Long-Winded Overanalysis: “Trains To Brazil”
Blogger is being lame and refusing to let me upload any images, which means M3 Volume 3 will have to wait a little bit (even though it’s mostly ready to go), because no images means no cover art, and we certainly can’t have that now can we? Anyway, to tide you over, here’s some ridiculous overanalysis of “Trains To Brazil”, which only further proves that this is the best song of 2006 so far. So here is, to the best of my knowledge, the full, overanalyzed and long-winded meaning of the song:
At first glance, “Trains” appears to just be a lesson in unbridled exuberance and worry-free existence, which Pitchfork eloquently described as “like going full-speed down a hill in rollerskates”, but in actuality it’s somewhat the opposite of that.
First of all, the song was written in 2002 when the world was still recovering from 9/11,and then when Guillemots were recording it in 2005, a Brazilian man was killed on the subway by London police because he was wrongly suspected of being a terrorist, and the band changed the title as a tribute. As for the meaning, here goes:
The song is a social commentary on the state of the world today. Lead singer Fyfe Dangerfield (not his real name) discusses the ever-present feeling of distrust and suspicion caused by terrorist attacks, which resulted in the wrongful murder of the aforementioned Brazilian man on the subway last year. We are all living with our “backs to the wall”, and though he wonders when they’ll “blow us away”, he’s just thankful to here for as long as he can. The “prophets and pawns” are the terrorist leaders and their mindless followers, and we live in a culture of anxiety, aware that are lives are “in the hands of these erroneous fools”. He curses those who live their lives unhappy, “from one day to the next”, and says “let them take you next”, as you should just be thankful to be here on this earth, living this life, as it could be “you tomorrow [or] next year”.
As for the girl referenced in the song, the one he still “thinks about on cold winter mornings”, I’m a little less confident. It could be that she’s just an example of a reason he’s happy to be alive, but I think she may have been a victim of terrorism herself. She is an example of a person whose life turned out to be “in the hands of those erroneous fools”, a victim of senseless terrorism. This song is beautiful, amazing, moving, life-affirming and completely worthy of the hyperbole I drenched the first half of this sentence in. Far and away the best song of 2006 so far. Download below, in case you managed to miss it the first two times we posted it.
MP3: “Trains To Brazil” - Guillemots
ALSO, Drowned In Sound recently devoted an entire podcast to those lovable Guillemots, or rather, the lovable Guillemot as it was an interview with and solo performance by lead singer Fyfe Dangerfield. Included in the podcast is a solo performance of the band’s brand new single, “We’re Here”. Download the podcast below or click here to subscribe.
Podcast: “Drowned In Sound Radio: Guillemots Special” - DiS Radio