Interpretations:An Insult To The Fact Checkers

• Song
• Lyrics
• Download
• Interpretations
• Credits
• Guitar Tab
• Bass Tab
• Chronology

Folly

Any and all commentary on this page is sheer folly, as Flansburgh declaims, "I defy interpretation". Take that, wikians! --MisterMe (talk) 09:00, 12 January 2018 (EST)

😆 --Nehushtan

Social Media

I think this song is about social media, particularly Twitter, and the proliferation of difficult to confirm facts therein. The narrator is searching for a reason why people he interacts with seem to fall for so many dubious ideas found online. These people also tend to give him the "side-eye" when he doesn't fall in line with said ideas. It may also be possible that the narrator's own words are being interpreted by these people with their strange notions, which is why he defies interpretation. Zeppyfish 19:05, 25 January 2018 (PST)

I agree with this interpretation, but a specific example I'm thinking of occurred more on Youtube than Twitter. On the episode of This American Life titled "Words You Can't Say", it tells the story of Laci Green, a sex educator on YouTube dealing with the conflicting groups of Feminists and Anti-Feminists and how she tries to make peace by reaching out to both sides. She upsets people who would normally be on her side when she used certain words and she "tries to please" them but it generally doesn't work. She tries to "tease out all the details" for what makes them upset. Also, by reaching out to the other side and eventually even dating an Anti-Feminist, she "defies interpretation" and incenses her feminist friends. I'm sure there's even more parallels here. --deathgecko (Evil Emperor of Lizards) (talk) 20:16, 7 February 2018 (EST)

I thought it was about Donald Trump...--MidoFS (talk) 19:27, 25 February 2018 (EST)

Suspicious Minds

Just to take Flans' statement at face value (that the song is about betrayal, not politics), there are a bunch of phrases in the song you would use if you had an inkling that your significant other is cheating on you.

You'd notice there are things they "don't say" - secret things they aren't telling you - and you'd catch them looking at you side-eyed - trying to see if you suspect anything. You'd want to "tease out all the details" (...so where were you before you went to Starbucks? How long did you spend at the bank? What is this $34 charge at a restaurant?) but still their story would "just all seem wrong". Your sad mind would be frazzled looking for an explanation... you might even hire an agent to follow them & do some fact-finding & story-checking.

When confronted with the facts, your partner denies everything, weaving "far-fetched fiction" into their story. Their crazy attempt to explain away the obvious is "an insult to the fact-checkers" - yourself, and/or the detective. --Nehushtan (talk) 03:06, 25 October 2019 (EDT)