Quoth Erin Lynn <badger@nwlink.com>:

To start with, you have to imagine having just been through a really cool relationship, and the person you were involved with has just left. Gone. You lay your head on the tracks, and the realization hits you--that person is gone and never coming back. You look up at the night sky, and there he is, Orion, looking back at you. At first you might envy him--he's up there, can see the entire world, and he knows where your love is, he can see that person and you can't. But then you realize Orion doesn't have anything either. No cigar, no lady on his arm; he's famous because he's a guy made of dots and lines. And that's the way you feel.

I suppose the second verse could be taking that image even further, that you've projected yourself onto that guy in the sky, or that you've finally fallen asleep and are dreaming. But a lot of TMBG songs are like that.

Quoth Ford Prefect <Ford@nwinfo.net>:

I, personally have always found this to be my favorite TMBG song, and that is because what they are singing about is a person like me, a guy with "no cigar, no lady in his arms, just a guy made of dots and lines" which pertains to someone (the guy who lays his upon the railroad tracks) who has maybe just moved to a new town ("two years ago, moved from my town") and really maybe doesn't like the stress that he gets while being a cool person. I've talked to "cool" people, and usually they are always frantic as to what they can and can't do, for if they accidentally do something stupid, they will lose the title "cool", this, can cause a LOT of stress on a person, thats why the guy staring at the sky envy's the perpetual "loser" (guy that has no worries since no one cares what he does) for he never has any problems and is nearly always happy.

Quoth doug hill <dhill@imb.com>:

I think the song is about someone who realizes the fruitlessness of eternal fame, or "stardom" after the death or a virtuous person. The speaker realizes that there isn't anything to the immortality of "stardom" other than the recognition of the "star's" life.

As far as any of us know, after we die, no matter how famous or virtous our lives were, no one sees us smoking cigars after them! If we're lucky we get a street named after us or, like in this song, a constellation.

Quoth <Jordan1c@aol.com>:

this isnt really an interpertation, but an observation. as the song is fading out in the end, there is this odd elavator- like music. the only way to hear it is if you turn the volume up all the way on your home stereo. at first you hear it in the backround, then the guitar fades out and you hear the elavator music fade out after it.

Quoth Charles Wheeler <cwheeler@po.pacific.net.sg>:

I agreee with most people when theey say how Orion is, though famous, nothing special. He has nothing. I think they're missing something though. When he 'moved from his town' you can connect that to the Railroad track bit, but if you look farther into the song you see a bit about him dressed in black looking down. I think this guy became Orion (I don't know how). He also shows that he has a different perspective than the listener, the listener being on the planet, henace, Can you hear what I see... (He is seeing it, but we can only hear it.

Quoth Matt Shapiro <shapir15@pilot.msu.edu>:

Again, we have another good-hearted swipe at the musical styles of the time. I think this song sounds like a mix between Ministry's "N.W.O.", and Nirvana (fill in the song of your choice here), who were becoming popular around 1992, when this song was released.

Giantisms:

• "Can you hear what I see"