Lyrics
When I was just a little boy I’d watch a TV talent show
Reflecting on childhood memories of watching a TV talent show.
Where the grown ups poured their hearts out and was the only one to know
The speaker, as a child, felt a unique understanding of the performers' emotions.
That only lucky legs are broken and maybe all the world’s a stage
Suggesting that unfortunate situations are emphasized, and life is like a performance.
Never show a gun on page one that you won’t fire by the end
Advice to avoid displaying something you won't follow through, using a metaphor.
They brought out a grinning monkey, his ukulele and a hat
Introducing a performance with a monkey and a ukulele, seen through a critical lens.
And it seemed I was the only one who could see it for an act
The speaker perceives the performance as an act, contrasting with others' reactions.
My family were delirious
Family's enthusiastic reaction to the performance.
Tea was spilled and biscuits broke
A chaotic scene with spilled tea and broken biscuits due to the excitement.
But me I thought it mighty serious
The speaker takes the performance seriously, not sharing the family's lightheartedness.
The top of a steep slippery slope
The performance marks the beginning of a challenging situation or experience.
We build a world inside our world to fill with our ideals
Describing the creation of a secondary world to embody personal ideals.
To reflect our faces in the water and show the souls we cannot feel
Reflecting on the tendency to project an idealized image that hides true emotions.
All that we should be escaping from
A call to escape from negative aspects like hatred and tyranny.
Hatred, wrath and tyranny
List of undesirable traits present in the world that the idealized world should reject.
That in our ideal world we hold in such high esteem
Ironically pointing out that the ideal world often holds these negative traits in high regard.
These days I sadly seem to recognise
Recognition of the harsh reality, contrasting with the idealized world.
It’s only if your dreams came true
Suggesting that achieving dreams may lead to a realization of their negative impact.
You’d really start to realise
Highlighting the self-awareness that comes with the realization of one's dreams.
How badly they reflect on you.
Expressing the negative reflection of fulfilled dreams on one's character.
Now I look into the camera
The speaker, now older, facing a vast audience through a camera.
Into a million glassy eyes
Describing the gaze of many people watching the speaker.
And I strum my ukulele
The speaker continues to play the ukulele despite challenges and criticisms.
Through tears and jeers and compromise
Expressing the emotional challenges and compromises faced while persevering.
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