Trap, Trap, Trap til the Cage is Full

“The animal, the animal. Trap, trap, trap til the cage is full. The cage is full, the day is new and everyone is waiting, waiting on you.”

Regina Spektor sings the intro to the Netflix phenomenon Orange is the New Black, ‘You’ve Got Time’. The lyrics liken prisoners serving time to animals trapped in a cage.

Animals in cages is a completely familiar concept, we trap them up in Zoos, stables, barns, theme parks and carnivals, along with a multitude of other environments. Some of these animals we trap and raise for harvest, some are taught tricks for entertainment and others we trap simply to observe. The song’s opening lines don’t make me feel uncomfortable because trapping animals in cages is not unusual… however what if Spektor didn’t use a metaphor in the lyrics?