PARAMORE~BRICK BY BORING BRICK
She lives in a fairy tale
Somewhere too far for us to find
Forgotten the taste and smell
Of the world that she's left behind
It's all about the exposure the lens I told her
The angles were all wrong now
She's ripping wings off of butterflies
The first lines give us a sense that this girl has been living in a fantasy world away from reality for so long that she has lost touch with what is real and what is not. Ripping the wings off of butterflies can be interpreted to mean that she is destroying something peaceful and beautiful, or possibly destroying the power of flight and freedom, maybe even her freedom.
Keep your feet on the ground
When your head's in the clouds
Well go get your shovel
And we'll dig a deep hole
To bury the castle, bury the castle
Go get your shovel
And we'll dig a deep hole
To bury the castle, bury the castle
Ba da ba ba da ba ba ha
The first two lines in the chorus are a description of what to do to keep in the realm of reality. Even when your mind is elsewhere, always keep a firm stance or grasp on what is real, or else you'll float away. The rest of the chorus is telling us to bury or pull ourselves out of that fantasy. Castles are generally found in fairy tales with princesses and magic, but it's not real. Bury that false world deep down in the ground, far away from yourself.
So one day he found her crying
Coiled up on the dirty ground
Her prince finally came to save her
And the rest you can figure out
But it was a trick
And the clock struck twelve
Well make sure to build your house brick by boring brick
Or the wolf's gonna blow it down
The first half of these lines brings up more of the fairy tale aspect with her prince picking her up from the ground and standing her back up. But it then goes on to say that it was a trick, and that the clock struck twelve. These two lines are a sort of reference to Cinderella, where when the clock struck twelve, she was reverted back to her poor self. This could mean that the girl was only able to hold on to that fantasy for a little while, but it all fell apart in the end. Then the last two lines could mean that your house, which can be your whole being, needs to be built of sturdy material, or else it will collapse.
Keep your feet on the ground
When your head's in the clouds
Well go get your shovel
And we'll dig a deep hole
To bury the castle, bury the castle
Go get your shovel
And we'll dig a deep hole
We'll bury the castle, bury the castle
Repetition of the chorus makes the message of keeping a clear head and not getting caught up in false world even stronger.
Well you built up a world of magic
Because your real life is tragic
Yeah you built up a world of magic
If it's not real
You can't hold it in your hand
You can't feel it with your heart
And I won't believe it
But if it's true
You can see it with your eyes
Oh, even in the dark
And that's where I want to be, yeah
By building up a world of magic, the girl has rejected all that is real in her life because it wasn't a good enough life and created a place that she fit in to. But a real life is something tangible, or something that has value to your life, as the fourth through sixth lines express. And if you believe in something true, you'll be able to find it, no matter how dark things might appear, as in the last four lines.
Go get your shovel
And we'll dig a deep hole
To bury the castle, bury the castle
Go get your shovel
And we'll dig a deep hole
To bury the castle, bury the castle
And yet another repeat of the second half of the chorus further pushes home the idea that fantasy is not reality, nor should it be the world you live in.
