Coat Check Dream Song
Bright Eyes Lyrics

Shrill as a choir of children
The feeling is loud, high-pitched and piercing like a choir of children

Urgent like the first day of May
This feeling is immediate and pressing like the first day of May

False and inflatable feeling
The feeling is fake and fleeting, like an inflatable balloon

Tugs at my senses, big as the Macy's Parade
Despite its fakeness, the feeling is overwhelming and powerful, like the Macy's Parade

One brick on top of another
This is how humans measure and build things in life

Such is the measure of man
Humans are defined by the things they build and achieve in life

Planets are inset like diamonds
The vast universe is beautiful and precious like a diamond with planets like jewels inset within it

On a gravity halo, eternity's wedding band
The whole universe is bound together with gravity, just like a married couple is bound together with wedding bands

I slept with that dealer all summer
The artist spent the whole summer high on ecstasy

The ecstasy is still in my spine
The high from that summer is still lingering in the artist's body

Coat check I couldn't remember
The singer lost track of their coat at a party

Walked into the winter, came out on the other side
The artist left the party and entered a cold, dark part of their life

And in the South the sun is shining
Things are going well in the South

Back in the East the lights went out
Things are going badly in the East

Stuck on a ladder to heaven
The singer is struggling to reach their goals

On trial way back in the Hague
The artist is being judged for past actions

Lullaby sounds from the engine
The car engine sounds like a comforting lullaby

In my Styrofoam coffin, asleep on the interstate
The singer is driving on the highway in a vehicle that feels flimsy and disposable

Black globes, old symbols of freedom
The spheres are symbolic of the journey towards freedom in America and represent continued struggles with racism and prejudice

A murderer still on the lam
There's still an unresolved sense of danger and violence lurking somewhere

Cities encircled in iron
Modern cities are surrounded by a barrier of oppression and restrictions

On a great silver beltway, democracy's shackled hands
The artist sees democracy as being controlled by powerful, limiting forces

Séance that brought us together
The spirits of departed loved ones brought people together

Objects we move with our minds
The artist's psychic abilities let them move objects without touching them

Coat check and I lost the number
The singer and their coat check partner misplaced their belongings at the party

Short sleeves in the winter, fell back through the other side
The singer's fashion choice isn't practical for the season and they are again feeling cold and in a dark place

Out in the West the cars are crashing
Things are chaotic in the West

Up in the North the ice gave out
Things have fallen apart in the North

Saada Tekmel be 'Lhouria
This is a phrase in Arabic meaning "fight against dictatorship"

Houria
This is another Arabic word meaning "freedom" and repeated like a chant