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.
All down the street they're standin' in line
With white lipstick and one thing on their minds
Hey little freak with the lunch pail purse
Underneath the paint you're just a little girl
Dancin' at the Zombie Zoo,
Dancin' at the Zombie Zoo
Painted in a corner and all you wanna do
Is dance down at the Zombie Zoo
Cute little dropout, how come you pack a rod
Is your mother in a clinic? Has your father got no job?
Sometimes you're so impulsive, you shaved off all your hair
You look like Boris Karloff and you don't even care
You're dancin' at the Zombie Zoo,
Dancin' at the Zombie Zoo
Painted in a corner and all you wanna do
Is dance down at the Zombie Zoo
She disappears at sunrise,
I wonder where she goes until the night
Comes fallin' down again
You show up with your friends, half-alive
Dancin' at the Zombie Zoo,
Dancin' at the Zombie Zoo
Well, you can make a big impression or go through life unseen
You might wind up restricted and over seventeen
It's so hard to be careful, so easy to be led
Somewhere beyond the pavement
You'll find the living dead.
Dancin' at the Zombie Zoo,
Dancin' at the Zombie Zoo
Painted in a corner and all she wants to do
Is dance down at the Zombie Zoo
She disappears at sunrise,
I don't know where she goes until the night
Comes fallin' down again
She shows up with her friends, half-alive
Dancin' at the Zombie Zoo,
Dancin' at the Zombie Zoo
Painted in a corner and all you wanna do
Is dance down at the Zombie Zoo
Yeah dance down at the Zombie Zoo
Yeah get down at the Zombie Zoo
With white lipstick and one thing on their minds
Hey little freak with the lunch pail purse
Underneath the paint you're just a little girl
Dancin' at the Zombie Zoo,
Dancin' at the Zombie Zoo
Painted in a corner and all you wanna do
Is dance down at the Zombie Zoo
Cute little dropout, how come you pack a rod
Is your mother in a clinic? Has your father got no job?
Sometimes you're so impulsive, you shaved off all your hair
You look like Boris Karloff and you don't even care
You're dancin' at the Zombie Zoo,
Dancin' at the Zombie Zoo
Painted in a corner and all you wanna do
Is dance down at the Zombie Zoo
She disappears at sunrise,
I wonder where she goes until the night
Comes fallin' down again
You show up with your friends, half-alive
Dancin' at the Zombie Zoo,
Dancin' at the Zombie Zoo
Well, you can make a big impression or go through life unseen
You might wind up restricted and over seventeen
It's so hard to be careful, so easy to be led
Somewhere beyond the pavement
You'll find the living dead.
Dancin' at the Zombie Zoo,
Dancin' at the Zombie Zoo
Painted in a corner and all she wants to do
Is dance down at the Zombie Zoo
She disappears at sunrise,
I don't know where she goes until the night
Comes fallin' down again
She shows up with her friends, half-alive
Dancin' at the Zombie Zoo,
Dancin' at the Zombie Zoo
Painted in a corner and all you wanna do
Is dance down at the Zombie Zoo
Yeah dance down at the Zombie Zoo
Yeah get down at the Zombie Zoo
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In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
Mountain Song
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I remember the zombie zoo club, they did not serve drinks and would stay open until sunrise it really wasn't a punk club but punk used to go there to hang out, after the other places closed. i remember they had a bunch of old 70s type B?W tvs stacked in a room and they would play movies like nosferatu, while the house music played. I remember seeing ADS (another destructive system) there, so they did have some punk bands play some times.
Don't remember seeing a lot of punk girls, would have been pretty cool at 3am if I had.
Seem to remember some death rock guys in dresses fighting with the death rock girls for mirror space to put on make up. That was always good for a laugh.
Seem to remember it was in the LA brea area, could be wrong.
Yes, Zombie Zoo was a "Deathrock" club in Los Angeles in the 80's ("goth" used to be called "deathrock"). There was a restaraunt nextdoor to the club called Ships (it was kind-of like a Dennys). The patrons of the club used to hang-out there and eat. One night Tom Petty and Roy Orbison stopped in for a late night dinner after a recording session and met some of the club kids, and wrote a song about them.<br /> <br /> Zombie Zoo had many locations. The location that Tom saw was at "the Facade" on LaBrea. Zombie Zoo was also at Osko's downstairs in "the Cave", a room that was made to look like a cave. It was also at a dance hall called "La Casa" in downtown. it's first location was on Washington in a rather bad part of town (this is the locaztion that had the stack of TV's the played random things on each screen).<br /> <br /> Yes, we did book punkrock bands, as there weren't really enough "deathrock" bands around yet.<br /> <br /> Tom petty is a bastard. He wrote the song about my club. I called his managment to request a couple of tix to his concert. I was told "Tom said no". What a @#*&$%@!<br /> <br />
Yes, I used to go to Zombie Zoo and when I hear the lyrics I know it's about that club. It's not a particularly flattering song about us, now is it? Of course my friends and I were all just "little girls" (15 at the time), but it was a scene and I see it's influence in so many artists and even main stream media today since all of us "little freaks" apparently grew up to be the people behind such things :P
No Its Not about a hooker ,nor is it about a Stripper( but if u didnt know about it,then its easy to see why u could have thought it) ZOMBIE ZOO was actualy one of the very very first Underground Death Rock Clubs in Los Angeles back in 88-89 ...I look forward to hearing this song asI dig Petty, and know half the people to ever step into Zombie Zoo
I thought it was about a girl who dresses weird because it is part of a sub-culture that Tom Petty was making fun of (like early emo in the eighties).
Zombie Zoo is not about a stripper or prostitute or something symbolizing a deeper meaning. It is about the young gaudy punk wanna-bes that hung out in the now defunct Los Angeles nightclub named the Zombie Zoo. It appeared to Tom Petty that these young girls were wasting their life, living a fast but useless life.
I think this song is about a party animal girl. "she shows up with her friends half-alive" as shanshanshabang said this girl wont stop partying. Maybe one day i will know how it feels.
Zombie Zoo was one of those storefront "dance clubs" trendy in the mid-to-late 80s, populated by lost-looking mascara boys and girls. At the time of Full Moon Fever I took it to possibly refer to Petty's own daughter going to the club and Tom's dad-like ambivalance over it. His oldest would have been the right age for ZZ. Just a guess
Yes, Zombie Zoo was a "Deathrock" club in Los Angeles in the 80's ("goth" used to be called "deathrock"). There was a restaraunt nextdoor to the club called Ships (it was kind-of like a Dennys). The patrons of the club used to hang-out there and eat. One night Tom Petty and Roy Orbison stopped in for a late night dinner after a recording session and met some of the club kids, and wrote a song about them.
Zombie Zoo had many locations. The location that Tom saw was at "the Facade" on LaBrea. Zombie Zoo was also at Osko's downstairs in "the Cave", a room that was made to look like a cave. It was also at a dance hall called "La Casa" in downtown. it's first location was on Washington in a rather bad part of town (this is the locaztion that had the stack of TV's the played random things on each screen).
Yes, we did book punkrock bands, as there weren't really enough "deathrock" bands around yet.
Tom petty is a bastard. He wrote the song about my club. I called his managment to request a couple of tix to his concert. I was told "Tom said no". What a @#*&$%@!
Everything Mike Hell says is true because I was the DJ at the Zombie Zoo and he owned the club! Mike, how ya doing? My 16 year old found some old Zombie Zoo magazines a while ago and I starting thinking about you and how much fun I had D.J.ing and making the mag. We sure were creative kids. I don't know if this program will email you with my reply and my email address. If not, leave a message here and I will respond with my email. I do have a FB page.
Mikehell you almost got it right.. the funny part is that you doen't remember WHY Tom Petty said NO. LOL. and that makes me roll on the floor.<br /> <br /> I was hanging out at the door with Sammy one night - and along comes none other than Tom Petty with the guitarist from cheap trick, Rick Neilson. They wanted to get in for free. <br /> <br /> I told Sammy she should let them in it would be good for the club (they were celebrities, whether death rockers or not). She asked you.. but you refused.<br /> <br /> LOL.<br /> <br /> They were shocked - this little podunk DR hangout was turning them down. They stood out there and argued it for quite awhile, and eventually, well they shoved off. I tried telling Sammy to let them in anyway... she wouldn't do it without your approval. <br /> <br /> Well, I guess it was a good move - else there would be no song ripping mike's club.<br /> <br /> Hey Mike - i would bet that he didn't just say no, he probably said "NO - TELL HIM HE PAY'S FULL F'ING PRICE". Cause that was the message you told Sammy to give them - if you still are in touch, you should ask her about it.<br /> <br /> LOL. It still laugh when I hear the song.<br /> <br /> FWIW - I have video footage of both Zombie Zoo and The Crypt. This is your ex-roommate Mike, the one you had thrown in jail for passing counterfeit money in your club - and I couldn't say where I got it, because it was from none other than WREX and he had a jacket full of it and his car was loaded up with it too - he worked at kinkos and was cranking it out on the copiers ;) He gave me a bill and told me to go get him and steph some beers. lol. Ah, the good old days hey? I'll find you some day ;)
@mikehell Why should he have given you free tix?
This was posted on youtube but it's Tom's own words about Zombie Zoo.
"Yeah (Zombie Zoo was named from a Mohawked Pink in a diner). It was from when Jeff and George and I went out to Anaheim to ask Roy Orbison to be in the (Traveling Wilbury's). We were working on Full Moon Fever at the time. We were writing everything we saw. One line I remember we saw on a billboard was, 'Every day is judgement day.' That later turned up in End Of The Line, the Wilbury's song. We stopped at a (Denny's) restaurant on the way back, and these punky-looking guys recognized us and came over. And I said, 'Where have you been? What are you playing?', and they said, 'The Zombie Zoo' and out came the pads! (Laughs). It's a very light-hearted song. Nonsense, really. There's no great statement. It was just for the fun of it. I kind of wondered about Zombie Zoo really. I don't think I would have had it on if Jeff hadn't really campaigned for it. I would have cut it out. But there it is."
I thought it was about somebody who is acting all weird just for the sake of being weird. One of those people who would stop breathing if they could, just because that's what everybody else is doing.
When I listen to this song I think of a "punk rawk" girl. Really eager to be completely comfortable and decided in who she is and what she wants out of life. That is a contemporary pop-culture lens to view this song through.
But now that I think of it, a hooker is a likely candidate.