Courtesy of The American Reader.

You may or may not have been around a few Wednesdays ago when the American University chapter of the Young Americans for Liberty tabled in front of MGC to spread the word about their current project Incarceration Nation, with the intent of informing students about the high levels of incarceration for non-violent crimes, including drug possession and underage drinking. I was involved for a bit, but the whole time I was constantly reminded of Admiral Fallow‰’s “Guest of the Government,‰” from their 2012 record Tree Bursts in Snow. 

Hailing from Glasgow, Admiral Fallow is another of my favorite bands in the same vein as Frightened Rabbit. Blending folk with aspects of arena-style rock, both bands fill a certain niche so well that I don‰’t think there is any more room there to be honest (but who am I to predict the future?). Anyway, “Guest of the Government‰” has a very abstract story that, at first listen, doesn‰’t seem to say much. But upon a closer listening, as with most songs I write about, there is deep social commentary. The first verse begins to spin the tale: 

So you‰’ve tied your colours to the mast
Held up your white bag with the highest flag
Lock the bathroom door, boy, have a blast
Use the flush to justify the aftermath

Looking into the somewhat convoluted symbolism here, the story is shaping up to involve someone going into a bathroom to use drugs. “T[ying] your colours to the mast‰” in context with “h[olding] up your white bag with the highest flag‰” are the most clear examples of this. The “white bag‰” presumably houses some type of drug, and when compared to a flag that is also white, Admiral Fallow is commenting on the fact that drug users are peaceful individuals (at least for the most part). The chorus then continues this message while seeming somewhat unrelated to the verse:

Oh, look now you‰’re a guest of the Government
Oh caught out peering over the parapet
Look now you‰’re a guest of the Government

As this person becomes a “guest of the government‰” after they leave the bathroom, it is clear that what happened in the bathroom is the cause of this state, but a critical question remains: what exactly is a “guest of the government?‰” Well, if you‰’re staying temporarily under the care of the government, it is quite clear that you are in jail. So, beginning with the verse and the chorus, Admiral Fallow has already begun the commentary: they feel that non-violent offenders should not be incarcerated, at least not to the extent that they are. The bridge of the song then continues this message but in even more abstract terms:

It‰’s the eager barflies and the fashionably late
The tug between those who come to drink and those to create
By the end of the night it‰’s all been granted the old news shrug
And we all fall gently in a comfortable hug
And with both eyes on watch and a trip to the Baltic states
And the love slowly conquers like rust on a gate
Though the surface can scratch you and the colour can fade
It‰’s the feeling that starts in the tips of your toes as you rise up again

And then it rockets into a final repetition of the chorus, but it is the trippy visuals that truly make the bridge as effective as it is. While the clarinet plays repetitive riffs in the background, these lyrics seem to tell the story of someone using drugs and getting high. The chorus then is repeated, which has the same effect as before in making the meaning of the previous section increasingly clear.

Throughout the course of this song, Admiral Fallow is doing something that many artists do in their music: making political statements. However, they are doing it in such a seemingly abstract and obscure way that many may not even get the message. When you finally do understand the message, you have already put such thought into it that you are willing to think about your views on this subject. I know I have.

Courtesy of Spotify.