7/24/2019 Mundane World Conquest Meaning
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This song is awesome. Its catchy, has a lovely music video, and
its philosophical.Watch it and share your thoughts.
Common World Dominationis a modernist narrative about the
fruitlessness of material obsessions. You can see this right from
the beginning with the motif of the skeletons collapsing, which
represents how no creature can escape from returningto skeletal
dust. Meanwhile, the band-aid motif represents the superficial and
artificial ways in which people try to escape from their problems.
The narrator (whom Ill just call Miku) is a classic modern
intellectual filled with apathy and the burdens of consciousness,
who compares and contrasts herself with you, the viewer.
Why is Miku surrounded by this array of bursting human
skeletons, covered in bandages? Because Miku (and those like her)
are the only ones who are truly alive.They understand the flaws and
limitations of the world they live in instead of blindly following
convention and authority. Miku knows that her existence in
thisworld is short-lived, so she would rather die than see herself
abide by conventions that she could never agree with. And for the
rest, those people who chooseto have their lives dictated by
external forces beyond their control, they are dead men dressed in
the clothing of the living, skeletons wearing bandages to shield
themselves from the pain and bitterness of existence. They deny
their mortality almost as if they think they will live forever, but
Miku knows better, and for this reason, she is shunned as an
outcast and endures a horrible existence among her peers.
With some trepidation, Miku finally takes off the one bandage
that has been holding her back throughout her entire life, a
bandage that represents the self-doubt and suffocating
consciousness that always stopped her from existing comfortably.
Perhaps from drug use, passionate life-living, meditation, or some
combination of the three, Miku understands the nature of existence
and allows herself to live beyond the world. She no longer feels
bothered by the idle, materialistic pursuits of her peers, for she
has seen and truly understood what it means to be alive. The fact
that Mikus face disappears towards the end of this music video
indicates precisely that she has transceded beyond her very
identity and achieved anirvana-like state of ego loss. She
understands that our world is a world of the absurd, but that there
is great joy to be found in it because of it.
For people interested in minutiae, here is a lyrical breakdown
that almost certainly has a few flaws:
A snail in a cramped classroom plays a melody by clicking its
tongue.-> Miku feels stifled and cramped in the classroom
environment and clicks her tongue to express her disgust, an act
considered impolite and unladylike.Both the bullying and the
bullied have made the great discovery that bell pepperis
bitter.-> Hasty judgments on bullies and bullying victims in the
classroom isuseless, as they are both people suffering through the
bitterness of life.The cool people and the cute people both belong
to you. On the survey, your answer is always yesregardless of the
truth.-> Miku is a black sheep. She understandsthat her peers
have always obsessed with being cool, being cute, and blatantly lie
in order to fit in the with the crowd.
It hurts. It hurts. Because I hate this pain, I cant bring
myself to fight it-> Mius existence is fundamentally
incompatible with that of her society. She tries tofit in with the
crowd, but she cant. She does not want to indulge herself in
superficial lies. She is a stranger to her world.The day will
eventually come when words such as Thank you, Good morning, and
Sorrall have become fond memories.-> Our preoccuption with
forced phrases (many ofwhich are insincere) is completely useless,
as one day they will just fade awayinto memory.Whether youre 14 or
40, lets dance! Lattattatta!-> Age doesnt matter in a world tis
constantly and inevitably approaching extinction. Miku beckons you
to dance
7/24/2019 Mundane World Conquest Meaning
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and enjoy the moment, free from material fancies.Somebody! Will
somebody please help everyone?-> Miku knows that she is not the
only one struggling. She idly wonders if anyone can help them, but
knows that thisis a naive dream.
I litter because Im irritated. At the Grand Prix, the babies
display their cute irony.-> Miku litters because she does not
care about the world and natural conservation. At the Grand Prix,
parents take babies with them who ironically understand nothing at
all about what they are watching.
Lets have a grand experiment to determine if both lovers and
invaders are merely lumps of flesh.-> Miku wonders if there is
more to love and war than the workingsof flesh and chemicals.
The sirloin steak and the swallows nest soup both belong to
you.-> Sirloin steak and Swallows nest soup are both prized
delicacies. Miku sarcastically congratulates those who enjoys such
high-prestige pleasures. She derives no joy from socially charged
foods.
Therefore, the spiescorrespondence records are secret.-> Miku
feels as if she isa spy in a world of ordinary, law-abiding people.
She feels some relief in knowing that despite however anxious she
may feel existing in such a world, her own private thoughts and
consciousness will be forever secret.
Its scary. Its scary. Because I hate being scared, I want to
just fall asleep-> Etence itself and the call of the void are
horribly scary. The constant poundingof Mikus anxiety-ridden
consciousness make her wish for an eternal sleep.
The day will come when you will be secretly watched 24/7 whether
you are happy orsad or being mischievous. -> Miku feels as if
her world is dominated by artificiality and scientism. Eventually,
it will be impossible to escape the scrutiny of those who want to
analyze every little part of the human soul.
Mr. Sato, and Mr. Suzuki, lets sing! Lanlanlanlan! Someday,
someday, well forget even our names.-> Identity is temporary and
material, and even the human names which we hold so dear will be
lost to the void.Will it be a happy end when we become buddies? But
as for the kid thats left out,
where is he going?-> Miku wonders if she can escape from her
anxieties by simplypursuing friendship. But she knows that she will
always be the one left out, asshe is a stranger to all things in
the world.The passport has become smeared with blood. The moment of
choice is right, right,right next to you.-> Something happens to
Miku that causes her to question herprevious way of life, something
world changing like an enlightened vision. At this point in the
music video, she realizes that she must take off the bandage onher
nose in order to escape the burdens of a bitter life, and doing so
causes her to spill blood on her passport (an item which represents
the wandering natureof her life).The day will eventually come when
words such as Goodbye, Good night, and See you rowwill no longer
lead into the next day.
Mr. Tanaka, and Mr. Takahashi, lets laugh! Wahahaha! Somebody.
Somebody. Somebody. Somebody. Somebody.-> With her bandages
gone, Miku ironically does not feel hurt by the world at all. She
is truly happy and has finally understood the natureof her
existence.The day will eventually come when words such asThank you,
Good morning, and Sorrywill all have become nostalgia.Conspiracy
theory, and gas stove, lets dance! Lattattatta!Somebody! Will
somebody please help everyone?-> Miku reflects on previous
themesin the song. It is still true that idle greetings and phrases
are useless in anabsurd and uncaring universe, but there is great
joy to be found in the absurd.
