I must've dreamed a thousand dreams
Been haunted by a million screams
But I can hear the marching feet
They're moving into the street

Now did you read the news today?
They say the danger's gone away
But I can see the fire's still alight
They're burning into the night

There's too many men
Too many people
Making too many problems
And not much love to go 'round
Can't you see
This is a land of confusion?

Well, this is the world we live in (oh oh oh)
And these are the hands we're given (oh oh oh)
Use them and let's start trying (oh oh oh)
To make it a place worth living in

Ooh, Superman, where are you now
When everything's gone wrong somehow?
The men of steel, the men of power
Are losing control by the hour

This is the time
This is the place
So we look for the future
But there's not much love to go 'round
Tell me why this is a land of confusion?

This is the world we live in (oh oh oh)
And these are the hands we're given (oh oh oh)
Use them and let's start trying (oh oh oh)
To make it a place worth living in

I remember long ago
Ooh, when the sun was shining
Yes, and the stars were bright
All through the night
And the sound of your laughter
As I held you tight
So long ago

I won't be coming home tonight
My generation will put it right
We're not just making promises
That we know we'll never keep

Too many men
There's too many people
Making too many problems
And not much love to go 'round
Can't you see
This is a land of confusion?

Now this is the world we live in (oh oh oh)
And these are the hands we're given (oh oh oh)
Use them and let's start trying (oh oh oh)
To make it a place worth fighting for

This is the world we live in (oh oh oh)
And these are the names we're given (oh oh oh)
Stand up and let's start showing (oh oh oh)
Just where our lives are going to


Lyrics submitted by Demau Senae, edited by Chuckles01

Land of Confusion Lyrics as written by Phillip David Charles Collins Anthony George Banks

Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Land Of Confusion song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

28 Comments

sort form View by:
  • 0
    General Comment

    Quozzerx: I don't see how that's possible since the album containing this song was released in 1986 while the Gulf War was 1991.

    Rebus_Valstayon April 29, 2003   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve. The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future. Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere" The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Album art
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Album art
When We Were Young
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Album art
No Surprises
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Album art
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.