Nothing Changes

MGMT's 'Nothing Changes' delves into the existential dread and the feeling of being trapped in a cycle of stagnation. The song opens with a reference to divine beings, suggesting a higher power's acknowledgment that nothing ever truly changes. This sets the tone for the rest of the song, where the narrator feels lost and out of place, yearning for a transformation that seems perpetually out of reach. The mention of falling through the Pleiades—a cluster of stars—into a cloud symbolizes a descent from a place of beauty and wonder into obscurity and confusion, highlighting the narrator's sense of disorientation and helplessness.

The lyrics also touch on themes of missed opportunities and the consequences of inaction. The line, 'And maybe you'd have heard if you'd stopped fucking around / When it was time to stop pretending,' suggests a moment of realization that comes too late. The narrator reflects on the futility of their efforts to change, feeling deceived by the gods and trapped in a state of unchanging reality. This sense of betrayal and frustration is palpable, as the narrator grapples with the idea that despite their desire for change, they are stuck in an unalterable situation.

The imagery of 'thrusting the dagger into the night' and 'fortifying the curtain walls' evokes a sense of futile struggle. The narrator's efforts to break free from their circumstances are met with resistance, and the repetition of 'nothing's gonna change' reinforces the theme of hopelessness. The song's melancholic tone and introspective lyrics invite listeners to reflect on their own experiences of feeling stuck and the universal human desire for change and growth. MGMT's 'Nothing Changes' serves as a poignant reminder of the challenges of overcoming inertia and the often disheartening reality that some things may never change, no matter how much we wish they would.