"Amused to Death:" Analyze the album

What is this album about?

What does it mean to you?

Here is what I get from it:

'Amused to Death' refers to Roger's statement at the end of the album that "This species has amused itself to death." Of course, the species is humanity.

Throughout the album Roger touches on the uselessness and cowardice of war (Bravery of Being Out of Range) with an eye towards political leaders who send others to their deaths and kill others while being safely another continent away from the battle. Perhaps he is also condeming the people who support such wars from the comfort of their own homes (or the local bar).

Roger further points the finger at the government on 'Watching TV' in which a young girl with "high hopes" is squashed by a tank in Tiennamen Square. The responsible party here is again the government/military, but he also seems to be mocking the people who he repeatedly declares were "watching TV" when this happened. We weren't brave enough or strong enough to stand with this little Asian girl, but we were sitting in front of the TV (again, safely out of range) when it happened. The song is both a beautiful eulogy and a biting commentary on the ordinary citizen.

'Three Wishes' is a song that doesn't really fit in with the rest IMO, but it is a good enough song to warrant inclusion. I read an interview of his in which he simply refers to it as "the old three wishes story" - he gets his wishes, but doesn't get what he really wants - love.

'What God Wants' - all 3 parts - is a shot at organized religion and those who corrupt and abuse it for their own gain. Immoral money-loving "preachers' whom I won't point out by name who tell us what God wants. But why should they know what he wants? Roger effectively points out the ridiculousness that trying to interpret what God wants results in - he wants war, peace, sex, crack all at the same time and "What God wants, God gets." God help us all...

'Its a Miracle' - a complicated song that is hard for me to completely decipher. At the beginning Roger seems to be making an anti-globalization statement - "McDonalds in Tibet...A Leisure Center between the Tigris and Euphrates..." but at the end he shifts and names an incident that could be interpreted as a miracle with a sense of irony - after surviving an earthquake, the piano lid comes crashing down and "breaks his f*cking fingers." Too much hanging around with Alanis Morissette?

'Perfect Sense' pts. 1 and 2 - an eloquent, intelligent anti-military machine song. In the end, its all about money. War, lives lost...When you consider the dollar, it all makes sense (or cents).

'Amused to Death' - the grand finale. Brings together all the themes from the previous songs, most notable 'Watching TV' 'Perfect Sense' 'Bravery' 'What God Wants' and 'Its a Miracle.' The title is a sad phrase with more than a hint of irony. Roger watches everything that has gone on and is going on its just so dam funny to him. But in a sad way, like there is nothing to do but laugh because it is so ridiculous - war, religion, etc...

The album ends on an extremely dour note, yet in his recent song 'Each Small Candle' Roger seems to have adopted a more upbeat note, as if we can beat this thing, every little bit counts...


Thanks for reading

All comments are welcome and encouraged

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