As I think I mentioned previously, I am not a big fan of the most recent NP album, despite being fairly bullish about their previous records. This song however is one of the standouts. It actually has the dynamics and energy of the Twin Cinema without the weird inertia that takes over so much of Challengers.
I'm also the kind of guy who can spend hours staring into the Rorschach blot that are Carl Newman's lyrics. Unlike other abstract lyricist Newman doesn't really throw Dada at the wall (Like Pollard) or deal in ominous insinuations (Like Yorke)...his songs seem to actually mean something...or at least have the semblance of meaning something...if only you had the appropriate Rosetta Stone.
This song for instance may or may not have a fantastic pun in it...I just don't know. It's possible that this song is actually about the book of Revelations and the references to John and Gabriel and the numbers could all be read at face value. Perhaps the song is about someone who believes the word is ending...or about the falacy of believing the world is going to end in a biblical apocalypse (as oppossed to the rather mundane drowning polar bear apocalypse we seem to be approaching).
Or alternately, the song could be about music. The John of the first line could be bass player/producer John Collins (though this gives no answer to who Gabriel is) and the "numbers" are sales figures. And maybe that line in the chorus is NOT "The Princess of the Paupers" but "The Princess of the Poppers"...which is actually really funny...if that's what he means...but I clearly have no idea.
I'm going to shut up now.
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