Little Dark Age

MGMT English

Verse 1

Breathing in the dark, lying on its sideThe ruins of the day painted with a scarAnd the more I straighten out, the less it wants to tryThe feelings start to rot one wink at a time

Chorus

Oh, forgiving who you are for what you stand to gainJust know that if you hide, it doesn't go awayWhen you get out of bed, don't end up strandedHorrified with each stone on the stage, my little dark age

Verse 2

Picking through the cards, knowing what's nearbyThe carvings on the face say they find it hardAnd the engine's failed again, all limits of disguiseThe humor's not the same, coming from denial

Chorus

Oh, I grieve in stereo, the stereo sounds strangeI know that if you hide, it doesn't go awayIf you get out of bed and find me standingAll alone, open-eyed, burn the page, my little dark age

Post-Chorus

Little dark age, little dark ageLittle dark age, little dark age

Chorus

I grieve in stereo, the stereo sounds strangeYou know that if it hides, it doesn't go awayIf I get out of bed, you'll see me standingAll alone, horrified on the stage, my little dark age

Bridge

Giddy with delight, seeing what's to comeThe image of the dead, dead ends in my mind

Chorus

Policemen swear to God, love seeping from their gunsI know my friends and I would probably turn and runIf you get out of bed, come find us headingFor the bridge, bring a stone, all the rage, my little dark ageI grieve in stereo, the stereo sounds strangeI know that if you hide, it doesn't go awayIf you get out of bed and find me standingAll alone, open-eyed, burn the page, my little dark age

Post-Chorus

Little dark age, little dark ageLittle dark age, little dark ageLittle dark age, little dark ageLittle dark age, little dark ageLittle dark age, little dark ageLittle dark age, little dark ageLittle dark age, little dark age

Outro

All alone, open-eyed, burn the page, my little dark age

What the song means

"Little Dark Age" is a song about a low, numb period in which someone tries to hide their feelings instead of facing them. The narrator describes lying still in the dark, a day that feels like ruins, and emotions that slowly decay as they are ignored. The chorus repeats a warning that hiding does not make pain go away, and that getting out of bed can feel like standing exposed and alone.

The mood grows more unsettled as the song goes on. The second verse adds a sense of failure, with a machine that has broken down again and a humor that no longer feels genuine because it comes from denial. The bridge turns darker and more ironic, with jokes about fear, violence and running away, and the chorus returns with a more desperate call to break out. The final repetitions of "little dark age" feel like the narrator naming a passing phase, while the closing line asks for the past to be burned away.

The key images are the emotional "stereo," which suggests grief that is doubled and distorted, and the "rot" of feelings that are left unattended. "Burn the page" suggests wanting to erase a painful chapter, and "little dark age" frames the depression as a temporary era rather than a permanent state.

Key phrases explained

grieve in stereo: sentir un dolor doble y distorsionado — Grief that feels amplified, echoing and strange, like hearing it from every side at once.
one wink at a time: poco a poco, gradualmente — An idiom meaning slowly, a little at a time, which shows how the feelings decay gradually.
the engine's failed again: el motor ha vuelto a fallar — A metaphor for the body or mind breaking down once more, a sign of exhaustion or depression.
coming from denial: viniendo de la negación — Denial is the refusal to admit a painful truth, so the humor feels hollow and evasive.
burn the page: quemar la página — A figure of speech for erasing or closing a painful chapter of one's life.

Song info

Release date: 2017-10-17
Album: Little Dark Age
Written by: Ben Goldwasser, Andrew VanWyngarden
Produced by: Andrew VanWyngarden, Ben Goldwasser, Dave Fridmann, Patrick Wimberly