Ballad Breakdown: King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard Get Whimsically Existential on "Am I in Heaven?"
With an imperial cyborg and criticisms of how we treat the planet, “Am I in Heaven?” is a perfect introduction to the “Gizzverse” and highlights the fun that musicians can have singing about the world around them.
A song can range from seconds to more than 10 minutes, but every song, no matter the length, tells a story through its lyrics, instruments, and/or vocals. In Ballad Breakdown, our writers dissect your favorite songs to display the intricacy and care put into every seemingly minuscule aspect.
Written by Charlotte Keene
Photo courtesy of Lee Vincent Grubb
Many musicians use music as a form of social commentary. Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit” addresses the cruelty of lynching. Hozier’s “Cherry Wine” explores the complexities of domestic abuse and the inability to leave. Marvin Gaye’s “Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)” speaks on the injustices he witnessed, often involving working-class African Americans. Sometimes the work takes on a serious framework, but other times it can be recited in a bit of fun. The socially pertinent discourse surrounding topics like artificial intelligence and climate change can be found in the 2014 song “Am I in Heaven” by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard. Much has changed since its release in the mid-2010s, but the themes remain relevant. Considering July was the hottest month on record and the growing prevalence of AI tools like Chat GPT and DALL-E at our fingertips, the future we have been so scared of is here. What better way to examine this than through a song centered around a “Gizzverse” conspiracy theory?
The “Gizzverse” was formed from science-fiction elements the band portrays in their discography that seem to stem from the same canon world. This world has different characters, settings, and timelines. In fact, it is quite overwhelming when first being introduced to the band as it is easy to get lost in the complex lore that has accumulated through their previous 24 albums. The only thing fans agree on is that the storyline is not linear. Listeners love to exchange theories through the public posting platform, Reddit, specifically an extensive subreddit entitled the elusive “Gizzverse.” King Gizzard encourages the hypotheticals, which are part of the reason the band draws such an impassioned fanbase. Members have yet to confirm anything besides the existence of the parallel Gizzverse, so it is hard to say whether this is to keep things interpretive or because they do not have an answer to their fans' in-depth speculations. There are efforts by the band to put forth a narrative, but it is executed through technique rather than manufacturing a plot. Much like they enjoy not limiting their musical creativity, they do not want to tell listeners what their art means — that is up to you.
In track number seven off of their fifth album, I’m in Your Mind Fuzz, the Australian band debuts a seven-minute-long epic, reminiscent of 1960s psychedelia. Themes of technology, environmental disaster, and mind control are prevalent throughout the record. “Am I in Heaven?” approaches them from a unique angle, portraying frustration through pace and vocal power in the face of change. However, this is not a song of protest. Fans believe it to be about an antagonist introduced in a later piece of 2017’s, Murder of the Universe, “Han-Tyumi the Confused Cyborg” and his desire to obliterate mankind. Han-Tyumi’s perspective can be understood as a criticism of how human beings interact with our environment. Nevertheless, this is all speculation and interpretation as the band makes music for enjoyment and wild experimentation, not political commentary.
“Am I in Heaven?” opens with a mellow harmonica and strums of bright guitar chords. The audience enters an ethereal atmosphere akin to the afterlife. However when the first verse concludes instrumentally, the mood has changed. Drums go wild, a harmonica wails, and Mackenzie shouts “Woo!” The guitar turns electric. The energy is frenetic. He continues with the next verse matching the switch. Pace rises and falls several times, reminding the listener of how easy it is to get caught up in existential anxiety. The instruments shift into organized chaos, almost overpowering each other. Yet, it absolutely complements the tone of the song. Mackenzie repeats “Am I in heaven?” sounding more like a panic than a genuine question. The speaker is not concerned with fixing the problem, only with the fact it exists, offering criticisms but no solution.
The song begins with Mackenzie softly singing, “I’ve got ideas in my brain about the end of the world that I won’t even say.” Our main character starts his plotting with potential plans following in the next line, “When all the bricks that built our brains will be turned into sand by the eternal wave.” The end is looming! Is it our fault that death may be near? The speaker thinks so. With a sense of duty, Mackenzie sings, “The lesson rings again / Repeats within my brain.” This line appears several times, insinuating the responsibility he feels paired with an oppressive inability to escape it. People are not concerned with rationality in states of anxiety, rather they hyperfixate on the worry. It seems we played a part in maintaining this state of climate crisis on Earth, “Everybody that I knew has taken bits and pieces out of you.” A fair point.
The chorus closes with a sarcastic “Let's all put her to the test / C'mon, suck our mother's breast,” asserting if the resources are available we might as well exploit them. Mackenzie sings two mirroring lines, “I swear, even the ocean's changed its hue” and “I swear, even the sky has changed, it's blue,” supplementing the previous notion that we are headed for the worst. The color change is an effect of pollution. Relating to the Han-Tyumi theory, the sky “changing” to blue implies the speaker finds this unusual — confirming it is not from Mackenzie’s perspective. The song’s title being a question is no mistake as Han-Tyumi is “confused.” Gizzard fans are heavy on conspiracies, and should you subscribe, everything is up for debate. This song merges silly characters with commentary on real problems.
Han-Tyumi wants the end, yet appreciates the beauty of Earth, asking “Am I in Heaven?” in the refrain and if this world was so bad, he would instead wonder if he was in hell. Rather than using the stereotypical alien figure, Mackenzie introduces a manufactured character to connect impending doom over the end of Earth with the idea that we are responsible for the problems we create. It represents that the end could be avoided and perhaps it is not the cyborg we should be afraid of. Whether or not “Am I in Heaven?” was intended to play with the concept of Han-Tyumi, it is first and foremost about human impact with the desire to preserve mother nature. The wonder the speaker feels towards his foreign environment implies a destructive behavior would be directed at mankind. Science fiction may get creative with potential antagonists, but any potential apocalypse will more likely be caused by the hands of humanity than a figure like Han-Tyumi.
“Am I in Heaven?” is a highly regarded song in King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard’s discography and it is not difficult to see why. I’m in Your Mind Fuzz established the band’s congruent sound and fully explored the art they wanted to produce. Though some of their music can be outlandish for the casual fan, “Am I in Heaven?” marries the whimsy with the mainstream for seven-minutes that pass way too quickly. King Gizzard expertly conveys the mood through their instrumentation and their usage of lyrical parallels creates a full circle moment to give listeners a change in perspective. The song closes out much like it starts, but everything is different — what began with hope ends with cynicism.