Police Disco Lights

We all may know about Manic Depression. For some, it gives birth to unreachable art, and for others it generates violence and wreaks havoc. The second episode of The Neighborhood series tells the story of a troubled brother called Alex in the family. This is the story as I’ve conceived and exceedingly read about:

Listening to “Neighborhood #2″ is both a sweet an traumatic experience. Both of them committed suicide. The story teller in this song is an innocent younger brother of the family who sees and interprets the incidents with his own childish fantasies. Alex is the protagonist as the whole song revolves around his evil actions. The location of the event could easily be Russia. You know how AF is obsessed with it. They wear Russian military uniforms during their concerts; Alexander and Laika are both Russian and the mesmerizing accordion part at the beginning of the song which is the base melody also reminds me of early 20th century Russian fairy tales as well as the Russian Revolution era.

Alex is nothing but a troublemaker, probably a vandal with destructive personality that has major issues with the family. He argues with his dad when at home and his mother should have called him “Laika”. Is he a war victim? Or he just suffers from mental disorders. He’s a disgrace for the family and a problem for the neighborhood (more generally the society).

Alex is set out for “a great adventure”. From one perspective, and if we want to take this song as the sequel to “Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)”, Alex is the same kid who was planning to escape and erase his traumatic past. He tears his family members’ images out of his pictures and scratches their names out of all his letters. So his status quo is probably the consequence of that dark childhood. He might be a true victim of manic depression.

Viewpoint #2: Alex can refer to Clockwork Orange’s Alex (from the 1991 Stanley Kubrick classic). He spoke using Russian literature. He was an unstoppable vandal and a victim of the failed rehabilitation project. His friends, the ones he referred to as “Brothers”, took revenge on him. He forgot about his family (and then comes back to them in despair). That’s adventure. And from this view the younger brothers will take revenge on Alex by making him drink his own blood.

Viewpoint #3: Alex can also refer to Christopher McCandless, the famous American wanderer who decided to forget about his family and friends and society and roam the jungles and wilderness, instead. The connection is where Chris adopts the name Alexander Supertramp for himself. There’s a book about him called Into the Wild written by Jon Krakauer and a movie with the same name directed by Sean Penn. Though, this Alex didn’t have much sinister thoughts. But this “adventure” led to his death in Alaska at age 24.

Whoever Alex is, he reminds his younger brother of the name Laika (Russian word meaning “Barker”) and Laika has the strongest reference in this song. Laika is the name of a Soviet/Russian space dog. She was the first living mammal to orbit the earth. But she was also the first orbital casualty. That means poor Laika was intended to die in space. He was not meant to return to earth. Laika is like Alex as his family sends him away, or at least this is what his younger brother pictures for him. But this very kid is also supportive of Alex. They’re brothers so he’s on Alex’s side. As a child he doesn’t understand his older brother’s problem as the poor kid is told by his parents that “Alex is bit by a vampire!” This is how parents explain difficulties to their children. So the kid shouts

Come on Alex, you can do it! Come on Alex, there’s nothing to it. If you want something, don’t ask for nothing. If you want nothing, don’t ask for something.

Just like a slogan that a kid has memorized as “Go For It!” either opposed to the parents or facing the rehabilitation issues. For the family, Alex can either be treated by painkillers and other therapy or he just has to be kicked out because it’s for his own good and it’s for the neighborhood. They do their best to find a remedy. As told by the younger sibling, Alex is bit by a vampire. Vampires cry blood. So, as a supportive brother, they (perhaps with other siblings) had to catch his tears in a cup and make him drink his own blood in order to become wilder and more sinister facing the always-enemy daddy. But another theory is when the younger siblings are not that supportive, so this “making him drink his blood” thing can be interpreted as a revenge.

So Alex departs from the family and sets off for the “great adventure” at last, but he apparently returns after a long while. The story comes to an end with one of the most brilliant verses of this decade. The fight continues:

When daddy comes home, you always start a fight, so the neighbors can dance in the police disco lights.

Deducted from a majority of people’s views, Alex returns home, picks a fight with dad and the fight leads to bloodshed. The police comes with a siren and a light that depicts something like a disco in the child’s immature mind with neighbors dancing around it. Everybody’s out to see what happened. And judging by the fate of all the people who remind us of Alex, he’s the one who dies. You can also see him entombed in his grave in the cartoonish video for the song. Funeral!

Just like multitude of other masterpieces (books or films), “Laika” leaves us all dry as you’ll never know the exact story. Whether the brothers were with Alex or against him, whether Alex was a drug addict or a WWI victim, whether the family was right or wrong and whether Alex dies or not. Some people even refer Alex to Alexander the Great. They have their own reasons, but the police thing and the disco lights will make that theory a bit unlikely. But whatever it is, “Laika” is extremely illustrative and beautiful. With the most addicting melody and a voice that shrieks in hopelessness and anxiety. Ten out of ten, period.