Interpretations:I Am A Human Head

From This Might Be A Wiki

What a sad, sad song, illustrating the human desire for independence and need for companionship.

The narrating head decides that he no longer needs his companion floating head. He tells him to go away, since he doesn't need his best friend. One by one, he removes all the parts of himself he feels he doesn't need anymore, leaving himself with a scalp, and finally a lone human hair. This is the turning point. He declares, "I'd be glad if I had a head." So he takes back his scalp, the rest of his hair, and his whole head, who, although maybe not necessary, make his life complete. He's glad now. To restore things to the original condition, he looks for his friend head. However, this other head had been forsaken before and will no longer be with the formerly haughty narrator. "I thought you said you didn't need me," you can almost imagine him say. The uncalled-for desire for independence yielded, in the end, a broken friendship that, like the nerve connections in My Man, can't be reconnected. -TimMierz

-- I totally agree with this interpretation, save the end. It could be as Tim said, but I never assumed the other head wouldn't come back. I just thought the last line was the next step in (let's call it) Head 1's journey of redemption. But I do think Tim's version also has merit, as I said. -- RichardAshkenazi

-- My feeling is that it was intentional that we never actually know if our protagonist the head finds his friend, the other head. It's sometimes possible to reconcile your differences with friends you have betrayed, but not always. It may just be a matter of time before the two are rejoined. Or maybe out of anger over the breaking, the other head has reduced himself to a single hair, possibly even less, which is why the first head can't seem to find him. The point is that with effort, your own self-inflicted wounds are recoverable, but there is no guarantee when you hurt another. --Brian Q

-- I think the point of this song is that through his quest for image and material posessions, the narrator is forgetting what he really *needs* in order to be happy (which would be symbolized by an actual body). Tgies

If he does find the other head, and the other head is happy to reconcile, and I hope so, our friend the head will have friendship and wisdom, and so will be a better head.

What a beautiful song. It's in my best of TMBG compilation. -- Balb Kubrox

I agree with the last Interpretation a bit. He tries to be indipendent, by taking away his best friend, his head, and his scalp. He then relaizes that he cannot function without these, and takes them back. He takes back the head, and the scalp. Sadly, his friend is nowhere to be found. -Zero R. 13:03, 21 October 2006 (UTC)

If taken in a slightly different light, it could be taken metaphorically, as a geek (head, brain, brainy, geeky, geeks) who tries being cool by changing his friends, attitude (head) hobbies (scalp) and decides to keep part of his look as "geek chic." He decides it's not worth it, but only after he lost his friends. In fact, I smell concept album..

Hall of Heads

Under the interp of the lure of the academic and/or geeky life.

Whistling in the Dark

Under the interp of geeks and the social structure.

I'm a Human Head

My interp.

Through Being Cool

Though technically not a song of theirs, it fits.

Also see my similar "rock opera" about an evil twin under the new interp page of Counterfeit Fake.

I Am A Human Head

Interpretations:I Am A Human Head

Navigation

other

songs

Search

Toolbox