It's Working

MGMT's song 'It's Working' delves into the complexities of perception, emotion, and the search for authenticity in a world filled with artificial stimuli. The opening lines, 'Here, you focus / So I can see your faces / The eyes are wrong,' suggest a disconnection between appearance and reality. The narrator questions the reliability of their perceptions, asking, 'How will I know if it's working right?' This line sets the tone for the rest of the song, which explores the struggle to discern genuine emotions from artificial ones.

The lyrics 'Light confuses / The tiny isles of bruises / The mangled lines / I see the signs of aging' evoke a sense of disorientation and decay. The 'tiny isles of bruises' could symbolize small but accumulating emotional wounds, while 'mangled lines' and 'signs of aging' suggest the inevitable passage of time and its impact on the self. The narrator admits to feeling deceived when they try to connect with their emotions, indicating a profound sense of alienation and confusion.

The chorus, 'But it's working in your blood / Which you know is not the same as love / Love is only in your mind / And not your heart,' underscores the theme of artificiality. The 'it' that is working in the blood could be a metaphor for societal or technological influences that mimic genuine emotions but lack true depth. The distinction between love in the mind and love in the heart highlights the difference between intellectualized feelings and authentic emotional experiences. The song ultimately questions the nature of reality and the authenticity of our emotions in a world increasingly dominated by artificial influences.