I look good in a glass pack
I look good and mean
I look good in metallic sick wraparound blackout tease
I scud along the horizon, I drink some sweet tree
I get high in my low-ass boot-cut jean
I like being seen
I look good with my drink-eat-no-sleep, take-a-leap longevity
I get high on my attitude, latitude, 1973
I'm in deep

My head's on fire and high esteem
Carry my dead, bored, been there, done that, anything
Oh, the wake-up bomb
Oh, the wake-up bomb
Oh, the wake-up bomb
Oh, the wake-up bomb
My head's on fire and high esteem
Get drunk and sing along to Queen
Practice my T-Rex moves and make the scene
Carry my dead, bored, been there, done that, anything

I had to knock a few buildings over
I make an ugly mess
I had to blow a gasket
Drop transmission
I had to decompress
I had to write the great American novel
I had a neutron bomb
I had to teach the world to sing by the age of 21
I wake up (I wake up)
I wake up (I wake up)
I threw up when I saw what I'd done

Oh, the wake-up bomb
Oh, the wake-up bomb
My head's on fire and high esteem
Get drunk and sing along to Queen
Practice my T-Rex moves and make the scene
Yeah, I'd rather be anywhere doing anything

I've had enough, I've seen enough, I've had it all, I'm giving up
I won the race, I broke the cup, I drank it all, I spit it up
I've had enough, I've seen enough, I've had it all, I'm giving up
I won the race, I broke the cup, I drank it all, I spit it up
Yeah, atomic, supersonic
What a joke, I'm dumb
See ya, don't want to be you
Lunch meat, Pond scum

My head's on fire in high esteem
Get drunk and sing along to Queen
Practice my T-Rex moves and make the scene
Yeah, I'd rather be anywhere doing anything
Yeah, I'd rather be anywhere doing anything
Yeah, I'd rather be anywhere doing anything
Yeah


Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings

The Wake-Up Bomb Lyrics as written by Peter Buck Bill Berry

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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The Wake-up Bomb song meanings
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  • +1
    My Interpretation

    I don't know if this is the meaning that Stipe intended - I have never read any claims that Michael Stipe has or had bipolar and I don't think he has any mental illness - but personally I find this song to be such a perfect description of bipolar, which I have.

    During a manic episode your thoughts race ("heads on fire"), you become overconfident, egotistical ("self esteem") and believe you are a highly attractive person ("I look good etc.") and you feel like you don't need to sleep ("no sleep"). You also believe you can achieve anything, no matter how unrealistic ("I had to write the great American novel", "I had to teach the world to sing by the age of 21"). You also jump from one thing to the next, seeking novelty ("I'd rather be anywhere doing anything").

    After the high comes the crash into depression, the realization that you are not as superhuman as you thought you were and the consequences of your irresponsible behaviour ("I threw up when I saw what I'd done"), ("I've had enough, I've seen enough, I've had it all, I'm giving up", "What a joke, I'm dumb").

    Perhaps I am just projecting my own meaning into a song that but it seems too perfect to be a coincidence.

    Of course the song isn't JUST about mania - there are also cultural references to the 70s and 80s and I am not sure what they mean except that Stipe grew from an adolescent to an adult during these decades - but it is a pretty damn good description.

    MajesticPlumageon June 23, 2011   Link

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