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,
I aint a politician, I’m just a bad musician
Whatcha gonna do for me?
Do you have the taste for sex and blood and hate
or really good LSD?
I’d like to start a band with you
I’ll sing and you can learn to play the tambourine
Here’s an invitation, no time for hesitation
Come and join my family
I live inside of you
But you don't belong to me
I’m a reflection of you
What’s my recipe?
A half a cup satanical, a teaspoon puritanical,
Stirred with a bloody hand
A quarter cup messiahcal, a sprinkle of maniacal
And now I’m a mechanical man
I’ll give you the heads up
Come on and get your legs up
This is called 'the family jam'
Together we'll stay hidden away for Armageddon
And stick it to the man
I live inside of you
But you don't belong to me
I’m a reflection of you
What’s my recipe?
A half a cup satanical, a teaspoon puritanical,
Stirred with a bloody hand
A quarter cup messiahcal, a sprinkle of maniacal
And now I’m a mechanical man
Charlie: [laughs] "watch this shit, woman! gonna learn somethin' right now."
Open up the curtains, then we'll start a hurtin'
Come on let's do the creepy-crawl
The show's about to go down,
Come on, I got the low-down
Together we'll make Hollywood fall
I live inside of you
But you don't belong to me
I’m a reflection of you
What’s my recipe?
I live inside of you
But you don't belong to me
I’m a reflection of you
You look at me and what do you see?
A half a cup satanical, a teaspoon puritanical,
Stirred with a bloody hand
A quarter cup messiahcal, a sprinkle of maniacal
And now I’m a mechanical man
A half a cup satanical, a teaspoon puritanical,
Stirred with a bloody hand
A quarter cup messiahcal, a sprinkle of maniacal
And now I’m a mechanical man
Whatcha gonna do for me?
Do you have the taste for sex and blood and hate
or really good LSD?
I’d like to start a band with you
I’ll sing and you can learn to play the tambourine
Here’s an invitation, no time for hesitation
Come and join my family
I live inside of you
But you don't belong to me
I’m a reflection of you
What’s my recipe?
A half a cup satanical, a teaspoon puritanical,
Stirred with a bloody hand
A quarter cup messiahcal, a sprinkle of maniacal
And now I’m a mechanical man
I’ll give you the heads up
Come on and get your legs up
This is called 'the family jam'
Together we'll stay hidden away for Armageddon
And stick it to the man
I live inside of you
But you don't belong to me
I’m a reflection of you
What’s my recipe?
A half a cup satanical, a teaspoon puritanical,
Stirred with a bloody hand
A quarter cup messiahcal, a sprinkle of maniacal
And now I’m a mechanical man
Charlie: [laughs] "watch this shit, woman! gonna learn somethin' right now."
Open up the curtains, then we'll start a hurtin'
Come on let's do the creepy-crawl
The show's about to go down,
Come on, I got the low-down
Together we'll make Hollywood fall
I live inside of you
But you don't belong to me
I’m a reflection of you
What’s my recipe?
I live inside of you
But you don't belong to me
I’m a reflection of you
You look at me and what do you see?
A half a cup satanical, a teaspoon puritanical,
Stirred with a bloody hand
A quarter cup messiahcal, a sprinkle of maniacal
And now I’m a mechanical man
A half a cup satanical, a teaspoon puritanical,
Stirred with a bloody hand
A quarter cup messiahcal, a sprinkle of maniacal
And now I’m a mechanical man
Lyrics submitted by bestthingintown
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
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
No Surprises
Radiohead
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.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
I love this song...someone could think it's stupid, but if you have seen the movie live freaky! die freaky! then you should understand how it's simply clever and funny...