Contributors:

Jonathan Chaffer

James Chen

Alex Dickow

Kari Bauer

Hall of Heads is one of those interesting TMBG tunes that very well could be about nothing in particular, but lends itself well to several good interpretations. On the surface, the song describes some shadowy place known as the "Hall of Heads," in which people get trapped and cannot leave. They cannot hide from whatever it is that is trying to get them, either.

One interp deals with a similarity between the ideas in the song and a scene in Return to Oz (a sequel to the Wizard of Oz). In this scene, the heroes are trapped by a witch who has the ability to remove her head. She has a long hallway of replacement heads, which she can attach to her body at will. So, the Johns could be referring to this part of the book/movie.

The second reading involves substituting the word "rat" for head, and treating the Hall as a research lab. Basically, there is a big hallway of rats that cannot leave, but would like to. They cannot hide in their small cages, but attempt to get places where they can (behind the furnace).

The third is that the heads are coins, and the Hall is a piggy bank. The coins cannot leave the bank once they enter the "keyhole" at the top of the bank, until the bank is broken. The "special head" could indeed be a special or lucky coin of some sort. Coins are found hidden in places like under porches and behind furnaces. The coins can't run because they don't have feet.