Tricky Tricky

Song Meaning

The lyrics open with a childlike riddle, "Is six afraid of seven 'cause seven ate nine?" immediately juxtaposed with a feeling of intense personal distress: "I'm about to lose it a second time." This sets up a core tension between external, almost nonsensical logic and internal, overwhelming anxiety. The narrator describes a repetitive, frustrating cycle of "staring at the wall" and "running up and down, over and over," suggesting a mental loop they can't escape. The central conflict seems to be the struggle with an "it" – a "little one" that is "tricky." The narrator fears losing "the pieces I find," implying a fragile sense of self or understanding that is constantly under threat. The idea of being "made equal" and receiving "stories to interpret" hints at a desire for clarity or a stable identity, but instead, the narrator is left with ambiguity and the potential for delusion, asking "What if it is a lunatic?" The most striking craft element is the recurring, almost mantra-like repetition of the "six afraid of seven" riddle and the phrase "tricky tricky." This repetition mirrors the narrator's own obsessive thoughts and the cyclical nature of their distress. The imagery shifts from the abstract anxiety of the riddle to concrete, yet surreal, images like a "sleeping in a palm, the palm of my hand," and the unsettling instruction to "show you who to follow, it looks like a man." This contrast between vulnerability and external direction creates a disorienting effect. Ultimately, these lyrics resonate because they capture the disorienting experience of grappling with internal chaos. The writing uses simple, almost nursery-rhyme-like structures to convey profound psychological unease. The ambiguity of "it" and the unsettling pronouncements about following a "man" leave the listener with a lingering sense of unease, mirroring the narrator's own struggle to make sense of their reality.