Quoth Scott Dodson <dodsonsblehproductions@mail.utexas.edu>:

BEFORE YOU READ THIS, KNOW THAT IT IS A COMPLETE OVER ANALYSIS OF A SONG!

Hello there. Two days ago, someone wrote in asking if anyone had any interpretations of "Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head." At that point I didn't, but having posted a pretty okay interpretation of "Mrs. Train" and having received a few compliments on it, I thought I'd give this song a swing. What you are about to read is long and it is very detailed. I did this for a reason. My Narrative Strategies professor says that everything in the story counts whether it was intended by the author or not. This means that anything you want to read into a song, story, movie, or video is probably correct simply because you interpreted it that way. Besides, this interpreting will be good practice for a film analysis I have to do tomorrow for a class.

THIS IS WHAT I GOT FROM THE SONG ITSELF:

As you body floats down Third Street

It's just another day for you, walkin' to work, just like everybody else.

With the burn-smell factory closing up

Your job will close soon and you'll have to make a choice about what to do with your life.

Yes it's sad to say you will romanticize
All the things you've known before

It's sad that you are nostalgic about your life

It was not so great

It wasn't a good enough life for you to be nostalgic

And as you take a bath in that beaten path

You are a follower of the crowd, not your own person

there's a pounding at the door

(A realization perhaps?)

It's a mighty zombie talking of some love and posterity

A guy who wants to keep your nostalgia alive

He says "The good old days never say good-bye
if you keep this in your mind:
You need some loving arms"
And as you fall from grace the only words you say are

You lose all hope of being your own person. You fall in line and in doing so, fall from grace. (I'm not sure about that part.)

Put your hand inside the puppet head

This is the chant of the follower

Ads up in the subway are the work of someone
Trying to please their boss
And though the guy's a pig we all know what he wants
Is just to please somebody else

People of the world aren't thinking for themselves. They just try to please whoever is in charge of them so that they can advance themselves

If the puppet head was only busted in
It would be a better thing for everyone involved
and we wouldn't have to cry

if we would drop this facade, the world would be a happier place. (I know I know! A bit sappy)

Put your hand inside the puppet head
Quit my job down at the carwash

I went agains the grain. I didn't follow the norm.

Didn't have to write no-one a good-bye note
That reads: "That check's in the mail, and
I'll see you in church, and don't you ever change"

Didn't have to conform to the cliches of the world

If the puppet head was only busted in

If I could only be my own person

I'll see you after school

But I'm conforming anyway

Put your hand inside the puppet head

I also watched the video to see what I could see, but I've already made this post too long, so I'll wait for tomorrow before I say anything about that. I hoped you liked my interpretation. It is only the way that I see the song, so if you don't agree, that's fine. Actually, if you have a different take on the song, I'd love to hear it. I'm open to that! Thanks to the person who asked about the song. Before today, I don't think I had much of an opinion regarding it. Adios until tomorrow's over-analyzation.

Scott

Quoth Tim Connolly <dconnl@mail.fishnet.net>:

I was sitting in the bathtub this morning when I began to think about the song "Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head" when it hit me. The song is talking about cults. Think about it. Here's what the song means, line by line:

Except for the first stanza, which so far has no connection to the point of the song, everything else fits. Here goes.

"Well, it's a mighty zombie talking of some love and posterity,
Said, 'The good old days never say goodbye if you keep this in your mind.
You need some lo-lo-loving arms,
You need some lo-lo-loving arms.'"

Flans is talking about a Jehovah's witness going door-to-door trying to convert people to their religion, saying that the days of Jesus' life (the good old days) will stay with you if you join them (You need some loving arms).

"Ads up in the subway are the work of someone trying to please their boss,
And though the guy's a pig, we all know what he wants, and that's to please somebody else."

Propaganda techniques (by putting ads up in the subway) are used to try to get people to convert. Though we hate the guy for doing it and placing ads for little-known churches where a Coca-Cola ad should be, we sympathize for him, since he's being controlled by the chruch to do so.

"If the pup-pup-puppet head was only bu-bu-busted in,
It'd be a better thing for everyone involved, and we wouldn't have to cry,"

If somebody to get these followers out of their trance (by busting the puppet head) the'd finally get some sense and no longer chant the chorus:

"Put your hand inside the puppet head." (repeated)

In this case, the puppet head must be the God that the cult is based upon, and putting one's hand inside must supposedly give them power.

"Memo to myself: Do the dumb things I gotta do, touch the puppet head."

The guy is so caught up in his religion that the only thing important to him is touvhing the puupet head, and even things necessary to survive are considered "Dumb."

"Quit my job down at the car wash, didn't have to write no one a goodbye note,
That says 'the check's in the mail, and I'll see you in church, and don't you ever change.'"

The person who wrote the note is probably one of many followers who are about to commit mass suicide. Since s/he isn't coming back, s/he doesn't have to say all the above stuff.

Well, that's about it. If anyone can help clarify the first half of the first verse, please respond.

Quoth Whatinthe <whatinthe@aol.com>:

PuppetHead is about feeling like being used just by trying to fit into society and getting a day job.

Think About It

Quoth Michael Langdon <Ruprecht76@aol.com>:

This isn't an interpretation of Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head, but it is useless fact concerning the song in an episode of the Simpsons, Homer is going to commit suicide for some reason and write his suicide note on post it notes from their fridge that say "memo to myself: do the dumb things I gotta do" this reveals that either a) THEY got that line from some post it notes or b) the writer (presumably Conan O'Brian) or cartoonist for that episode was a big time TMBG fan.

Quoth Jake <jmd45@columbia.edu>:

in "put your hand inside the puppet head", the lyrics, "as you walk down third street" refers to third street in park slope, brooklyn, where they might be giants lived for three years.

the "burn smell factory" is a coffee grinding factory located on third avenue and second street, which routinely emitted a burning coffee grind smell every morning, until it burned down in 1991.

park slope references abound on all tmbg records.

Quoth Benjamin Hauck <benhauck@freenet.columbus.oh.us>:

To start off generally, this song serves as solid evidence for the undermining of intrinsic motivation, and the rising of extrinsic motivation. (For an in-depth discussion of the two motivations and the theories behind them, consult Alfie Kohn's recent book, Punished by Rewards. The ideas in it shed a whole new light on its message.)

Briefly, intrinsic motivation is what we as humans naturally have; it is the motivation we have to do things for ourselves without any incentive pushing us. An artist may design a sculpture on his own, utilizing intrinsic motivation.

Extrinsic motivation is what gets humans to do things and perform tasks by using treats, incentives, and rewards. Because of the salary, we do our jobs. Because of the sticker, (some) students do their work. Key to this idea is that without the reward at the end on the line, the person would probably not perform the task.

With the rise of extrinsic motivation (in theory), people will undermine their intrinsic motivation because for the things they love to do on their own, they will want to be compensated in some way eventually. And if they are not compensated to their liking, they won't perform what they love to do. What is suggested to combat this resulting extrinsic motivation is the subtraction of rewards, incentives, praise, and the like. Without them, it is theorized that intrinsic motivation will increase, and people will be happier and doing the things they love with love.

Let's explore line-by-line:

As your body floats down Third Street
With the burn-smell factory closing up

Quite possibly this "Third Street" is a direct reference to a street with which I am not familiar. I won't touch the reality. Yet, a body, "your body," floating down it brings images to me of lifelessness.

And this lifeless person could be fired from his job, a fired worker at a closing factory that emits burn-smells. Why might he be lifeless? Read on:

Yes it's sad to say you will romanticize
All the things you've known before

"Sad." Perhaps the singer says 'twill be so because he will look back at his past and start thinking about his choices. In this time of tragedy, this time after he's been fired, he'll quite possibly consider, "Where did I go wrong? Should I have taken that job? Could I have done something better? Man, I'm not really motivated to do anything--that is, unless I get paid enough to do it."

He might even look back at the time he had to make a big occupational choice or the like and think about what he knew was better to do but didn't do. (Perhaps he's looking back now thinking, I shouldn't've taken that stupid job just for the money and I knew it--I knew I'd turn out like this.)

[Feel free to disagree with me on any of these points here, ya'll!]

It was not so great

That is, "not so great" was that job, that offered fringe benefits and overtime pay and awards and rewards. Why?--because the result was the singer's undermined intrinsic motivation.

And as you take a bath in that beaten path

Or, in other words, "As you think about your lifeless self as you walk down Third Street in a muddle."

there's a pounding at the door
(Well,) It's a mighty zombie talking of some love and posterity

This "zombie" shows up. A zombie is a lifeless fellow, one quite possibly thought of as dazed, comatose, or hypnotized. This "zombie," for the sake of this interp, is The Average Worker who works for the pay, who preaches we should work for the pay. And he has arrived to preach to the singer, offering a new life with another job--which again sounds appealing with its fringe benefits and awards and rewards.

He says "The good old days never say good-bye
if you keep this in your mind:
You need some loving arms"

The preaching's of Mr. Average Man, Mr. Zombie. The "loving arms" to which he refers are the comforting workhalls of the zombie's place of occupation, where he knows that by giving in to the benefits and such, the singer will be happy. The zombie is brainwashing the singer.

And as you fall from grace the only words you say are
Put your hand inside the puppet head

The singer is yet again trapped in the world of extrinsic motivation, as indicated by his "fall from grace." But he knows in the back of his mind that his intrinsic motivation wants to fight.

Now, what's this "puppet head" stuff? It is a symbol of control, most definitely. By inserting the hand inside the puppet head, one can control and manipulate. The clause "Put your hand inside the puppet head" is in command/imperative form (we're talkin' grammar here), so the singer is asserting to his listeners to have them take control of their own lives.

Ads up in the subway are the work or someone
Trying to please their boss
And though the guy's a pig we all know what he wants
Is just to please someone else

This stanza/strophe parallels the notion of extrinsic motivation to a T (MBG, hee-hee). The worker the singer describes does his work to please his boss--not for himself, via utilizing his intrinsic motivation. He is working "just" to please his boss. The worker is hyponotized by extrinsic motivators, what his boss has--his pay, his power to give him a raise or a promotion.

If the puppet head was only busted in

I think "puppet head" is used in a different sense here. Here, "puppet head" refers to "the head of the puppets," i.e., the boss. The boss is the controller in the relationship, and here the singer is postulating about the absence of such a boss.

It would be a better thing for everyone involved
and we wouldn't have to cry

This is Alfie Kohn teaching almost verbatim. Alfie says in his book that without everyone working for the rewards or the raise, etc., 'twould "be a better thing for everyone involved"! The reference to crying is the complaining people do about their work, whining about how they are not paid enough--how they are extrinsically motivated.

Put your hand inside the puppet head
Memo to myself:
"Do the dumb things I gotta do.
Touch the puppet head."

This was a memo written as some kind of maxim to get the singer through life. It is a pathetic example of undermining intrinsic motivation. The "Touch the puppet head" command is equivalent to "Kiss ass."

Quit my job down at the carwash

This phrase could be preceded by the word "I"--for you to decide. I think the singer here means that he *did* quit his job at the carwash, rather than commanding himself to do so--especially when looking at the following lines.

Didn't have to write no one a good-bye note

What freedom is in this line! The person is away from his working-class blues, and away from the world in which he must suck up to get anywhere. He has asserted himself, and put his hand in that puppet head.

That reads: "The check's in the mail, and
I'll see you in church, and don't you ever change"

The quoted phrases are all cliches that are rarely sincere. Since the singer has quit his job, he doesn't have to suck up with meaningless drivel.

If the puppet head was only busted in
I'll see you after school

Or, in other words, "If the controller were overthrown, time would open up for things I want to do, such as playing instead of working after school." (Aren't you glad I didn't write the lyrics!)

Quoth Brenden Rensink <brensink@bhs3.bham.wednet.edu>:

As your body floats down Thrid Street
With the burn smell factory closing up
Yes it's sad to say you will romanticize
All the things you've known before
It was not so great

I am not quite sure what the 3rd street burn smell factory thing is but.. It says how it is sad that you will be glorifying the old days, even though they sucked.

And as you take a bath in that beaten path

As in, right now you are just going along with eery one else in the world. Not being your self.

there's a pounding at the door
It's a mighty zombie talking of some love and posterity

A zombie always make me think of something walking around with no brains. So there is a person, maybe some else that is just going along with the rest of the world, haveing no thoughts of there own that brings up the idea that...

He says, "The good old days never say good-bye
I you keep this in your mind
You need some loving arms"

... that the old days will never leave you, (even though they sucked) if you remember that you always need something to fall back on. Something to hold on to.

And as you fall from grace the only words you say are
Put you hand inside the puppet head

And now, as you are giving in to the pressures of the world to conform, (falling from grace), you start preaching the words that to survive, we need to act like ourt authority wants us to. There is the little analogy that we all wear masks. It is kind of like that. That we need to put our hand inside the puppet head, and hide our true self.

Ads up in the subwya are the work of someone
trying to please their boss
and though the guys a pig we all know what he wants
Is just to please somebody else

So here is an example of a person that is conforming. He is a pig because he is going around doing what ever his boss wants him to. Whether he wants to or not, he is doing it to please his authorative figure.

If the puppet head was only busted in
It would be a better thing for everyone involved
and we wouldn't have to cry

So if this whole thing with society, (that we need to hide our real selves, and basically be like zombies), would go away, we would have no worries, and every thing would be great.

Put you hand inside the puppet head

But of course, we must give into the pressure. We want to break free, and we dream of breaking free, but we end up giving in, and conforming

Memo to myself
Do the dumb thins I gotta do
touch the puppet head

So he wants to do what ever he wants right? But he has to write himself a memo, reminding him that so survive, he needs to do all the crap that he has to do, and to act like every one else.

Quit my job down at the car wash
Didn't have to write no one a good-bye note
That reads: "The check's in the mail, and
I'll see you in church, and don't you ever change"

It is kind of the picturesque scenerio. You hate you job so you completely break the rules of society, and just quit, and blow them off. Kind of the "Kiss my butt, I don't care what you guys say" type thing.

If the puppet head was only busted in
I'll see you after