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WEBMISTRESS speculates:
The themes of this song seem to be discouragement, disappointment, dissatisfaction, dismay, and disillusionment. How's that for alliteration? It seems like the song of a man who looks at his life and it's not the way he wants it to be. It's not simply that he's unhappy because he hasn't really achieved his goals, but more that the world around him has let him down and made his goals either impossible to achieve or no longer worth the effort.
What were those goals? I believe, by planting seeds, he's talking about changing the world for the better - more specifically, making music. However, those efforts are frustrated by corporate greed. The only way he feels he can be true to himself is by isolation from that kind of element. If he is indeed speaking of a record company, going it completely alone would not really be feasible, which could be part of the problem. He has the free will to walk his own way when he wants to, but if he does so, what happens to his chance at getting his music out there for people to listen to at all?
So, he compromises. And in the next verses, he expresses dissatisfaction with the compromises he's made along the way - he hasn't really gone his own way, he's gone along with things that he didn't sincerely believe in. He has to pretend that he cares, that he's happy with the way things are, but none of that's true. He feels ashamed and defeated. Living a lie is beating down his spirit until the light in his eyes is extinguished and his zest for living is gone.
The bridge conveys the futility of trying to fulfill societal expectations while being true to yourself. If you try to express yourself in a way that does not conform to those expectations or desires, then you get slapped down or, worse, dismissed as an irrelevant noisemaker and ignored completely. Now THAT would certainly turn a famous musician inside-out.
Isn't that sad? What's the world coming to?
Want to speculate about "What's the World Coming To?" E-mail me and I'll post your comments.