Song
Instructions on Our Defeat
From Unknower · Track 7 · 2017
Exact lyric meaning is not yet documented in this pack.
Lyrics · artist-supplied
You’re right, we’re wrong, we can never get along
You’re wrong, we’re right - we think it feels good when we fight
They try to control everything we think we know
They come complete with instructions on our defeat
You’re told what you know by your favorite television show
They know with each reel they can tell you what you should feel
But you know what’s real
They try to control everything we think we know
They come complete with instructions on our defeat
On our defeat
On our defeat
Do you know what’s real?
Do you know what’s real?
They try to control everything we think we know
They come complete with instructions on our defeat
On our defeat
On our defeat
Our defeat
Working interpretation · analysis
Interpretation note: This is analysis of the supplied lyrics, not an authoritative statement of authorial intent.
The opening sets opposing groups against each other and suggests they may even enjoy fighting. Television then becomes a way of shaping what people know and feel, while the refrain describes the result as “instructions on our defeat.” A working reading is that conflict and mediated certainty make people easier to control. The repeated question “Do you know what’s real?” leaves that concern unresolved rather than supplying an answer.
Themes
systems, failure, complicity, inevitability