| The Flaming Lips – Are You a Hypnotist?? Lyrics | 1 month ago |
| I am so convinced that this song is about being gaslit that I expect the original title to have been "Are you a narcissist" | |
| Smash Mouth – Walkin' On The Sun Lyrics | 17 years ago |
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Verse 1: "It ain't no joke I'd like to buy the world a toke And teach the world to sing in perfect harmony And teach the world to snuff the fires and the liars Hey I know it's just a song but it's spice for the recipe This is a love attack I know it went out but it's back. It's just like any fad it retracts before impact And just like fashion it's a passion for the with it and hip If you got the goods they'll come and buy it just to stay in the clique" I find the first lines to be quite humorous. They were from an old coke commercial which bastardized geniune ideals such as peace, love, and harmony to sell product. Before this was a commercial jingle, it was a song that was originally recorded by Susan Shirley and released in 1971 but rewritten after a licensing lawsuit. After it became a Coke jingle it was recorded into a full length single to make more money. Smash Mouth took these lyrics and changed the lyric from "coke" to "toke" further bastardizing the lyrics (relevantly humorous) and referencing a common/recreational "hippie activity" associated with expanding one's mind and spreading love. In the third line, the narrorator is saying he'd like to show everyone how to see through the bullshit lies of corporate marketing ("And teach the world to snuff the fires and the liars"). The last few lines show that even though the narrorator would like to spread love throughout the world, it would come and go as with any other trend before it even had a chance to make any relevant difference in the world. _____________________________ Chorus: "So don't delay act now supplies are running out Allow if you're still alive six to eight years to arrive And if you follow there may be a tomorrow But if the offer is shun you might as well be walkin' on the sun" The chorus is pretty much just a mockery of "Corporate (or anyone selling trends) view" as seen from the narrorator's perspective. You have the narrorator having "corporate's" main selling point being that "If you don't ride the trend now, you won't be accepted by the rest of society - or you can just wait another 6-8 years for the trend cycle to start over and then be an 'innovator'". _____________________________ verse 2: "Twenty-five years ago they spoke out and they broke out Of recession and oppression and together they toked And they folked out with guitars around a bonfire Just singin' and clappin' man what the hell happened Then some were spellbound some were hellbound Some they fell down and some got back up and Fought back 'gainst the melt down And their kids were hippie chicks all hypocrites Because fashion is smashin' the true meaning of it" The first part of this verse paints a scene of hippies and activists successfully spreading joy and equality and celebrating "love, peace, and happiness". The second part of this verse asks "What happened to this generation of people and their ideals?" ("And they folked out with guitars around a bonfire Just singin' and clappin' man what the hell happened") The next part of this verse shows that this generation grew up and apart from eachother ("Then some were spellbound some were hellbound Some they fell down and some got back up and Fought back 'gainst the melt down") This verse closes by showing that this grown-up generation (babyboomers) had kids of their own who have adopted their parents old ideals through trends. The irony of this verse is that the generation (babyboomers) who used to stick it to "the man"/corporations have become what they once fought against. They have also learned to package their old ideals via trends and sell these as products to the next generation (their "children"/"hippie chicks"). _____________________________ verse 3 "It ain't no joke when a mama's handkerchief is soaked With her tears because her baby's life has been revoked The bond is broke up so choke up and focus on the close up Mr. Wizard can't perform no godlike hocus-pocus So don't sit back kick back and watch the world get bushwhacked News at 10:00 your neighborhood is under attack Put away the crack before the crack puts you away You need to be there when your baby's old enough to relate" The song's closing verse points out that there is a gap not just between baby boomers and their following generation, but between corporations and consumers. The Mr. Wizard (a tv character who had a show where he conducted experiments as a scientist. These experiments would seem "magical" to the generation of kids they were presented to - the kids of babyboomers) reference seems to show that the kids no longer see through the magic of the "science experiments" presented by Mr. Wizard thus now that this newer generation is growing up, they see right through the trends that are sold to them as products - that they cannot buy the ideals they thought they were getting with these trends sold by corporations/their parents. the middle of the verse seems to request action - to end this cycle. The verse closes using "crack" to compare generations. "Crack" is used in contrast to "toking" thus bringing the song full circle thematically. As pointed out by SlightlyShinobi, people are no longer expanding their minds with something as innocent as Pot, but destroying themselves with Crack. When contrasted with the rest of this song, this analogy seems to point out the bastardizing of ideals and asking parents to end the cycle by putting away the "crack" and not letting their "baby's" "baby" go down the same route their parent and grandparent's generation has. _________________________________ What I really like about these lyrics are the many layers of irony. Not only is there irony in baby boomers becoming what they were against "25 years ago" and using trends to sell their ideals to their "children", irony in the coke song, irony in the "toking to smoking rock" analogy, but the biggest one of all......... .....here we are as consumers listening to a song about anti-consumerism - a song about purchasing ideals through trends and packages, when this song is exactly that. What's ironic and creates this paradox is that it's intended by the narrorator from the first verse..... ......("....Hey I know it's just a song but it's spice for the recipe. This is a love attack I know it went out but it's back....." |
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