This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
The guy who slagged the football team -
Those yobs were not for him -
Turns into a real estate agent
Who believes in discipline;
The guy who's the first to use cocaine,
The wild boy breaking free,
Ends up in a court of law
As a prosecuting Q.C.;
Remember the school captain?
Success was a matter of time:
I can hear her now as she screams,
"Greg! You missed the stop sign!"
Forget Snoop Doggy Dog,
Forget ol' Ice T-
The true word out on the streets
Is produced by the T.A.C.
What good's the use of striving?
As Life's roan in front unravels
We get to do the driving,
But don't choose the direction we travel.
Do your homework or wag for weeks
And graffiti the Dandedong line:
It don't matter much when you hear that scream -
"Greg! You missed the stop sign!"
Greg! The stop sign!
Greg! The stop sign!
Greg! The stop sign!
Greg! The stop sign!
Some time in the next hundred thousand years
A comet's gonna wipe out all trace of Man -
I'm banking on it coming before
My end of year exam.
The rich kid, he becomes a junkie,
The poor kid, an advertiser:
What a tragic waste of potential -
Being a junkie's not so good, either.
Your folks struggled hard for what you've got,
You are the fruit of their vine;
But who cares what you sow when what you reap is
"Greg! You missed the stop sign!"?
Greg! The stop sign!
Greg! The stop sign!
Greg! The stop sign!
Greg! The stop sign!
Bought a car just the other day
Man! could that baby run!
But you know what they always say:
There's always a better one
Got a tumour in my brain
It's creeping to my lungs
But I've searched around in vain
Can't find me a better one.
Hardwired into everyone's head
Is the person they're gonna be -
Growing up is not a matter of choice,
It's a matter of wait and see.
And so kids, yeah! you can do it!
Remember to be your best!
Girls can do anything!
You can pass the test!
I'm O.K! You're O.K! We're O.K! We're fine!
I thought I saw a semi-trailer!
Greg! You missed the stop sign!
Those yobs were not for him -
Turns into a real estate agent
Who believes in discipline;
The guy who's the first to use cocaine,
The wild boy breaking free,
Ends up in a court of law
As a prosecuting Q.C.;
Remember the school captain?
Success was a matter of time:
I can hear her now as she screams,
"Greg! You missed the stop sign!"
Forget Snoop Doggy Dog,
Forget ol' Ice T-
The true word out on the streets
Is produced by the T.A.C.
What good's the use of striving?
As Life's roan in front unravels
We get to do the driving,
But don't choose the direction we travel.
Do your homework or wag for weeks
And graffiti the Dandedong line:
It don't matter much when you hear that scream -
"Greg! You missed the stop sign!"
Greg! The stop sign!
Greg! The stop sign!
Greg! The stop sign!
Greg! The stop sign!
Some time in the next hundred thousand years
A comet's gonna wipe out all trace of Man -
I'm banking on it coming before
My end of year exam.
The rich kid, he becomes a junkie,
The poor kid, an advertiser:
What a tragic waste of potential -
Being a junkie's not so good, either.
Your folks struggled hard for what you've got,
You are the fruit of their vine;
But who cares what you sow when what you reap is
"Greg! You missed the stop sign!"?
Greg! The stop sign!
Greg! The stop sign!
Greg! The stop sign!
Greg! The stop sign!
Bought a car just the other day
Man! could that baby run!
But you know what they always say:
There's always a better one
Got a tumour in my brain
It's creeping to my lungs
But I've searched around in vain
Can't find me a better one.
Hardwired into everyone's head
Is the person they're gonna be -
Growing up is not a matter of choice,
It's a matter of wait and see.
And so kids, yeah! you can do it!
Remember to be your best!
Girls can do anything!
You can pass the test!
I'm O.K! You're O.K! We're O.K! We're fine!
I thought I saw a semi-trailer!
Greg! You missed the stop sign!
Lyrics submitted by yllas
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
Son Şansın - Şarkı Sözleri
Hayalperest
Hayalperest
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
American Town
Ed Sheeran
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.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
The song criticizes the TAC public addresses concerning inebriated driving, in that they were violent and overall depressing. These addresses showed happy young adults living fun lives, until they got into a car, inebriated, and usually with friends, and were often met with incredibly violent traffic accidents.
The first verse talks about three stereotypes of kids in school: the one who throws away bad influences (yobs in the football team) and becomes a model in the community; the kid who experiments with drugs who eventually ends up in a court of law – but as a prosecuting queen's counsel; and finally, the model student whose life is cut short by a drunk driver missing a stop sign.
The second verse concerns specifically with how discouraging the advertisements are: how the students' lives could be ended in a single violent drive. The start compares Snoop Dogg and Ice T, controversial rappers, with the commercials; this, essentially, says "Rap isn't what you should be worried about, it's these damn PAs." By saying that whether you work intensely on homework or you graffiti the Dandedong line (a Victoria transit line), your life is eventually going to end horribly, so why do anything at all?
Third among the verses, after the chorus, talks a bit about the mindset the addresses gives. The speaker doesn't care about his end of year exams because he knows that, eventually, it won't even matter. I'll save the bit about the advertiser and the junkie for the next verse, but the line "Who cares what you sow when what you reap" is an exact statement: why work hard for yourself or others if someone's just going to miss a stop sign and kill you?
After the chorus, the next verse is about how there will always be a better car, but you -can- get the best cancer tumor. This ties into the previous lines about junkies and advertisers: it's always assumed that you could do better than just being an advertiser (hence, "tragic waste of potential") but nobody says much about doing the worst you possibly can, which is arguably easier than being an advertiser ("being a junkie's not so good, either").
The first four lines of the final verse is a summarization of their previous points: you feel as though your life is hardwired and eventually only summarized by your death, and so you don't actually give much choice in your future. The end of the verse, however, touches on a new point entirely. In the TAC commercials, there are few if any problems shown about the subject's lives -until- they begin drinking and getting the driver's seat of the car. The hurried "I'm OK! You're OK!" section is a way of dismissing all other problems that you might have in your life, while the final repetition of "Greg! You missed the stop sign!" saying that all of the attention that might be spent on our other problems is instead put on depressing and violent public addresses.
But, at the end of the day, who really gives a fuck?
@AllieAnarchy I didn't consider this interpretation. You can either interpret the song as depressing, saying we are all doomed so why bother, but it certainly seems more likely that they are being sarcastic. They are pointing out that it is foolish to say 'what's the point' when the cocaine addict can become a lawyer. At the end of the music video the quote on the wall makes their point quite well, saying the pain of regret is far worse than the pain of hard work. The cocaine addict worked to become a lawyer, and the guy that slagged the football team worked to become a real estate agent. <br /> <br /> I wouldn't go so far though as to say they are criticising the TAC, the TAC is just trying to prevent deaths.
This song is just mad. Not their best, but possibly their biggest. TISM RULE!!!!
Well, I thought it was, basically... the winners in highschool become loser and visa versa.
I love the chorus. Possibly my favourite TISM songs.
Cracker song, top notch - vocal melodies for Africa. It's cool to be a geek because youll have your day, and all those jocks will suffer
An attack on postmodernism: the proposition that all things are equally good and equally likely.
There used to be this ad on Australian TV, and it was made by the TAC (Transport Accident Commision) and there's a part of the ad where this bloke, (presumably Greg) is speeding down the road. He forgets to stop at an intersection, and the woman shouts out "GREG! You missed the stop-sign!" and then they get hit by a Mack truck. I think the ad was on in the 90's.
There used to be this ad on Australian TV, and it was made by the TAC (Transport Accident Commision) and there's a part of the ad where this bloke, (presumably Greg) is speeding down the road. He forgets to stop at an intersection, and the woman shouts out "GREG! You missed the stop-sign!" and then they get hit by a Mack truck. I think the ad was on in the 90's.
I hold the theme of this song close to my heart. No matter how hard you try in life, something small can whip around the corner and end it all, ie "missing the stop sign".