| The Offspring – Pay The Man Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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I'd have to agree it's a conversation (the realist/idealist), especially during the rocking part's chorus, the "woooaaah, woaaaahs" between the "shut up, you talk to much [woooaaah, hoooaaa], pay the man" lines are important, I feel like it's a call and response device between the two voices. The shut up is directed right at the woooahs. This song is the reason I love the Offspring more than any other punk band. They are actually *saying* something. They're serving up a concept for us on a silver platter: Don't pay the man just for living. It's unnecessary "the man" is the jester in the corner, laughing silently to himself, getting paid for nothing. The malady abounds in our souls. We invite the man into our souls to create disaster and mischief, AND WE PAY HIM for it. The voice of this idealist isn't the band talking to us, it's the idealist pontificating about the state of affairs in our lives. Dexter's voice in the harder parts is sneering. "look at you, and your struggle for freedom". He is the jester. He's just playing with us - he has the power and he knows it. The very last part is the fight. The idealist becomes powerful, and his whiny/ethereal woooahs become wails and screams of power. "my life is for me - " and the song just ends. Dexter wants us to fight and convince our friends and family to never pay the man. |
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| The Offspring – Americana Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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First of all - Four-bys is an abbreviation for Four-by-fours or more commonly 4x4s - meaning 4-wheel drive trucks and SUVs that all American consumers seem to value (because of all the muddy roads and mountains we traverse on our way to Target) over fuel efficient blah blah liberal stuff. I agree it's about consumerism and not capitalism per se, and it's very important to recognize the lyric after "don't blame me, I just work here- but I wanna fuck (it up, it all, or some other subdued anarchistic line that's hard to discern over the guitar). Even the people that know they *should* rage against the machine (ha) still don't. Why? That's the beauty of the Americana. You have to be "radical" to speak out or better yet, act out against it. It's Heidegger's classic They-Self mentality that binds us to our consumer ways. It's scary to act in an authentic way, and the liberation of it can only be felt once it's achieved. Also, this song is NOT about kids. It's about everyone. Most kids can't afford the materialistic things Dexter's singing about - their parents can, and by buying those things for their kids only perpetuate the idea - Buy, buy, buy. |
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