The Monarch
XCNN Lyrics

The opening lines of “The Monarch” by XCNN, “I'm just saying everybody is people, except me; I'm the Monarch,” lays the foundation for the rest of the song. The lyrics use imagery to describe a fortified structure complete with walls and a moat. The singer acknowledges they have been given a boat to navigate the moat but the drawbridge is down and they have no rope. Here, the drawbridge is a metaphor for a way out of the situation they find themselves in but they're unable to escape. The lyrics go on to implore the listener not to be a part of the accident, which suggests they are already entangled in something dangerous. However, the singer admits to having done everything imaginable, a possible explanation for how they became the monarch and the king.

The second verse describes a scene where the singer is badly coked and struggling. They can't quite move but they are not bedridden. Again, they plead for caution, perhaps with the belief that if someone else had given the same advice earlier, they wouldn't have found themselves in their current predicament. The third verse then delivers a spoken-word verse from an Aboriginal point of view that seems to place the ultimate power of escape in acknowledging a sense of belonging. The song ends with the singer proclaiming their status as the monarch and the king, isolating themselves from everyone else.

Overall, “The Monarch” speaks to feelings of isolation and self-imposed imprisonment. The song draws on imagery of grandeur and captivity, using it as a metaphor for the cost of claiming greatness. The caution to not be a part of an accident suggests that the singer is the cause of their own misery, and they are now living with the consequences of their actions.