In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Mr Drum was here yesterday, he knows just what he needs
And gives what he's got to the thump of his creed:
Live fast, die young, leave a good looking corpse,
Good looking corpse
In a witch doctor's den, in a shanty shebeen
From the echoes of laughter I know where he's been
From the liquor you've drunk and the air that you breathe
Is the tap of his typing, is the sweat from his sleeve
Live fast, die young, Leave a good looking corpse,
Good looking corpse
On the corners of streets where a dash to the tail
Is provoking a malice as sharp as a nail
And a wit he has slain with an eye full of ink
Is a stab in the dark and a push to the brink
Live fast, die young, leave a good looking corpse,
Good looking corpse
Oh DRUM I was glad, I was glad in your beat
Oh DRUM I was moved by your love of your street
Oh DRUM I was glad, I was glad in your beat
Oh DRUM I was moved by your love of your street
And if you have gone then I'll summon you back
With the reach of your spirit past the white and the black
Tell me please, tell me Henry, tell me ever and more
Tell your son, tell your daughter, and open the door
Live fast, die young, leave a good looking corpse
Good looking corpse
I'm a hag and I'm hooked
(Live fast, die young)
I'm down and I'm in
(Live fast, die young)
I'm a world without water
(Live dast, die young)
I'm fat and I'm thin
(Leave a good looking corpse)
I'm a story you told
(Live fast, die young)
I'm the promise that you sound
(Live fast, die young)
I'm the day without water
(Live fast, die young)
I'm the world that I want
(Leave a good looking corpse)
Live fast die young, leave a good looking corpse
Good looking corpse
Oh DRUM I was glad, I was glad in your beat
Oh DRUM I was moved by your love of your street
Oh DRUM I was glad, I was glad in your beat
Oh DRUM I was moved by your love of your street
Oh DRUM I was glad, I was glad in your beat
Oh DRUM I was moved by your love of your street
Oh DRUM I was glad, I was glad in your beat
Oh DRUM I was moved by your love of your street
And gives what he's got to the thump of his creed:
Live fast, die young, leave a good looking corpse,
Good looking corpse
In a witch doctor's den, in a shanty shebeen
From the echoes of laughter I know where he's been
From the liquor you've drunk and the air that you breathe
Is the tap of his typing, is the sweat from his sleeve
Live fast, die young, Leave a good looking corpse,
Good looking corpse
On the corners of streets where a dash to the tail
Is provoking a malice as sharp as a nail
And a wit he has slain with an eye full of ink
Is a stab in the dark and a push to the brink
Live fast, die young, leave a good looking corpse,
Good looking corpse
Oh DRUM I was glad, I was glad in your beat
Oh DRUM I was moved by your love of your street
Oh DRUM I was glad, I was glad in your beat
Oh DRUM I was moved by your love of your street
And if you have gone then I'll summon you back
With the reach of your spirit past the white and the black
Tell me please, tell me Henry, tell me ever and more
Tell your son, tell your daughter, and open the door
Live fast, die young, leave a good looking corpse
Good looking corpse
I'm a hag and I'm hooked
(Live fast, die young)
I'm down and I'm in
(Live fast, die young)
I'm a world without water
(Live dast, die young)
I'm fat and I'm thin
(Leave a good looking corpse)
I'm a story you told
(Live fast, die young)
I'm the promise that you sound
(Live fast, die young)
I'm the day without water
(Live fast, die young)
I'm the world that I want
(Leave a good looking corpse)
Live fast die young, leave a good looking corpse
Good looking corpse
Oh DRUM I was glad, I was glad in your beat
Oh DRUM I was moved by your love of your street
Oh DRUM I was glad, I was glad in your beat
Oh DRUM I was moved by your love of your street
Oh DRUM I was glad, I was glad in your beat
Oh DRUM I was moved by your love of your street
Oh DRUM I was glad, I was glad in your beat
Oh DRUM I was moved by your love of your street
Lyrics submitted by Macphisto12, edited by skennedy97
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The line is "in a witch doctor's den, in a shanty shabeen" - a shabeen's a little drinking house.
I'm sure it's based around the Drum magazine in south africa which helped to try and get rights for black people back in the 30's onwards, and one of the reporters Henry Nxumalo. There's a book about it, laurahird.com/newreview/whokilledmrdrum.html