The World of Pablo

The World of Pablo is an umbrella term for a set of points of view that can be held over the band's albums in order to make sense of the story told through them. Basically, it means that the albums tell a single story, even though it isn't organized. The World of Pablo is that story.

Origins
Since their first album, I Was So Unpopular In School and Now They're Giving Me This Beautiful Bicycle, it is clear that a single story is being told: the same characters (or at least people with the same name) appear in multiple songs in very similar contexts. Other songs, such as Want To Cannot Help and Summercat, show a continuity: in the first song Lilly is asked to "choose her conflicts", and the main character (later revealed to be Pablo) says that he (as in their relationship) can't be saved; in the latter, they definitely break up as she embarks on an airplane.

Although there is regularity, there is also a lot of the opposite, which subjects the story to multiple non-obvious interpretations. As years pass and more albums are released, it's possible to infer that a song is mentioning a known character, but this is not made clear. In the album I Used to Wander These Streets, for instance, it is implied that Pablo meets someone of great importance in his life and this person now has cancer. Through multiple references and verses one could assume it's Marcus, but this is not ever explicitly said. In their sixth studio album, While You Were Asleep, there is only one name spoken (Lilly), and only once, in 13 songs.

Methodology and Assumptions
The story is told through songs, and as such it's fair to assume that the aesthethics of a song (or an album, for that matter) takes precedence over the story, since the albums are clearly not meant to be conceptual - if they were, the songs would have been more coherently ordered, the lyrics would have been clearer about the characters discussed, and so forth. There are, thus, a few considerations to bear in mind before trying to understand the story:
 * The order of the songs in an album is not the order of the events in the story. For starters, Summercat, the first track to its album, is actually the song before the last one in the story.
 * The gender of the voice, or the number of voices, does not mean anything. Lars has sung entire debates without indicating a shift of perspective (as seen in the conversation between Pablo and Marcus in Relay Race), so a voice in Billie the Vision can mean more than just one person, two voices can mean only one, and so forth.
 * Pablo is Lars. Pablo Diablo is said to be "more or less an alter ego of" Lars LIndquist, and this seems to be accurate. Some songs seem to mix his personal experience with the character's (like when in Good and Bad Pablo's mother says they are the only "Lindquists") and Lars has written most songs by himself.
 * Lars is not Pablo. On the other hand, there's no way to know if Pablo is exactly like Lars. In an interview he said that the identity of Pablo is "a secret", as is Lilly's, although she actually exists . As a rule of thumb, every song that is definitely part of the story will have to be integrated into it, even though some details from Lars' life make it through the bridge and become part of The World of Pablo. Also, as a second general rule, songs that talk exclusively about the band (such as A Beautiful Night in Oslo) are excluded from the storyline.
 * Lastly, there's no official version of The World of Pablo, and there will probably never be. First, the nature of the albums allows fans to think for themselves what they think has happened - and the wiki must be open to alternative views on the stories, which in turn can become official versions if the majority of fans think they are more accurate. And second, Lars said that the band wants "to let people build their own worlds according to Pablo.

Characters
Needs help!


 * Pablo Diablo
 * Pablo's mother
 * Lilly
 * Jessica
 * Marcus
 * Susan Lee
 * Daniel
 * Josephine
 * Dr. Phil

Albums
As TV series have seasons, The World of Pablo can be seen as having albums, each one representing a part of the story, and each part being based on an actual album.

First Album
Main article: The World of Pablo - First Album

The story begins with the near death of the unnamed main character's mother, a conservative woman which wants her son to have a normal, predictable life. He moves in to a new city with his boyfriend, and he finds a lot of his friends there, including a girl called Lilly whom he used to hang out with and be very fond of. They lost touch once she moved away to that very city he's just new to.

The character starts growing feelings for Lilly and one night, at a late night party at a friend's house, they get together. They start dating and she becomes his hope of a normal and stable life he's struggled to find inspiring. He would do things to impress her as he would try to be her perfect boyfriend. At the same time, he has problems with his catholic sister, who stresses him. He starts feeling uneasy with the whole of his life, and he ends up doing things Lilly didn't like. As the relationship gets more awkward, they try to get counselling from Dr. Phil. The character says he is not as good as Lilly, but says he needs her beside him so he can be a better person for her. Lilly decides to break up with the character and fly away from the city. The character drowns in sorrow as he doesn't understand what happened, thinking he dind't get a "fair farewell" from Lilly.

Track list
The track list from the album, rearranged to mirror the order from the story, is:


 * 1) Good and Bad
 * 2) City
 * 3) Do You Remember
 * 4) Stay Awake
 * 5) Nobel Square
 * 6) Apologize
 * 7) No One Knows You
 * 8) Jackass
 * 9) Want To Cannot Help But Dance
 * 10) Summercat
 * 11) Ask For More

Second Album
Main article: The World of Pablo - Second Album

In the second album it is revealed that the previously unnamed main character is actually called Pablo Diablo. He is sad and depressed after Lilly has gone away. Tired of waiting for her to come back, he starts dating the needy and insecure Jessica and some time after Lilly comes back. When she sees them together, Pablo tells her he is in love with Jessica. He can't, however, carry on dating her as he fears he will harm her as much as he had harmed Lilly during the time they were together, and breaks up with her. Jessica gets mad and depressed, but the now uncaring Pablo finally gives in to his will and starts partying hard. He meets the drag queen Marcus and starts dating him, living a life of fun, gambling, drinking and dancing like he's always wanted. His house eventually catches on fire and, without any money, he needs help from his friends. Lilly doesn't show up, and it makes him sad. As he doesn't have a place to live, he moves in with Marcus, who breaks up with Daniel in order to live steadily with Pablo.

Track list
The track list from the album, rearranged to mirror the order from the story, is:


 * 1) A Man From Argentina
 * 2) Ghost
 * 3) Goodnight Sweetheart
 * 4) I'm Pablo
 * 5) Nightmares
 * 6) I Let Someone Else In
 * 7) One More Full Length Record
 * 8) Go To Hell
 * 9) Come On Baby
 * 10) Vamos a Besarnos
 * 11) Still Be Friends

Third Album
Main article: The World of Pablo - Third Album

Pablo carries on living with Marcus, who he finds out to be a prostitute. He says he loves him and wants to live with him, and his life of gambling and partying continues. Jessica, however, is still out there looking for him and she gets to Marcus, seducing him to get to Pablo. One day she violently bursts out by claiming Pablo to herself, and Marcus leaves her when he understands why she was going out with him. Jessica doesn't give up and goes to Pablo and Marcus' house, but at the same time Lilly goes there too, with Lilly saying she didn't approve the life Pablo was living. After both women argue he says that although he still loves both of them, he can't go back to neither of them. His drinking and gambling spree cause him to appear on TV, and his sister comes back around to bug him. He asks Lilly for a walk and tries to say he loves her, but she demands that he actually changes for her. Pablo decides to make the change; he stops drinking and gambling and declares his love to Lilly by saying that he would love her until the day that he died.

Fourth Album
Main article: The World of Pablo - Fourth Album

Lilly is dating Pablo again, and they are happy together. She introduces him to her mother, although she already knows him (and doesn't trust him) from when they were teenagers and lived in the same city. When they're on their way to become stable again, Pablo finds out that Marcus is in the hospital. He has cancer, and Pablo starts visiting him regularly. Marcus eventually dies by Pablo's side, and in the end Lilly cherishes Pablo, encouraging him to move on and start a new life with her.

Fifth Album
Main article: The World of Pablo - Fifth Album

Pablo is thankful for the life that he has built with Lilly; they've had kids, and he's very happy. He starts to feel uneasy, however, with all the responsibilities and pressures of being a full-blown adult, and he starts facing fears and feeling that he might be sinking down in a kind of life he doesn't really enjoy. Jessica meets him again and they hook up again. Lilly finds out and abandons Pablo.

Sixth Album
Main article: The World of Pablo - Sixth Album

Lilly is living with her children, away from Pablo, who is living with Jessica. They decide to hide their problems from their kids, even though they don't pretend they're together. Pablo gets tired of Jessica and as she breaks up with her she reveals herself to still be as needy and insecure as ever. Pablo starts partying again, but this time he is only interested in dancing, as he doesn't sleep or go out with anybody. Pablo becomes increasingly sad with his life and calls Lilly for help, admitting that he's a terrible person. Lilly gives him a last chance, and she says that maybe she needs to adapt a little too. Pablo and Lilly reconcile their interests in life and decide to leave the city together.