This song is timeless, and nearly 20 years after its creation, still possesses the mystique it did the first time i heard it ~1994. To me, at first blush, all those years ago, it had some kind of homo-erotic allure. The line "so that the others may do" tells of something which must be done for others to follow suit. It felt like like some kind of roxy-glam-pop invitation to sexual liberation.
Upon further introspection I think the song may not have an intrinsic meaning, but simply represents a sort of "holding open the door" for people who otherwise might be affronted by this song/band's unusual style. I know, as a sort of armchair rock-historian, that there have been few bands so daring and so true to the sound that wanted to emerge from within, whether the creator wanted it or not. This band handled it with elegance and grace seldom, if ever, seen.
Come let us make bricks
and burn them hard,
we'll build a city
with a tower for the world
and climb so we can reach
anything we may propose,
anything at all
Build me up, tear me down
like a skyscraper,
build me up, then tear down
these joining walls
so they can't climb at all
I know why tore it down that day,
you thought, if you got caught
we'd all go away,
like a spoiled little baby
who can't come out to play,
you had your revenge
Build me up, tear me down
like a skyscraper,
build me up, then tear down
these joining walls
so they can't climb at all.
and burn them hard,
we'll build a city
with a tower for the world
and climb so we can reach
anything we may propose,
anything at all
Build me up, tear me down
like a skyscraper,
build me up, then tear down
these joining walls
so they can't climb at all
I know why tore it down that day,
you thought, if you got caught
we'd all go away,
like a spoiled little baby
who can't come out to play,
you had your revenge
Build me up, tear me down
like a skyscraper,
build me up, then tear down
these joining walls
so they can't climb at all.
Lyrics submitted by aperfectcharlie
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