They made a statue of us
And then put it on a mountain top
Now tourists come and stare at us
Blow bubbles with their gum
Take photographs of fun, have fun

They'll name a city after us
And later say it's all our fault
Then they'll give us a talking to
Then they'll give us a talking to
'Cause they've got years of experience

We're living in a den of thieves
Rummaging for answers in the pages
We're living in a den of thieves
And it's contagious
And it's contagious
And it's contagious
And it's contagious

We wear our scarves just like a noose
But not 'cause we want eternal sleep
And though our parts are slightly used
New ones are slave labor you can keep

We're living in a den of thieves
Rummaging for answers in the pages
We're living in a den of thieves
And it's contagious
And it's contagious
And it's contagious
And it's contagious

They made a statue of us
They made a statue of us
The tourists come and stare at us
The sculptor's mama sends regards
They made a statue of us
They made a statue of us
Our noses have begun to rust

We're living in a den of thieves
Rummaging for answers in the pages
We're living in a den of thieves
And it's contagious
And it's contagious
And it's contagious
And it's contagious

And it's contagious
And it's contagious
And it's contagious
And it's contagious


Lyrics submitted by TheBeff

Us Lyrics as written by Regina Spektor

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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Us song meanings
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    General Comment

    My interpretion focuses mainly on how society, and the world in general works...

    "They made a statue of us, and put it on a mountain top" Everyone of whom the people think deserves mentioning his/her name, they make a statue of and put it somewhere. Through ages it rusts away, together with the thought that's behind it. It's as if putting a statue somewhere gives you closure; as if it makes the loss of someone easier.

    When the tourists come to stare at the statue, they take photographs, because that's the general idea of what a good tourists should do, in order to 'have fun'. Again, it's about the memory; people think that taking pictures is a guarantee that you don't loose a second of life; this is how the concept "yolo" has a counterproductive effect. Especially when the tourists don't even care about the statue, often enough they don't even know what it stands for; they just blow their gum and take unmeaningful pictures.

    They'll even "name a city after us, and later say it's all our fault": to me it just confirms how humans are unreliable; people will never be irreversably loyal towards their principles. Politicians won't stand for their ideas if the entire society disagrees with them; people in general will change their minds when it's a dangerous time to think like that.

    "Contagious" may mean that it's unescapable, or it's easy to be 'infected' with it ('it' meaning the general idea that roams society; how you should behave as a tourist, a citizen, a government.. how we should honour and remember the ones that meant a great deal to us, but also how we forget about them as time passes and other things are considered of greater importance, or people start taking up other views and what once was a hero could not be a shameless criminal) .

    Also, I LOVE the way Regina says "contagiou-uh-ous"... To me, it represents how this world keeps us in its suffocating grip.

    We all want this world to get better, but we are too busy pretending to live a utopia and a great life instead of just living, normally; because I think that after all,that's what everybody is looking for, it's how we cut the pretending that can be so suffocating.

    PollyKnotswiseon October 16, 2013   Link

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