I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Once the religious, the hunted and weary
Chasing the promise of freedom and hope
Came to this country to build a new vision
Far from the reaches of Kingdom and pope
Like good Christians some would burn the witches
Later some got slaves to gather riches
But still from near and far to seek America
They came by thousands, to court the wild
But she just patiently smiled and bore a child
To be their spirit and guiding light
And once the ties with the crown had been broken
Westward in saddle and wagon it went
And till the railroad linked ocean to ocean
Many the lives which had come to an end
While we bullied, stole and bought a homeland
We began the slaughter of the red man
But still from near and far to seek America
They came by thousands to court the wild
But she just patiently smiled and bore a child
To be their spirit and guiding light
The Blue and Grey they stomped it
They kicked it just like a dog
And when the war was over
They stuffed it just like a hog
And though the past has its share of injustice
Kind was the spirit in many a way
But its protectors and friends have been sleeping
Now it's a monster and will not obey
The spirit was freedom and justice
And its keepers seemed generous and kind
Its leaders were supposed to serve the country
But now they won't pay it no mind
Cause the people grew fat and got lazy
Now their vote is a meaningless joke
They babble about law and order
But it's all just an echo of what they've been told
Yeah, there's a monster on the loose
It's got our heads into the noose
And it just sits there watchin'
The cities have turned into jungles
And corruption is stranglin' the land
The police force is watching the people
And the people just can't understand
We don't know how to mind our own business
'Cause the whole world's got to be just like us
Now we are fighting a war over there
No matter who's the winner we can't pay the cost
'Cause there's a monster on the loose
It's got our heads into the noose
And it just sits there watchin'
America, where are you now
Don't you care about your sons and daughters
Don't you know we need you now
We can't fight alone against the monster
America, where are you now
Don't you care about your sons and daughters
Don't you know we need you now
We can't fight alone against the monster
Chasing the promise of freedom and hope
Came to this country to build a new vision
Far from the reaches of Kingdom and pope
Like good Christians some would burn the witches
Later some got slaves to gather riches
But still from near and far to seek America
They came by thousands, to court the wild
But she just patiently smiled and bore a child
To be their spirit and guiding light
And once the ties with the crown had been broken
Westward in saddle and wagon it went
And till the railroad linked ocean to ocean
Many the lives which had come to an end
While we bullied, stole and bought a homeland
We began the slaughter of the red man
But still from near and far to seek America
They came by thousands to court the wild
But she just patiently smiled and bore a child
To be their spirit and guiding light
The Blue and Grey they stomped it
They kicked it just like a dog
And when the war was over
They stuffed it just like a hog
And though the past has its share of injustice
Kind was the spirit in many a way
But its protectors and friends have been sleeping
Now it's a monster and will not obey
The spirit was freedom and justice
And its keepers seemed generous and kind
Its leaders were supposed to serve the country
But now they won't pay it no mind
Cause the people grew fat and got lazy
Now their vote is a meaningless joke
They babble about law and order
But it's all just an echo of what they've been told
Yeah, there's a monster on the loose
It's got our heads into the noose
And it just sits there watchin'
The cities have turned into jungles
And corruption is stranglin' the land
The police force is watching the people
And the people just can't understand
We don't know how to mind our own business
'Cause the whole world's got to be just like us
Now we are fighting a war over there
No matter who's the winner we can't pay the cost
'Cause there's a monster on the loose
It's got our heads into the noose
And it just sits there watchin'
America, where are you now
Don't you care about your sons and daughters
Don't you know we need you now
We can't fight alone against the monster
America, where are you now
Don't you care about your sons and daughters
Don't you know we need you now
We can't fight alone against the monster
Lyrics submitted by oofus
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Dreamwalker
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Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
No Surprises
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Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Trouble Breathing
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While the obvious connections with suicide or alcoholism could be drawn easily, more subtly this song could be about someone who views the world through a negative lens constantly and how as much as the writer tries to show the beauty in the world, this person refuses to see it. It's one or another between the rope and the bottle. There is no good option for this person. They can't see it. Skiba sings it in a kind of exasperated way like He's tired of hearing this negative view constantly and just allowing that person to continue feeling the way they feel knowing he can't do anything about it. You can hear it when he says maybe you're a vampire.
Somewhere Only We Know
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Per the FAQ on Keane's website, Keane's drummer Richard Hughes, stated the following:
"We've been asked whether "Somewhere Only We Know" is about a specific place, and Tim has been saying that, for him, or us as individuals, it might be about a geographical space, or a feeling; it can mean something individual to each person, and they can interpret it to a memory of theirs... It's perhaps more of a theme rather than a specific message... Feelings that may be universal, without necessarily being totally specific to us, or a place, or a time..."
With the nostalgic sentiment and the overall tone of the song, I think Keane is attempting to express a Portuguese term known as 'saudade', which does not have a direct English translation but roughly means "that which we remember because it is gone."
With politically-engaged or protest art, including rock music, your impulses can generally go in one of two directions. One direction is nihilism and infantile self-righteousness, a point of view in which one issues blanket condemnations against whatever it is you're attacking or criticizing. In this view, America (or "Amerika" to make it look like some heir to the Nazi Third Reich) is irredeemably evil and corrupt, racist/violent/murderous/greedy/hypocritical, and one issues the verdict from a (self-appointed) position of moral superiority.
The other direction or point of view, the one John Kay and Steppenwolf embraced in their politically-oriented songs (and this was their best and most ambitious of the genre), one comes from a position not of simplistic, blindly condemnatory self-righteousness and infantile sneering, but from a position of saddened and dismayed disillusionment. Kay and Co. recognize the ideals of the first white settlers of the nation, but also their mixed motives and the injustices done to native peoples here. They recognize that America is and has been capable of great things for humanity, but is engaged in violent and destructive projects (the Vietnam war was at its height at the time). They are begging America to return to its ideals, but they haven't given up on the original project.
I think Kay and Co. would disagree strongly with Gimpy Jim. America doesn't "suck"; it has been corrupted, and needs fixing. They would probably side with OWS, or at least with the demonstrators who want reform, not the ones who want to sneer and destroy with nothing positive to put in its place.
Gimpy Jim, if America sucks what place would you prefer? Iran? Zimbabwe? N. Korea? Perhaps Europe, where the EU is working so harmoniously for the prosperity of all?
I came here to post a comment, and realize that mbrachman pretty much expresses my sentiments on this song. Listening to it right now as I type, and it's still a fine, fine expression of "big picture" political self-examination.<br /> <br /> Yes, Kay & Co. express hope in this song. The litany of power abuse (slavery, genocide of the indigenous, etc.) is sad, but carries the promise of betterment. The switch to the "present" (in the '60s) day, powerfully expressed in the theme change, expresses a tragic despair that, somehow, we failed to get the train firmly on the tracks.<br /> <br /> That failure has changed a little bit in character, but the fact is that the situation now (2012) is pretty much the same as where Kay leaves off in this song: The American people are fat and lazy, and the "leaders" have merely honed the tools of psychological exploitation of the collective will-to-fail to a fine edge.<br /> <br /> There's a powerful reigning image in Monster, and it's the Americans' failure to comprehend the fundamental cowardice that is entailed in a reliance on superior military power as an expression of national identity. On that image, alone, we can safely say that things haven't substantially changed in America from the post-War mil-ind-complex expansion described in the song. And, in that sense, Kay's song achieves two goals which are normally mutually exclusive in pop songs: It is both intensely political, yet also timeless. It was then, is now, and probably for a long, long time will be, a fine challenge to the American mindset and a spur to an urgently needed self-examination.
Well not quite how it sucks, cause that'd include Americans in general. Im pretty sure its just authority of America. Kinda makes me think of greenday, geez i hate american idiot. Make a real protest song w*nkers.
The full song is actually called Monster/Suicide/America
@kfe2 True. The album was called "Monster." Why isn't Steppenwolf in the R&RHOF? On second thought, considering how ridden with corruption and cronyism THAT institution is, and some of the un-worthies who have been admitted to the Hall, perhaps it's a mark of honor that Steppenwolf- a great band with a lot of memorable songs- is NOT in it.
don't ever mention green day and steppenwolf in the same context steppenwolf are about 50 times better than than those pretenders!
Floydian18: I think mattalac agrees with you. Steppenwolf was the real thing, GD just a bunch of snot-nosed "punks" (their term) making sneering pseudoprotest with no serious or mature agenda. John Kay, German-born near the end of the war and moved, with a single mother, to Canada at an early age, had reason to think long and hard about human history from early youth, long before he picked up a guitar and formed a rock band. Billy Joe Armstrong and Co. were just a bunch of bored, spoiled, whining, pot-smoking, masturbating suburban kids sneering at "authority" (what "evil" authority in the '90s when Green Day was in its heyday? The Clinton Administration?)in an pre-adolescent way.
This is one of the first EPIC Rock Songs written and completely captures John Kay's intelligence and forward thinking. I was a 7 or 8 yrs. old kid when I hear this song for the first time, but its meaning was as obvious to me then as it is now.
It clearly speaks to the original idea or Spirit of what America was supposed to be- and what that spirit became because of prosperity, hypocrisy, and laziness. The first settlers came to escape religious persecution- and planted the seeds for a "live and let live" societal concept, But alas- even back then those same hypocritical Christians burnt "withes" to the stake and enslaved stolen Africans for the purpose of self gain.
Still they emigrated by thousands to what was to become America, despite its short comings and inability to fulfill its idealistic-altruistic dream. We broke our ties with the Crown (American Revolution) and hence a country that was supposed to allow for freedom, property, liberty, and individualism was born. Many lives were lost building the railroad that connected the east and west coast, we slaughtered the Native Americans- but it was all based on the premise that we were building a free nation, based on equality and devoid of persecution for being different. But we constantly fell short-(and still do).
The blue gray is obviously reference to the civil war- and is when America transitioned to the industrial age-and then references feeding the corrupt modern version of the original spiritual idealistic America.(They stuffed it just like a hog-what a powerful, lyrical rhyme!) In its early stages the corrupted version of the spirit still "smiled" on America and was generous in supporting its growth and prosperity despite stomping on the original ideas of freedom and liberty for ALL that the first pioneers had planted.
The city's have turned into jungles of crime, poverty, and corruption. Instead of looking out for each other, we are just worried about ourselves. Our political leaders, local/federal government, and police forces once filled with great people are now self serving hypocrites no longer concerned about the original idea of freedom and individualism that bought the first settlers here. We have fed the perverse version of the original American dream/spirit (which is the Monster) and it is now out of control.
Kay's lyrics reflect a love for America- the original dream, but recognizes it has gone astray. He calls for us to rally - and get back to the basics of what this country was originally founded on. This is expressed in the "America-where are you now" lyrics- it is the spirit of the 60s generation to make America the country it has the potential to be, not to tear it down. "Now we are fighting a war over there"-Vietnam of course!)
Tremendous, message that surmised what Steppenwolf, Kay, and the supposed counter hippy culture was all about in the 60s - American is great but is off track and needs to be guided back on course. The song stands the test of time as it seems to become MORE relevant with the passing of time-not less. What recent song do you know of that delivered such a message......America never did quite answer his call, and now we are fatter and lazier less concerned with this message than ever before! I know he wasn't an American- but Kay definitely understood the American spirit, dream, and vision.
@MCgold <br /> "The song stands the test of time as it seems to become MORE relevant with the passing of time-not less."<br /> unfortunately, correct
Actually people, I am doing a project on this song, and this song actually has everything to do with the starting of America. The first stanza talks about the Puritans and some about the Salem Witch Trials. You should do your research people.
I'm not sure if I have this compeletly correct but here is my interpretation.
The beginning talks about how America was born from people who tried to escape religion.
"Like good Christians some would burn the witches" refers to the Salem Witchcraft Trials as stated by LuvvingReefer above.
Then they talk about how African Americans were made into slaves "Later some got slaves to gather riches".
"They came by thousands..." refers to emmigration. "to court the wild" is claiming territory.
The song talkes about the Statue of Liberty, but im not 100% sure... "To be their spirit and guiding light".
"Westward in saddle and wagon it went" marking of the Gold Rush
"And till the railroad linked ocean to ocean" completion of the Transcontinental Railroad
"Many the lives which had come to an end" End of the Cowboy Era
"While we bullied, stole and bought a homeland We began the slaughter of the red man" We fought Native Americans for their territory
"The Blue and Grey they stomped it They kicked it just like a dog And when the war was over They stuffed it just like a hog" The Civil War as Zephid mentioned above. "they stomped it" refers how the Civil War destroyed America
"But its protectors and friends have been sleeping" the people have allowed America to change for the worse.
"And its keepers seemed generous and kind" The keepers are politicians
"We don't know how to mind our own business 'Cause the whole world's got to be just like us" These lines refer to how America trys to force other countrys to do stuff.
"Now we are fighting a war over there" The Vietnam War
"America, where are you now Don't you care about your sons and daughters Don't you know we need you now We can't fight alone against the monster America, where are you now Don't you care about your sons and daughters Don't you know we need you now We can't fight alone against the monster" The last lines are calling out to The People to fight the goverment, so their children have a better world.
That write-up seems to be correct, but why do people call black people "African Americans?" The white people who enslaved them aren't called "European Americans." And what about black people who live in London? Are they "African Europeans?"<br /> <br /> It's silly terminology.
Actually Reefer, I already did a project on this song in high school and the song actually has everything to do with the state of the US Government and Vietnam. There is more than one verse. Do your research.
The Blue and Grey they stomped it They kicked it just like a dog And when the war was over They stuffed it just like a hog
Is that referring to the American Civil War?
correct
yeah its talking about how we beat the brits i think at the end when it talks about fighting the monster i think its about the monster america created in its self