Middle Wednesday: Elephant Gun, The Creepiest Song Ever

(Disclaimer: You kind of have to listen to this to understand where I'm coming from on this post.)

So... Bink!

I love Beirut.

Not the capitol, the band. A very influential person showed me Beirut back in about 2010, and I've been hooked to their music ever since. They're great, alternative-indie. There is very little electric influence, and Zach Condon's voice is so uniquely weird that it really sets itself apart from most music, popular or obscure.

...No, there's no trick here. I love Beirut. The band has helped me through breakups, get-together's, tough moments, carefree stuff, etc. They are hands-down one of my favorite bands of all time, and their music has left an honest to God lasting impression on me.

That being said, holy sh** Elephant Gun is the creepiest ocelot song of all time.

This is all opinion and speculation, and you can head on over to SongMeanings for a deliberate, much more in-depth explanation of what is going on, but... doesn't this song sound too dang happy to you? The accordion is purposely out of tune, there is very little singing... and the words...

If I was young, I'd flee this town,
I'd bury my dreams underground,
As did I, we drink to die, we drink tonight,

Nothing too drastic so far. Just some childhood memory sounding stuff. Wishing you could get away, drinking your pains away, stuff like that. Pretty run of the mill lyrics thus far.

Far from home, elephant gun,
Let's take them down one by one,
We'll lay it down, it's not been found, it's not around,

Oh... okay. We're onto killing elephants. I guess that would explain the name of the song, then, it's just--that was kind of a quick turnaround... 

Let the seasons begin,
It rolls right on,
Let the seasons begin,
Take the big king down,

Let the seasons begin,
It rolls right on,
Let the seasons begin,
Take the big king down,

I mean... who's the big king? (Good album name) Is it God? President Bush? Why do we need to take him down? Is he just a really large elephant? 

Here's where I put in my nice little argument, as the instruments rage and break down in the happiest melody known to man. I know that, right now, I am overanalyzing. But just watch this video muted, and put Elephant Gun on in the background.

It may seem unfitting at first, but really think about it... can't you see the world ending to this song?

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and music is entirely subjective, and yeah it's weird (comma party!) but all I think about when I hear this song is the end of the world. That doesn't necessarily make it a bad song--it's awesome. But at the same time, it just seems too happy.

In the opening of Fallout 3, the song "I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire," a love song, is played while the camera zooms out to show the ruins of Washington D.C. The song has nothing to do with the end of the world, but at the same time, it seems fitting that it would play in a time where, yeah--the world has been blown apart by war and nuclear fire. It doesn't make sense... but at the same time it does.

Elephant Gun can very easily be related to that. A lot of songs could, probably. I just feel like this one in particular is shouting "BLOW SOMETHING UP" or "CALL IN THE EARTHQUAKE!" For real, if the world was gonna end, I wouldn't want it to be to any other song.

And it rips through the silence of our camp at night,
And it rips through the night,
And it rips through the silence of our camp at night,
And it rips through the silence, all that is left is all that I hide,

Even the above final lyrics to the song sound like a metaphor for death. If you're Christian or know about Moses, then you'll know that the final Plague of Egypt sent by God was that Death would roll through Egypt and kill every firstborn child of all those who was not an Israelite.

You can relate several things to several different things, and I'm not saying that this is a metaphor for death--okay, well, I am, but it could mean a million things in the world.

This song is no doubt drenched in symbolism, and after looking around I've noticed that there are several people who have several different theories about just what all this is about. In the end it probably doesn't matter; it's just a dang good song with some dark lyrics. Or light lyrics. Who knows?

It's just my two cents, but I honestly just think that this might just be one big apocalypse song. Again, nothing wrong with that. Muse released a whole album about it.

Juuuuuust something to think about!