this track has become one of my favorites due to its many layers and the open interpretation it offers, one of which is the meaning of the song title.

i see two conflicting outcomes, one comical, one tragic. the rosetta stone as we know was used as a key for decrypting unknown hyerogliphs. the narrator can first be seen as a drugged out maniac who thinks he's just gotten access to some amazing alien secret, which he thinks makes him a human key of information - or a "rosetta stone" of sorts.

of course, though, it's all in his head, so "rosetta stoned" refers to him thinking he's this grandiose purveyor of alien information when all he is some wacked out stoner, not just stoned, but "rosetta" stoned, given what he thinks he just learned. this makes his narrative all the more comical, eating junk food, and pissing and crapping his pants in the process.

the other take is more tragic, and it's the basic possibility that this unlikeliest of characters has actually been given some powerful alien secrets which his fellow man could use to decrypt the mysteries of life - an amazing gift which the bastard's drug fueled trip has made him forget.

so he somehow ends up being abducted by aliens while on this lsd trip, and become "rosetta stoned", as in "made into a key", as the chosen one. but he ends up going mad from the impact of what he's shown, coupled with the drugs, plus his frustration of not being able to share this information.

the end to this most sad of trips is seen in "Lost Keys", strapped to a hospital bed, mad, and gasping with sorrow (i.e., in RS -"you believe me don't you? please believe just what i said" "this wasn't all in my head") at such a painfully frustrating outcome.

it ends with the doc asking him to tell him "everything". if the doc only knew what that implied...

both possibilities seem very viable and truly make this one of the best tracks on this disc.

Good thoughts, I'm banking on the first one though. Your second one reminds me of the Bill Hicks bit where he's frustrated because aliens always seem to visit these little shithole redneck towns and interact with less than prime specimines of our race. Yet, I'll remain optimistic, that is, until I see a mother ship entered in a tractor pull.

I think when he did acid he got abducted but everyone thinks hes hallucinating cause he took acid. So now ehs extremely frustrated that no on ebelieves him. Pretty much agreeing with what you said.

Good post, man. Although both ideas are very possible, I like considering the second one. It makes it all the more mysterious and surreal for me.

i agree. the second option is the more appealing one and makes the song quite haunting when you listen to it with that frame of mind.

I think thats the irony in it, it could be either one, but no one knows. Put yourself in thats situation where you are looking at this dude and hearing his story. You'd probably just assume he was trippin and hallucinated, but you'd probably think, just for a second...
"What if he's telling the truth."
This dude could have been given a key to mysteries of life and forgot them (lost keys) or he could have just been hallucinating...We have no way of ever knowing.