a wound in each moon." This surreal, almost apocalyptic imagery suggests a fractured reality or a distorted perception of time and space, where even celestial bodies bear scars. The idea that each moon holds a deeper, longer wound implies a growing, persistent pain that is not easily healed. This visual metaphor powerfully conveys a sense of escalating distress and a world that is fundamentally broken or wounded.
Ultimately, the lyrics resonate because they tap into a feeling of being adrift in a world that is both overwhelming and fundamentally disappointing. The final lines, "Don't drop the anchors / There are none left / We'll see each other soon... / We'll never see each other.." deliver a devastating emotional punch. The initial false hope of reunion is brutally undercut by the stark realization of permanent separation, leaving the listener with a profound sense of loss and the unsettling acknowledgment that things are, indeed, "not very good."
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