Get your own Free Home PageThe childish theme is reinforced in the chorus. "Throw the crib door wide/Let the people crawl inside" can be seen as a return to childhood. Cribs and crawling are, of course, associated with babies.
In the chorus, we learn that "Someone in this town/Is trying to burn their playhouse down./They want to stop the ones who want a rock to wind a string around." This could refer to people who insist that everyone "grow up," act mature, and quit playing (or winding string around rocks). It is interesting to note, however, that "EVERYBODY wants a rock to wind a piece of string around." This means that the one who is trying to "burn their playhouse down" secretly wants to return to childhood himself. This is assuming that the playhouse-burner is a person. It could just as easily be a personification of time or old age. This would explain why this "someone" is also trying to "burn their foreheads down." As people age, their foreheads become worn and wrinkled.
The second verse is a little more confusing. Where does the "If I were a carpenter" line come from? Was it a part of an earlier song? Anyway, the singer has a piggy bank, another symbol of childhood. As for the prosthetic foreheads, I have come up with two possibilities, neither of which are really very good. The prosthetic foreheads could represent Halloween costumes, which are usually only worn by children. The other possibility is that the prosthetic foreheads would not show the wrinkles left on real heads by age. Hence, the people can look younger, and this would let them feel and act younger. Of course, you probably couldn't really get a prosthetic forehead for seven dollars, but this small amount would seem like a large amount to a child, so it is yet another reinforcement of the youth theme.
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