Lyrics
The saddest thing about an animal
The inherent sadness in the life and death of an animal
Is how quickly its death doesn't matter
Highlighting how society often disregards the quick insignificance of an animal's death
It's a living breathing being
Emphasizing the living and breathing nature of animals
And then a thing being swept down the gutter
Expressing the transition from a living being to a discarded object
The saddest thing about an animal
Reiterating the sorrow associated with animal existence
Is that we are all animals too!
Connecting humanity as animals, all equal in essence
No better or worse than a turtle
Rejecting the notion of superiority, likening humans to a turtle in the chaos of war
Living through World War III in a zoo
Describing the human experience as living through World War III in a metaphorical zoo
Respect and demand best friend to the man, no!
Criticizing the fetishization of pets while ignoring the broader issues
Respect and demand best friend to the man, no!
-While you fetishize shorthairs in Japan, no!
-While you fetishize shorthairs in Japan, no!
-Whatever you do, don't you hear, don't you see
Repeated warnings to protect and care for the vulnerable, particularly children
Don't ever let your baby boy go into the street
-Whatever you do, don't you hear, don't you see
-Don't ever let your baby boy go into the street
-Whatever you do, don't you hear, don't you see
-Don't ever let your baby boy go into the street
-Whatever you do, don't you hear, don't you see
-Don't ever let your baby boy go into the street
-If everything's alive
Contemplating the pain caused by existence, using a flightless bird as a metaphor
Then everything hurts
-And everything we do is the worst
-Imagine: a flightless bird
-Served for lunch, in the sky, in first!
-If everything's alive
Highlighting the tendency to harm what is not immediately visible, referencing preference for certain types of harm
Then here's the kicker
-We hurt what we can't see
-They're terrorized just 'cause we're bigger
-And we prefer dark meat!
-A bird in the hand will die by the hand, yeah!
Stressing the consequences of one's actions, particularly the harm caused to others
A bird in the hand will die by the hand, yeah!
-A bird in the hand will die by the hand, yeah!
-A bird in the hand will die by the hand, yeah!
-Whatever you do, don't you hear, don't you see
Reiterating the imperative to protect and guide the vulnerable
Don't ever let your baby boy go into the street
-Whatever you do, don't you hear, don't you see
-Don't ever let your baby boy go into the street
-Whatever you do, don't you hear, don't you see
-Don't ever let your baby boy go into the street
-Whatever you do, don't you hear, don't you see
-Don't ever let your baby boy go into the street
-The world is hard for little things
Commenting on the harshness of the world for the powerless
It's a hard world for the little things
Repeating the idea of a challenging world for the vulnerable
But you can't take a life if you're given it
Suggesting the moral dilemma of taking a life when life is a gift
It's a hard world for the little things
Reiterating the difficulty of the world for the vulnerable
But you can't take a life if you're given it
Reemphasizing the moral complexity of taking a life
It's a hard world for the little things
Stating again the challenging nature of the world for the powerless
But you can't take a life if you're given it
Asserting the inability to take a life if it is given
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