Interpretations:Gudetama's Busy Days

"Depression chic"

The verses are impenetrable as many a Flansburgh song, but the chorus seems to me that it might have to do with the weird online culture of self-deprecation and depression, and how capitalism has latched onto it to make it a marketable aesthetic, a sort of "depression chic".

Gudetama is a good representation of this, but wine mom merch and those "this is my too sad to function hoodie" hoodies are also part of this attempt to make a cultural epidemic cute and relatable. A critique of capitalism's attempts to profit off misery: another Flansburghian evergreen.

Gudetama's seen busy days/ Selling white flags at a discount/ And daydreams to the housebound/ And explanations to the wall

--Bluef00t (talk) 20:49, 1 March 2020 (EST)

A clue, maybe

Impenetrable is right. Working on a jigsaw puzzle you try to figure out the frame and get pieces of similar color together. "Mountain girl" might be a corner piece. Is it just a general term of endearment for an "earthy" type of person, or is it Jerry Garcia's hippie wife Carolyn specifically? If the latter, could Gudetama represent Jerry himself - in his fat, strung-out period? Does "busy days" refer to his nonstop touring with the Grateful Dead? Was their "drop out" message a way of "selling white flags" of surrender to the Deadheads?

Most of the downer lyrics could reasonably apply to the latter part of Jerry Garcia's life. But they could readily be about almost any loser, though I think "final harangue" implies the song's "Gudetama" is deceased. This interpretation doesn't fit a Los Angeles locale, and the Pink Dot has apparently never had any Northern California locations. (*shrug*) --Nehushtan (talk) 18:50, 11 July 2020 (EDT)

Flans' Interpretation from Tumblr

Replying to an Ask on Tumblr requesting information about the song, Flans replied "As for the topic, it is really just about feeling isolated from the world, even if you are in a crowded place and manically trying to keep up with your life. The character of Gudetama appealed to me because he is such a mopey sad sack-he seemed to fit"

[[https://tmbgareok.tumblr.com/post/640953873435082753/i-love-gudetamas-busy-days-so-much-it-makes-me ]]