Interpretations:How Now Dark Cloud?

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Man + Cake + Rain

Either the chorus refers to Richard Harris' MacArthur Park, or to Their earlier song, It's Not My Birthday (which, in turn, refers to MacArthur Park). YoungWilliam 03:55, 27 November 2011 (EST)

Lead poisoning

Linnell is fascinated with head cases, Flans with small-time criminals. But Flans' lyrics are much more tangential & I gotta say he doesn't always provide enough breadcrumbs! This song is a tough nut & I can't say I've cracked it yet... maybe this interpretation opens its shell a bit... you tell me:

A trapeze act (maybe associated with a traveling circus) has another job after hours - robbing banks. They use their gymnastic skills to swing around during the thefts, avoiding alarm triggers & making stealthy exits. But during one attempt the cops show up & the narrator gets shot ("poisoned by lead"). He starts bleeding so that his clothes are soaked. They manage to get him into the van and get away (verse 1).

He's hurt badly (his eyes start rolling & his brain gets dizzy - "lazy eye/mind" ) but is able to dispose of the haul of cash... he bundles the bills non-sequentially (to avert tracking) and hides them at a known drop-off spot "under a tree" (verse 2). The next night the whole thing starts again... wake up the crew to start swinging & thieving again (verse 3).

The choruses ("the end of the half-written tale" & "crushed by the tumbling tide") and the title make me think the narrator didn't make it. I imagine him dying later that night of his gunshot wound. --Nehushtan (talk) 07:35, 6 October 2019 (EDT) --updated Nehushtan (talk) 17:38, 26 May 2020 (EDT)