Many years ago
He looked out through a glassless window
All that he could see was Babylon
Beautiful green fields and dreams
And learn to measure the stars
But there was a worry in his heart

He said
How could it come to this?
I'm really worried about living
How could it come to this?
Yeah, I really wanna know about this

Is it like today?
Uh, uh-uh

Then there came a day
Moved out 'cross the Mediterranean
Came to rest on isles and the Greek young men
And with their silver beards they laughed
At the unknown of the universe
They could just sit and guess God's name

But they said
How could it come to this?
We're really worried about living
How could it come to this?
Yeah, we really want to know about this

Is it like today?
Oh, oh-oh

Then there followed days of kings
Empires and revolution
Blood just looks the same
When you open the veins
But sometimes it was faith, power or reason as the cornerstone
But the furrowed brow has never left his face

He said
How could it come to this?
We're really living in a landslide
How could it come to this?
Yeah we really wanna know about this

Is it like today?
Oh, oh-oh

Then there came a day
Man packed up, flew off from the planet
He went to the moon (to the moon)
To the moon (to the moon)
Now he's out in space, hey, fixing all the problems
He comes face to face with God

He says
How could it come to this
I'm really worried 'bout my creation
How did it come to this
You're really killing me you know

It isn't just today
Oh, oh-oh
Is it like today?
Eh? Ah
Is it like today?
Oh, bang
Ooh

Many years ago
He looked out through a glassless window
Didn't understand much what he saw


Lyrics submitted by typo, edited by rjd, Coopercap

Is It Like Today? Lyrics as written by Karl Edmond De Vere Wallinger

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Is It Like Today? song meanings
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11 Comments

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  • +3
    General Comment

    Sheryl Crow has performed this, but it is originally done by World Party. Both versions are quite nice. :)

    This song, to me, is about humanity over time. Over the centuries, the questions are still the same. Why are we here? What are we doing? What purpose do we have? How could it come to this?

    meggybearson July 07, 2007   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    It seems like there's something significant you might have missed. In the first couple verses, it's the people looking around them, asking "How could it come to this?", but in the last verse, with man on the moon, it's actually God which speaks the chorus. "I'm really worried about my creation." That makes the line, "You're really killing me, you know" all the more powerful. It's about how we have a tendency to think ourselves the center of the universe -- the most important players on the block. There's always something larger than us.

    For me, it seems like it's about recognizing that humanity is NOT all there is. We look around

    LemurMasteron January 07, 2008   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    A four verse precis of the book, "A History Of Western Philosophy" by Bertrand Russell

    usernickon May 03, 2008   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Is there anyone who knows what this song ('Is it like today' by World Party) is actually about and if it is a remake of an older song? I saw that there is a version by Sheryl Crow, but have no idea if she remade this or someone else's song.

    tmaguire18on April 12, 2007   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    meggybears has one level. the song is a bit deeper than that - it's about the cyclic destruction man brings to the planet. The questions do remain constant - even though man advances. "Is it like today? BANG!" (nuclear war or some cataclysmic event wipes out humanity's advancement) This is the theme of the whole album.

    Though literally it can be interpreted two ways. pessimisticly - as Man never learns "is this as good as it's ever gonna get?" OR optimistically - through recreation / rebirth (the last stanza) Man will be given an infinite number of chances for redemption. Knowing Wallinger's views, this is not an optimistic song...but interpret what you like.

    rajwoodsonon December 23, 2007   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I agree it's about us figuring things out, and really matches what an earlier responder said about Karl's intentions when writing the song, but even moreso, I get the sense it's about us messing everything up. We've fouled up this gorgeous planet that we were lucky enough to "inherit," and now we want to go to the moon and try to make things right but we'll just mess that (and space) up too! Think of all the junk in space - satellites, etc. We can't keep ourselves from messing up a good, pure thing. We think we know and understand so much - well, we TRY to understand, and we often do get there (we know more about lots of things than in the days before science and before they could just sit and think) - but that understanding somehow doesn't stop us from fouling the water and the air and killing each other and never seeming to learn or get any better as a whole. I just love this song, and I know Karl Wallinger was very earth-concious, very concerned about the planet, so this interpretation is the one I've always had and continue to think fits the song.

    [Edit: clarification after reading ILikeSin's comment]
    sandishon March 28, 2024   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    A fun, musical journey through history!

    Superblaston July 02, 2004   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation

    Love this song. Usernick has it when he mentions "A History Of Western Philosophy" by Bertrand Russell. Great melody and great lyrics. Speaking of lyrics...

    First chorus is messed up, it uses "I" instead of "we". It should be:

    He said How could it come to this? I'm really worried about living How could it come to this? Yeah, I really wanna know about this

    Second verse is missing:

    Is it like today? Uh, uh-uh

    Then there came a day, moved Out cross the Mediterranean Came to rest on isles and the Greek young men And with their silver beards they laughed At the unknown of the universe They could just sit and guess God's name

    rjdon October 01, 2014   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    And after the bang we start again at the beginning

    Coopercapon February 03, 2022   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    It seems to me it's more about Man's desire to explore and to understand what is around him. First it was Babylon, then on Greece and Med, etc. The line that gets me to most is "the furrowed brow has never left his face" implying that there is never to answer to the question, only more questions. Musically I simply love the piano in this tune, even by itself its beautiful. Poetically it reminds me of the old World when Man had the time to sit around and ponder the great questions of the universe and indeed even God himself. I've always been a huge fan of Kurt Wallinger and I hope he remains around for awhile longer.

    frank11809on June 09, 2022   Link

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