Interpretations:They Might Be Feral
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What are we going to do unless they are?[edit]
This song IMMEDIATELY struck me as a sort of sequel to the self-titled song on Flood. (Sure, anyone could say this from the name alone, but that's not my point.) It is from the perspective of those who might be giants, and they are talking about the narrators from the 1990 song. The narrators in the 1990 song are your classic conspiracy theorists, your typical Bigfoot believers, all that fun stuff. They're entirely occupied with solving the mystery of whether "they" are giants or not. Meanwhile, the narrators in this song are the subject of the crazed investigation (for lack of better words). The 1990 narrators are motivated by the promise of fame and recognition ("Tabloid footprints in your hair...") and the TMBF narrators know that ("All standing there with a bag of money..." and most of that chunk of the lyrics as well). "They Might Be Feral" could either be referring to the TMBF narrators parroting the 1990 narrators' view of them, or the TMBF narrators calling the 1990 narrators feral. In a more general sense, TMBF is the other side of the story that is not often told. History is often written by the victors while the losers' story is buried, twisted, destroyed, ignored. I do not want to keep repeating myself, so I will just say to listen to this song and read the lyrics while keeping this interpretation in mind. If it doesn't make sense now, it will make sense then.
And like, this song can't be about anything else, right?! SeaIntoTheLandem (talk) 13:47, 14 April 2026 (EDT)
- I definitely read this song as a sort of updated "mission statement" from the band in a similar way that the original self-titled song was. A sequel is a good way to put it. The original was written right around the beginning of (or rather, immediately prior to) their major success as a band, and to me it expressed their staunch determination to maintain their unhinged, off-the-cuff nature of songwriting and just generally of doing things, even when being signed to a major record label. This new song feels self-reflective to me, made with over 30 more years of experience now under their belt after the first song. If anything, it's more measured, but it essentially maintains the same thesis as the original, just now with all that added perspective behind it: They might be for adults, they might be for kids, they might be nice, or mean, or quiet, or loud- TMBG can be anything, but the one thing they are still determined to be above all else is themselves. Yes, it's a sign! Mintakamoth 18:17, 14 April 2026 (EDT)