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“He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands” is a religious spiritual to say that God knows everything and controls the world. Despot’s character represents those in power over the world, that their grip is so tight on it the globe is choking. Also how irresponsible they are in running the world as they are willing to just pass it off to the next guy, some mind-bending imagery.

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The hook to this song is made up of multiple slogans for the Stepfather Factory the song deals with. Jamie Meline had some bad experiences with paternal figures in his childhood: a father who abandoned his family, and at least one stepfather who was physically abusive towards his mother, as documented in the Company Flow song “Last Good Sleep”.

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This is either just El talking about the recording booth, or is supposed to be the complaints of a blue-collar worker at the titular factory.

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El will not let such a thing occur while he’s around, and expresses that nobody else would agree with the “sacrifice device” (suicide) and the supposedly “insurmountable” regret that led to it.

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The suicide victim has not solved the problems they have created for others with their death, nor have they achieved a sentimental, poetic ending to their life story.

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El-p aggressively asserts that should the unnamed person (possibly himself) contemplating suicide go ahead with it, their memory would not be a positive one. It is no longer a decision that rests solely with the contemplator, and all the drama that preceded it has ended.

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Being born in the city, it’s easier to get caught up in its seedier side.

Poisenville refers to NYC, to a city he loves, but at the same time perceives as toxic. Poisenville also refers to using opiates as a way of life. If you grow up surrounded by addiction, it might seem more normal and less repulsive.

The “seduction less repugnant” line is a reference to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Clementine encourages Joel to get drunk before trying to woo her:

Drink up, young man. It’ll make the whole seduction part less repugnant.

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“Grey” references ‘50s sci-fi aliens, and as he’s been rejected by them, that makes him alienated by aliens. This is reinforced by the use of “maroon”, simultaneously a color and the action of abandoning someone on an island.

El-P stands in the center of this beautiful scene, but seems out of place: lost and alone, trapped with his thoughts, the only speck of grey in a world of brilliant color.

Although the sky is wonderful, there’s also something removed and even threatening about it. It’s the place where the thunder lived, as if it holds this terrible beast.

The “blizzard of mischief or brain prison” could be heroin, which is filtered through cotton wool. Heroin’s extremely addictive nature can make it feel like a trap.

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The hook used in the album’s opening song “Tasmanian Pain Coaster”: things have come full circle.

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Just some outro shouts, the “mofos looking strange” being those who would step to Vast and El.

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