3 Meanings
Add Yours
Follow
Share
Q&A
Up with People Lyrics
yes there comes a booming sound
it used to come from underground
now it emenates
from a kind of welfare state
of the soul
yeah baby of the soul
and of the sweet sweet soul
let's be certain
of the deliberate monologue
as sure as if it will fall
across you
unto you
will most certainly leave the doing undone
come on undone
and we are doing
and we are screwing
up our lives today
what's that we chanted
it's this we planted
c'mon progeny
it used to come from underground
now it emenates
from a kind of welfare state
of the soul
yeah baby of the soul
let's be certain
of the deliberate monologue
as sure as if it will fall
across you
unto you
will most certainly leave the doing undone
and we are screwing
up our lives today
what's that we chanted
it's this we planted
c'mon progeny
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
On the inside of the album cover, the lyrics are written in reverse order- ie last verse first and first verse last.
Nice touch. Adds to the meaning of the song! And it makes sense too. So what somes first? the booming sound or progeny? I think no one can answer this - it's the beautiful cycle of life, and of the way in which love and life (human life - which comes before and after us) interract. Love, the booming sound, is visceral. And it echoes like an instinct for us to procreate. It is no individual quest; it all all adds up to the survival of the human race.
So up with people today, everybody! (I think I need a shag now, see ya)
"Up With People" were a travelling brigade of performers - who I saw live in the 80s in my hometown - that promoted wholesome family values through a thinly veiled entertainment show filled with dancing and singing. It was like the "It's A Small World" ride at Disney World coming to life on stage. It was quite bizarre, but at the time I remembered being impressed as most youngsters might be. Anyways I'm quite sure this song pays homage to this brigade, poking fun of the hokey "we are all one" message they sought to pass on in suburbs around the world. The song seems to say that instead of the "up with people" idea, the seed of cynicism and self-interest was somehow planted.
Wagner speaks about his own generation, and ambivalently praises it and laments it. "The booming sound" is a reference to the baby boomers. The generation who came of age under Nixon, who had many "deliberate monologues", but most certainly left the doing undone. They are screwing up today, and counting on the next generation to follow up on what they planted.