Monument
The Inevitable End - Royksopp Lyrics

The lyrics to Royksopp’s song Monument, off their 2014 album The Inevitable End, can be interpreted as an exploration of legacy and personal identity. The opening lines, “Make a space for my body / Dead or whole / Push this side apart / This is what I’m controlling,” suggest agency and control over one’s own physical presence. The idea of making a cast of one’s body and “pulling back out” to see it suggests a distancing from the physical self, perhaps in order to create a lasting representation of oneself that is more symbolic than physical. The repetition of “make a world / Are you ruling?” and “Make a world / That I used to be” suggests a desire for remembrance and an attempt to leave a lasting impact on the world.

The chorus, “This will be my monument / This will be a beacon when I’m gone gone gone / When I’m gone gone gone / When I’m gone / Soon when that moment comes, / I can say I did it all with love love love / All with love love love / All with love,” further emphasizes the idea of creating a legacy. The monument and beacon become symbols of the singer’s life and the love with which they lived it. The repetition of “when I’m gone gone gone / When I’m gone” highlights the impermanence of life and the recognition that eventually, all that will remain of us is what we leave behind.

Overall, the lyrics to Monument can be interpreted as a meditation on what it means to leave a lasting impact on the world, as well as our own desire for remembrance and the human need for significance.