Square One - Intellectual

[Verse 1]

I’ve been watching the wheels turning

But I’m learning to enjoy the ride on the road to nowhere

I hope we get there soon

’Cause it’s a place we’ve been before

Knocking on purgatory’s door

To find a place in the sun

A chameleon changing colors on demand

[Chorus]

‘Cause this is life and it’s alright

Taking detours in your mind

You’ll be fine if you try

To keep your eyes on the consolation prize

When you lower your expectations

And you’ve run out of patience

It’s all a part of the plan when you’re lost in the world

And you’re going down hard for the girl

[Verse 2]

I’ve been running the lights in the city

Saying "Who can I be running from?"

My demons told my skeletons, "He won’t get very far"

And when I got to the dark side of the moon

All the trouble I thought I knew

It left me out in the cold

Spinning out of control on a broken carousel

[Chorus]

Now tell me this is life and it’s alright

Chasing windmills in your mind

You’ll be fine if you try

To keep your eyes on the consolation prize

On the road to tomorrow

Gonna have to beg, steal, or borrow

It’s all a part of the plan when you’re dead to the world

And you’re going down hard for the girl

[Bridge]

For the girl

See you on the other side of love all alone

For the girl

Sooner or later at the end of the world

For the girl

See you on the other side of love all alone

For the girl

Sooner or later at the end of the world

[Chorus]

‘Cause this is life and it’s alright

Taking detours in your mind

You’ll be fine if you try

To keep your eyes on the consolation prize

On the road to Valhalla

Karma riding shotgun with drama

It’s all a part of the plan when you’re lost in the world

And you’re going down hard for the girl

Even though life could be disappointing sometimes, you got to settle on its plot-twists: you could end up being pleased by the surprises, just like a driver who didn’t expect to change his/her road can be positively shocked by the new scenario he/she will discover!

“Demons” and “Skeletons” are both metaphors for dark secrets. He won’t get far, because of the things he hides from the world.

Possibly a reference to the album’s second track, Seventh Heaven, where Beck states that he’s “dead to the world”, because he went crazy over a woman who didn’t truly care about him.

This is a fairly common reference to Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes and it’s most famous scene, in which Don Quixote fights what he sees as a ferocious giant, but is in fact just a windmill, changed by his increasing disconnect from reality. Using this understanding and context, Beck may be asking if it’s alright to be looking chasing after the figments of your imagination or if it’s best to consider a smaller goal as an achievement as well.