☝️ Key Points
- The protagonist of the song has a high self-awareness and feels like a movie star, even though he is not one.
- The protagonist's only public presence is a commercial.
- The protagonist has worked hard to pursue his dream but was disappointed when he couldn't meet the famous director Ingmar Bergman.
- The song ends with the message that the protagonist should stop pretending to be something he's not.
- The central theme of the song is the discrepancy between perception and reality, the pursuit of fame, and the disappointment when reality doesn't meet expectations.
Interpretation
The song "Moviestar" by
Harpo is about a person who sees themselves as something big and famous, even though they are not in reality. The person feels like a famous actor when they drive their car ("You feel like Steve McQueen / When you're driving in your car") or smoke a cigar ("And you think you look like James Bond / When you're smoking your cigar"). Despite this high self-perception, the only thing people have seen of them is a commercial spot ("But the only thing I've ever seen of you / Was a commercial spot on the screen").
In the chorus ("Moviestar oh moviestar / You think you are a movie"), it is repeated that the person thinks they are a movie star, even though it is obviously not the case.
The second verse shows that the person worked hard to make their dream come true ("But you worked in a grocery store / Every day until you could afford to get away"), but even when they went to Sweden to meet the famous director Ingmar Bergman, they were disappointed ("But you went to Sweden to meet Ingmar Bergman / He wasn't there or he just didn't care").
The song ends with the message that the person should stop pretending to be something they are not. Their dreams have vanished into darkness a long time ago ("And your dreams have vanished into dark a long ago"), but they don't want to know ("But you don't want to know"). Essentially, the song is about the discrepancy between perception and reality, the pursuit of fame and recognition, and the disappointment when reality doesn't meet expectations.