Contributors:

The TMBG Early Years Handbook

The TMBG FAQ

Jonathan Chaffer

First off, some references and notes in the song: The "backwards message" at the beginning is bunk. The story goes that They thought it would be neat to have backwards-sounding noises at that moment, and so they improvised gibberish sounds that sound like they were recorded backwards. It is unclear whether the recording itself was done backwards or forwards, but it does not matter because there is no hidden message. As for "Sadly, the Cross-Eyed Bear," this is a pun on the hymn titled "Gladly the Cross I'd Bear." The joke is not new with Them, though; many children in Sunday Schools everywhere had made the same or similar substitutions. Finally, "shoes are laced with irony" is a pun, because "laced" is being used simultaneously to mean tied, as in shoelaces, and including a small amount, as in lacing a drink with poison.

As for the actual meaning of the song, it could be many things. The best offered so far is that it is a simple paranoia song. Someone is coming after the singer's family, so he is telling them to hide.