We’re nearing the end of the year, and for Absoludicrous, that means the upcoming return of my annual Top 30 list. It’s a lot of work, usually, but this year it’s even bigger for reasons I’m holding off from mentioning. Next week things will be a little clearer, but in the meantime, I wanted to do a short, fun, and simple post analyzing a song I really love.
“Little Dark Age” by MGMT is a breathtakingly beautiful song that, at this point, has gone viral on TikTok not once but twice. I always liked the song, but it was these two instances of virality that finally got me paying attention to the lyrics, and without spoiling it I’ll say I think it’s deeply relevant to today’s current events. Lets take a dive into the swirling, dark, and oddly hopeful messages in this fantastic song.
“Breathing in the dark, lying on its side
The ruins of the dead painted with a scar
And the more I straighten out, the less it wants to try
The feelings start to rot, one week at a time”
What becomes clear about “Little Dark Age” is its ceaseless pace. Unlike a regular pop-structured song, the song’s choruses and verses meld together in an unrelenting spiral. There is a definitive refrain, but the way it repeats never gives way to a proper structure. This is important to understanding the messaging of the song, because it appears to be delving into the mentality of a deeply depressed person.
This first verse introduces the idea of the narrator’s depression. They describe lying in the dark, and images of decay permeate the scene. “Ruins of the dead” and feelings that “rot” conjure up images of something still, slowly decaying away, and yet the song reminds us that this rotting away is not because of death – the person is still breathing.
Interesting too is the division between the narrator and an “it” which appears to be doing the rotting, shown in the third line of this verse. You get the feeling that this narrator is being held captive, held in place, by this “it.”
“Oh,
Forgiving who you are for what you stand to gain
Just know that if you hide, it doesn’t go away
When you get out of bed, don’t end up stranded
Horrified with each stone on the stageMy little dark age“
The first chorus of the song picks up immediately, taking on an almost advisory tone. Whereas we have already been introduced to the narrator themselves and the “it” of the first verse, this “you” is a new perspective, almost as if the narrator is turning to the audience and commenting on what is happening. In this case, the opening lines of the chorus remind the audience that forgiving oneself is important for growth, but also seems to state that that forgiveness doesn’t solve problems.
Taking into account the depression imagery of the verse before, I wonder if this line is encouraging listeners affected by mental illness to forgive themselves for the harm they have done to themselves and others in the interest of healing, but warns them that doing so doesn’t solve problems on its own – you must address them without hiding.
This chorus also introduces a setting of a stage, which will come up repeatedly throughout the song. To me, the stage comes to represent the expectation of performance pushed onto us all by the internet and social media. This chorus warns the audience of the danger of getting stuck on this stage, performing something that isn’t real.
Finally, we get the title, “Little Dark Age,” which is, I think, a really layered statement. On one hand, it refers to depression, a dark time in someone’s life. On another, it could take up a similar meaning to the historical Dark Ages, a time when knowledge was ignored and hidden away by the powers that be. Perhaps, then, the term also refers to a time in this narrator’s life when they are hiding parts of themselves purposefully away, keeping themselves and others around them ignorant of their true nature.
“Picking through the cards, knowing what’s nearby
The carvings on the face say they find it hard
And the engine’s failed again, all limits of disguise
The humor’s not the same, coming from denial”
The first two lines of this verse, in my mind, both refer to types of fortune telling. “The cards” that know what’s nearby feel like a reference to tarot, while “carvings on the face” might refer to rune stones, which are also used to tell the future. These two lines find a narrator desperate to know what is in store for them, and the next two lines might suggest why they feel that way.
To me, “the engine’s failed again” might refer to a dissatisfaction with the way society has failed this narrator. This is further suggested by the second half of that line, referring to the “limits of disguise.” In my mind, this is a criticism of how societal ills are often covered up rather than challenged and dismantled, with this narrator now able to see past this ruse. In response, though, they are powerless, only able to joke about it, as the last line suggests that their humor comes from “denial,” possibly of the problems they are seeing.
“Oh
I grieve in stereo, the stereo sounds strange
I know that if you hide, it doesn’t go away
If you get out of bed and find me standing all alone
Open-eyed, burn the pageMy little dark age”
“Stereo” refers to a way of listening to audio where there are two channels – left and right – for each ear. To “grieve in stereo” seems to suggest duality, like the narrator is being inundated with grief from all sides. To me it also calls back to what I talked about earlier with the “stage,” perhaps this is a narrator overwhelmed by the tragedy reaching them from the internet, social media, TV news, and more all at once. Yet, the narrator acknowledges that despite how overwhelming it all is, they must do something against it, because hiding from it won’t make the problem better.
The second half of this chorus seems to reach out to the audience for help this time. Rather than providing advice, the narrator is asking those listening to watch them and make sure that if they become too overwhelmed by everything, they should “burn the page.” To me I feel like this may be the narrator asking for help cutting themselves off from social media and other streams of tragic news. They’re looking for an escape rope from everything overwhelming them.
“Giddy with delight, seeing what’s to come
The image of the dead, dead ends in my mind“
I’ve seen many people interpret these two lines to be about the narrator’s decision to end their own life, which might align with the common phenomenon of suicidal people feeling comforted by their plan to end it all. I do think this is a valid reading of the song, but I also think this line is interesting in light of the next verse, so I’ll consider it alongside that verse:
“Policemen swear to God, love’s seeping from the guns
I know my friends and I would probably turn and run
If you get out of bed,come find us heading for the bridge
Bring a stone, all the rageMy little dark age”
This is probably my favorite verse of the song, and the one that most made me want to write this analysis. The opening line is a little grammatically difficult to parse, but basically it’s saying that policemen swear that guns are a tool of peace. The biblical imagery points to the fundamentalism inherent to the idea that police shooting down unarmed civilians is a sacred right they alone have, and therefore they escape any consequences such a violent act might normally incur. The second line empathizes with the murdered black people who so commonly become the focus of headlines – the narrator stating that they too would be terrified to face a hostile policeman with a gun, and may also not comply with the police out of fear for their own lives.
The next two lines, then, show the first moments of hope and action on the part of the narrator throughout the song. They state that they are “heading for the bridge” and bringing “a stone.” Again, this line might suggest suicide, but another read of it in light of the lines before might suggest protest instead. The narrator is encouraging the audience to come along with them and bring a stone, which feels in solidarity with protests against police brutality (often including protesters who must arm themselves against the police using rudimentary weapons like stones).
With these lines taken in tandem with the verse before, I wonder if the ending of the song is a call to action instead of a narrator ending their own lives – inspired by their despair at the overwhelming crush of everything around them, they use that despair to motivate them to do all they can, inspired by the “images of the dead” who need someone to advocate for them.
Ultimately, I think it’s up to interpretation, but it’s a beautiful and timely song regardless.
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