Interpretations:Lake Monsters

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Trump Supporters

I will admit, it's weird to hear a TMBG song of such overt political commentary, but this song is obviously about the maddened supporters of Trump coming out to vote for him on election day. The mass hypnosis of the GOP, fake news propaganda, and Alex Jones like commentators spreading conspiracy theories is also referenced. It's also a play on how Trump says he's going to "drain the swamp" when he and his supporters can be modeled as the swamp monsters. Mr. Klaw (talk) 12:32, 12 January 2018 (EST)Mr. Klaw

Thank your lucky stars

I find it significant that all of the localities named (Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Chicago, East California) represent states where Trump was beaten in 2016, not places which contributed to his election victory. Hence the question in the second verse, "are they really there?" followed by the response, "thank your lucky stars" (the only hopeful line in the entire song). In that sense, the "lucky stars" could be the states (metaphorically, as on the American flag) which resisted Trump. --Blipvert (talk) 09:35, 1 July 2019 (EDT)

Lakemon Regrets Voting

Adding onto Trump Supporters, one of the metaphors found in the music video is the imaginary lake monster Lakemon, a clear abbreviation of the term "Lake Monsters." Lakemon's apparent weakness in the video is "accidental self harm," which makes sense, due to its stature and its horrendous claws just long enough to reach its four stringy tentacles, which it cuts off. This is a metaphor for the regret Trump supporters felt after the election of 2016.

-When Cheese Met Chalk

A Mass Hypnosis Isn't Happenin'

piggybacking off the trump voters idea, i'm a fan of the repeated line "no hypnosis like a mass hypnosis cause a mass hypnosis isn't happening", most notably the latter half. i'd like to think that flans saying a mass hypnosis isn't happening implies that trump supporters aren't being "hypnotically" turned into racists/xenophobes by trump, rather that they've always been that way, and trump's run for presidency has just given them an excuse to voice their true feelings.

-8-bit monkey

Shades of The Else

Just wanted to start by saying that I totally agree with the analyses that this is about Trump and the recent rise of the alt-right.

Also: this reminded me of The Else in multiple ways (my favorite TMBG album). The Else was their last album with distinct political overtones, so it comes to mind with the lyrical content here. I also think that the way the song progresses through different movements and its non-linear structure are reminiscent of songs like “With The Dark.” The zany, chugging chaos of the later sections of the song also remind me of “I’m Impressed” & “The Shadow Government.”

I don’t necessarily think it was intended to be a callback, but as a fan of this writing style from them, this track really speaks to me.

Pride anthem

Maybe I'm way, waaaaayyy off but when I first heard this song I very much saw the lyrics as being an anthem for queer pride, the "lake monsters" being representative of queer folks reclaiming insults or slurs as their own. They see the world differently after making this great discovery about themselves and seek to have their voices heard but despite their efforts there are still misguided people who won't listen because "a mass hypnosis isn't happening". Quite frankly I was surprised to hear others having a more directly political and negative take but that is the beauty of interpretation. I think there's value in both. - Betty

Silent Majority

This song references the "Silent Majority" Nixon coined to reference conservative voters who don't speak their politics but show up at the polls. It was oft debated if this silent majority existed, much like Loch Ness. The monstrous lake monsters hide, only speaking their opinions via the voting booth.

This is directly referenced by the line "Lake monsters of the USA, just looking for a polling station" and sarcastically by the lines "Are they really there? Thank your lucky stars," with stars linking back to the nationalist movement of conservatives.

Further, the line "No hypnosis like a mass hypnosis cause a mass hypnosis isn't happening" references Republican double-speak as they use propaganda to sway their voters while denying and accusing Democrats of the same. LakeMonsterEater (talk) 22:38, 10 October 2025 (EDT)