Both as a standalone and as part of the DSOTS album, you can take this lyric as read. As a matter of public record, Jourgensen's drug intake was legendary even in the 1980s. By the late 90s, in his own words, he was grappling with massive addiction issues and had lost almost everything: friends, spouse, money and had nearly died more than once. "Dark Side of the Spoon" is a both funny & sad title for an album made by a musical genius who was losing the plot; and this song is a message to his fans & friends saying he knows it. It's painful to listen to so I'm glad the "Keith Richards of industrial metals" wised up and cleaned up. Well done sir.
Echoes of the Broadway Everglades
With her mythical Madonnas still walking in their shades
Lenny Bruce, declares a truce and plays his other hand
Marshall McLuhan, casual viewin', head buried in the sand
Sirens on the rooftops wailing, but there's no ship sailing
Groucho, with his movies trailing, stands alone with his punchline failing
Ku Klux Klan serve hot soul food
And the band plays 'In the Mood'
The cheerleader waves her cyanide wand
There's a smell of peach blossom and bitter almond
Caryl Chessman sniffs the air and leads the parade
He know in a scent uou can bottle all you made
There's Howard Hughes in blue suede shoes
Smiling at the majorettes, smoking Winston cigarettes
And as the song and dance begins
The children play at home
With needles, needles and pins
With her mythical Madonnas still walking in their shades
Lenny Bruce, declares a truce and plays his other hand
Marshall McLuhan, casual viewin', head buried in the sand
Sirens on the rooftops wailing, but there's no ship sailing
Groucho, with his movies trailing, stands alone with his punchline failing
Ku Klux Klan serve hot soul food
And the band plays 'In the Mood'
The cheerleader waves her cyanide wand
There's a smell of peach blossom and bitter almond
Caryl Chessman sniffs the air and leads the parade
He know in a scent uou can bottle all you made
There's Howard Hughes in blue suede shoes
Smiling at the majorettes, smoking Winston cigarettes
And as the song and dance begins
The children play at home
With needles, needles and pins
Lyrics submitted by Demau Senae
Broadway Melody of 1974 Lyrics as written by Phillip David Charles Collins Anthony George Banks
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
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Good this... I dunno how historically accurate it is but its pretty much a bit of scene setting for the lamb to bring up some of the sights sounds and people that would have applied to new york at the time. its sinister undertone is evident thru'out leading you to half expect the unearthly happenins which follow it in the story
Gabriel is making social comment on the extent and influence of media, ironic considering the song appears early on one of the most adventurous and seminal multimedia explorations at that time. Lenny Bruce, a highly contrivetial comic and social commentatory, banned for his radical observations, is having time off. Marchal Mcluchan, one of the greatest american accademics of media, very heavy stuff, is compared to light weight, popular froth and is shown to be uncharacteristicly disinterested, head buiried etc. Sirens called mariners to their death, some believe they are the source of the mermaid legend, but theres no ships sailing.The cheerleaders wands smell like cyinide, the gas used to execute in the gas chambers, as was Caryl Chessman, a convicted kidnapper, although huge media uproar surronded his execution and doubt as to his guild. He was the last person executed under the "Little Lindbergh" law, brought in following the kidnapping of the baby Lindbergh, where bodily harm was caused to the kidnap victim. Them we have Howard Hughes, a man torn between desparate seclusion and media spotlight, a man whose legacy and interest in his eccentric life style still are a cause of media interest, not least a Hollywood blockbuster. All these character have attracted media and public interest and Gabriel draws them together into a fantacy parade to reinforce the power of image on drawing people into certain opinions and perhaps actions. Rael, a character of multi personality , decends throught the album into a characture of social unrest and the personalities of this song set a perfect scene for how people are influuenced by external factors.
Marshall McLuhan was Canadian
@harliquin I guess that sirens are the speakers that yale ads in your ear since early morning attracting a buyer, who is a sailor on the ship of his soul. Therefore, according to Joyce and therefore Mcluhan if all ad is pornographic, attracting with instincts, then in can steal your soul and lure it to the rocks of consumerism.
"Sirens on the rooftops wailing, but there's no ship sailing." Some small ports literally sound sirens from rooftops to alert tourists that the ocean liners are about to leave. (So it's not necessarily the sea legend sirens.) The reference to serial robber/ rapist/ kidnapper Caryl Chessman has possible double meanings as well. It says, "Caryl Chessman sniffs the air and leads the parade, he knows in a scent,You can bottle all you made." Chessman was executed in California by gas 11 years after being convicted by testimony from eyewitness victims, but he wrote four books and sold the movie rights, telling the public he was framed. (Many Hollywood "intellectuals" actually believed it.) So the line "he knows, in a scent" could actually be "he knows, innocent, you can bottle all you made." (He certainly sold the public a lot of bottles of his supposed innocence, which they drank like booze, despite multiple victims fingering him.) I'm not sure the band meant either of these double meanings, but I'd like to think they did, because this album is very rich in symbols and metaphors.
I wonder what the KKK reference is all about. Only Peter Gabriel knows!