“Kings and Queens” by Thirty Seconds to Mars

Thirty Seconds to Mars’ “Kings and Queens” is intended to be a song celebrating human potential. However, at the same time it seems it points out fallacies and vulnerabilities in the thinking and actions of men.

In the first verse, we find the subjects of the song in a nighttime setting, “desperate and broken”. There is also a “fight” going on in the background which involves their “father”. Listeners who are familiar with Thirty Seconds to Mars would likely conclude that such verbiage is symbolic, especially within the overall context of the song. However, this part of the track, more than any other, reads like it can be literal, such as in recounting an unhappy childhood memory.

The second verse is a bit trickier to decipher. However, what is clear is that the central characters (including the singer himself) “stole… new lives through blood and name in defense of (their) dreams”.  This sounds like something tantamount to violent identity theft. But who exactly was violated through this action as well as what ideology or aspiration was being defended is unclear.

The chorus states that indeed the subjects of the song are “kings and queens of promise”, which again highlights their potential. However, they are also “victims of (them)selves”, likely alluding to some type of negative egotism or self-destructive tendencies. Indeed Jared Leto goes on to point out that these individuals are perhaps “children of a lesser god” and in some state “between heaven and hell”, further alluding to their imperfection.

The bridge puts forth the notion that “the age of man is over”.  This of course sounds like a reference to the end of the world or some post-apocalyptic setting, especially considering that as a result an educational process has begun, as in man learning from his past mistakes.

Ultimately the message being relayed is that indeed the subjects of the song “are kings and queens”.  However, somewhere along the line, their own flawed characters seem to lead to their downfall.