Song Details
- Album Release Date: 2012
- Album Name: Ten Stories
Song Meaning (Interpretation) of “Cardiff Giant” by mewithoutYou
“Cardiff Giant” by mewithoutYou paints a picture of someone feeling trapped in an existential crisis in order to survive an emotional binary. The lyrics evoke a feeling of complete helplessness as the narrator feels like they cannot break out of their self-imposed prison. Despite being desperate to escape, they are stuck the same cycle paradoxically yearning to break free from a world of pretense yet also seeking acceptance and validation from those around them. This dilemma forces the narrator to build up an ever-growing wall of defense and protection, as witnessed in the lyric “Two giant towers fill up blank sky, one left one right the Cardiff Giant eye”. The Cardiff Giant thus represents the defensive barriers that the narrator has built up in order to not succumb to the harshness of the world.
As the chorus of “Cardiff Giant” reiterates “I look up and see the Cardiff Giant/Every eye tries to fix me in its sight”, the narrator is fixated on finding an answer that will break through these barriers and ultimately free them from the cycle. By the song’s conclusion, the narrator is still searching for a way to cope and liberation is still yet to be found. Ultimately, the song illustrates the feeling of being stuck in a loop, putting in the work but not seeing the desired results. With the chiming of dissonant guitars and the lyrical repetition, mewithoutYou’s “Cardiff Giant” taps into this feeling of bewilderment as one looks inward and grapples with the overwhelming urges of individualism and societal pressure.