Someone’s Missing by MGMT Lyrics Meaning – A Dissection of Longing and Metaphysical Absence
Lyrics
I’m cut and I’m weeping like a rubber tree
But I don’t care who’s left behind
Lost revelations that I’ll never find
In the long hall pipes are whispering
Blues prepared for anti-christening
Somewhere there’s an honest soul
To mirror teeth where neon lures troll
And what’s extinct might come alive
A purple smoke in some internal shrine
With a long sigh let the hissing in
Stones deformed by gentle kissing and
All the closed eyes start to glisten
But it feels like someone’s missing
Yeah it feels like someone’s missing
Yeah it feels like someone’s missing
It feels like someone’s missing
Yeah it feels like someone’s missing
Yeah it feels like someone’s missing
It feels like someone’s missing
Yeah it feels like someone’s missing
It feels like someone’s missing
Yeah it feels like someone’s missing
It feels like someone’s missing
MGMT has never been a band to shy away from the abstract, often wrapping their existential musings in psychedelic pop. ‘Someone’s Missing’ from their sophomore album ‘Congratulations’ stands as a testament to their eclectic artistry. At first glance, the song might seem as enigmatic as a modern painting, leaving the listener adrift in a sea of metaphor and emotion. The composition is haunting yet beautiful, an echo chamber of loss and yearning.
Diving into the soul of ‘Someone’s Missing’ requires a suspension of the literal, an embrace of the symbolic. This track invites the listener on a journey that extends far beyond its sparse lyrics, dealing with the themes of presence and absence, and the interplay between the physical and the metaphysical. It opens a window into the philosophy of what it means to search for something indefinable and the universal sentiment of missing what might not have been tangible in the first place.
A Sonic Painting of Emptiness
The soundstage of ‘Someone’s Missing’ is intentionally minimalist, evoking the rawness of a world echoing with absence. This sound of ‘cut and weeping like a rubber tree’ depicts an image of nature exploited, bleeding, yet uncared for. The song begins with a personal narrative, a confession of sorts that illustrates a lack of concern for what’s left behind—a poignant start to an inward exploration of loss and the insensitivity that can accompany it.
The simplicity of the arrangement mirrors the simplicity of the revelation—there’s an emptiness, a critical component that is ‘missing.’ But rather than filling the void with layers of sound, MGMT leaves it bare, allowing the listener to feel the weight of the emptiness. It’s in this bravery of presenting something vulnerable and unfinished that the song finds its profound resonance.
Decoding the Cryptic Whispers
Lyrics that read ‘In the long hall pipes are whispering, Blues prepared for anti-christening’ transport us to a scene that feels like a purgatory of sorts, a place where transition occurs, but not necessarily in the rites we’re familiar with—in this case, an ‘anti-christening.’ It’s an atmosphere of transformation, but one that feels strangely perverted from the norm, possibly alluding to losing touch with one’s faith or former beliefs.
The whispers could signify the subtle hints we receive in life, indications of change or the presence of something beyond us. MGMT plays at the fringes of our understanding, asking the listener to interpret signals that are not overtly declared but rather felt as a sensual, emotive experience. Through this, they tell a tale of seeking and the elusive nature of truth and self-realization.
The Honest Soul and Neon Lures: A Quest for Authenticity
In a society riddled with artificiality, where ‘neon lures troll,’ MGMT heralds the search for ‘an honest soul’ as akin to a spiritual awakening. This pursuit of purity in a tainted world is recurrent in their discography, with ‘Someone’s Missing’ acting as a battle cry against the disingenuity that plagues modern existence. It’s a call to find something real amidst the glam and glitz that so often distracts and detracts.
The notion of ‘what’s extinct might come alive’ touches on the cyclical nature of life and hope. It suggests that perhaps what we long for isn’t gone but simply dormant, waiting for the right conditions to resurface. This line serves as a reminder that sometimes what is missing is not missing forever and that there is beauty in the possibility of revival and reconnection with things we thought lost to time.
The Hidden Meaning: Alchemy of the Soul
One might interpret the song’s hidden meaning as an alchemical process pertaining to the soul. ‘A purple smoke in some internal shrine’ could be visualizing the mysterious internal transformation that happens within us all. The song, through its references to color and mysticism, alludes to internal change and the enigmatic alchemical process of turning one’s leaden troubles into spiritual gold.
The ‘hissing in’ and ‘stones deformed by gentle kissing’ are illustrative of subtle influences molding our psyche, shaping our essence quietly over time. These metaphors reflect the small, often unnoticed changes that alter our very being, a commentary on the passage of influence and the gentle yet persistent nature of personal growth and decay.
The Memorable Lines: Echoes of the Missing
A crucial element of ‘Someone’s Missing’ lies in its powerful repetition. The line ‘Yeah it feels like someone’s missing’ drives the sentiment home, coursing through the track with mounting insistence. This refrain becomes an anthem for the absence felt—not just of a person, but of a part of oneself, a dream, or a piece of what once felt whole.
The beauty of this refrain is that it allows the listener to project their own sense of loss onto the music, making it universally relatable. This feeling transcends the individual, stretching into a collective experience of yearning and the human condition—an aspect that imprints ‘Someone’s Missing’ in the memories of those who hear it, a testament to the invisible binds that connect us all through shared emotion and experience.
