Morrissey was a hardcore boxing fan starting prior to "Lost" being written in 1997 and the book Fight Club came out in 1996. That alone wouldn't make it surprising that he would have read it and this scene's homoeroticism makes it even less surprising.
It just hit me today that the song describes the scene at the beach when the Narrator "meets" Tyler.
"Jet trails in the sky" refer to the Narrator's constant flying; they "leave one thought behind", the Narrator has all these destinations that he goes to but nonetheless he is lost. What is his job, really? What of his pointless possessions? He is lost ultimately; with no true meaning, we are all lost.
"A hand bangs into sand" describes Tyler's appearance as invented by the Narrator to combat his being lost. Tyler is putting the logs together and draws in the sand a line to gauge the shadows cast by each log. He had created the shadow of a giant hand and at exactly 4:30 the hand was perfect for only one minute.
"A name" -- Tyler, Tyler Durden -- "and we all understand. Everybody's lost, but they're pretending they're not lost." The Narrator invents Tyler to "pretend" he is not lost, creating the ideal version of himself.
"So if I see you and I tell you I've watched you": the Narrator "watching" Tyler admiringly making the log structure; "don't make fun of me later, 'cause I'm just lost": when he realizes Tyler is his invention, Tyler indeed makes fun of him later, saying maybe you're my projection and making fun of the fact that Tyler made him everything he had become.
Lost.
It just hit me today that the song describes the scene at the beach when the Narrator "meets" Tyler.
"Jet trails in the sky" refer to the Narrator's constant flying; they "leave one thought behind", the Narrator has all these destinations that he goes to but nonetheless he is lost. What is his job, really? What of his pointless possessions? He is lost ultimately; with no true meaning, we are all lost.
"A hand bangs into sand" describes Tyler's appearance as invented by the Narrator to combat his being lost. Tyler is putting the logs together and draws in the sand a line to gauge the shadows cast by each log. He had created the shadow of a giant hand and at exactly 4:30 the hand was perfect for only one minute.
"A name" -- Tyler, Tyler Durden -- "and we all understand. Everybody's lost, but they're pretending they're not lost." The Narrator invents Tyler to "pretend" he is not lost, creating the ideal version of himself.
"So if I see you and I tell you I've watched you": the Narrator "watching" Tyler admiringly making the log structure; "don't make fun of me later, 'cause I'm just lost": when he realizes Tyler is his invention, Tyler indeed makes fun of him later, saying maybe you're my projection and making fun of the fact that Tyler made him everything he had become.
Lost.
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