This song is about a man breaking off a relationship in pursuit of a fanciful dream. He finds a new partner, but his ex finds them and kills her.

Adding Mythos to the Album Artwork

The album cover of Glass Animals’ “How to be a Human Being” includes a tall, cocksure basketball player amongst the cast of characters featured. “The Other Side of Paradise” lets us know a bit more about that baller. The title of the song comes from the novel, “This Side of Paradise,” by F. Scott Fitzgerald. With a minor change in wording, they subvert the meaning and create an entirely original narrative from this borrowed premise.

These lyrics contain a story that is as fueled by rage as it is filled with sadness and personal loss. It’s also a tale of violence and mental illness.

There’s an undeniably catchy beat complemented by extremely dissonant chords, which are the perfect accompaniment for the tormented lyrics. It’s also befitting of the song’s theme: You can’t judge a book by its cover. There are multiple sides to any story, and although things may seem perfect from the outside, you never know what’s going on beneath the surface.

Dave Bayley, singer and co-writer of the song, said in a YouTube Short, “I took the title from a book by F. Scott Fitzgerald called ‘This Side of Paradise.’ He wrote ‘The Great Gatsby,’ but this was his first book, and I’ll read a little bit about what that book is about. It says on Wikipedia the novel explores the theme of love warped by greed and status-seeking. That’s it. That’s what ‘Other Side of Paradise’ is about.”

A Breakup That Turns Deadly

The lyrics begin from the narrator’s point of view. The man he loves has traveled west with a one-way ticket, and the singer thinks he’s likely going to California to pursue an unrealistic career as a professional athlete. The second verse contains a reference to New Orleans (“NOLA”) as the place where the couple started.

This jilted lover becomes replaced by a glamorous woman more befitting of the would-be baller’s new Hollywood lifestyle. Out of anger, the narrator goes to the new place where the couple is living. He then shoots his ex’s new partner dead:

“That girl is gone but I – / That girl is gone but I still try”

This murderous ex then goes on to appeal to the basketball-playing object of his desires. He tries to make him believe that they are meant to be together. To cap it all off, he even makes the argument that, figuratively, he’s killing himself with the way he’s been living his life lately.

There’s no clear-cut answer to how the story ends. The narrator can’t entirely be trusted, and the listener is even led to assume that he’s stretching the truth or lying outright to justify his behavior. One interpretation is that he commits suicide out of guilt for what she’s done.

Lyrics

When I was young and stupid my love
Left to be a rock and roll star
He told me, “Please don’t worry”
Wise little smile that spoke so safely

He booked a one way ticket
Out west, that’s where they’d make it
Six kids stuck in a bedsit
To sunswept poolside riches

He met a girl who wore Versace
Pink feather coats and jumbo jewellery
Gonna be a hoop phenomenon
He’s gonna be Hakeem Olajuwon

He’s got a gold Camaro
He said over the payphone
I try to keep my cool but
My life turns in slow motion

Bye bye baby blue
I wish you could see the wicked truth
Caught up in a rush, it’s killing you
Screaming at the sun, you blow into
Curled up in a grip when we were us
Fingers in a fist like you might run
I settle for a ghost I never knew
Superparadise I held on to
But I settle for a ghost

Where I was from in NOLA no one
Left to be a rock and roll star
He’d stay and treat his lady
Give everything to his new baby

I miss him, don’t you blame me
That boy went stone cold crazy
Caught up in camera lust he’s
Chasing that pappy pipe dream

I know you don’t but I
I know you don’t but I still try
My thunder shook him down
My thunder came and shook him down
That girl is gone but I
That girl is gone but I still try
I think it’s over now
The bullet hit but maybe not
I feel so fucking numb
It hits my head and I feel numb
My body’s looking wrong
My body’s looking wrong
My body’s looking wrong

Bye bye baby blue
I wish you could see the wicked truth
Caught up in a rush, it’s killing you
Screaming at the sun you blow into
Curled up in a grip when we were us
Fingers in a fist like you might run
I settle for a ghost I never knew
Superparadise I held on to
But I settle for a ghost

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: David Algernon Bayley

The Other Side Of Paradise lyrics © Peermusic Publishing, Words & Music A Div Of Big Deal Music LLC