Just Another Day

I respectfully disagree with the suggestin that this, and other Boingo songs, are about being addicted to methamphetamines. There is no evidence whatsoever that Danny Elfman was ever addicted to the stuff, and he never directly mentions it in any of his songs, although he's not the least bit shy about calling other illegal substances to attention (cocaine is clearl mentioned in "Ain't This The Life" and "Cool City," for example.) I think it's a song about not wanting to go out and face the world -- and with good reason. The 5th verse ("I had a dream last night, etc") is confusing, though, and might have some significant bearing on the interpretation, if it can be interpreted.

This song is actually very dark.

The singer is so lonely and paranoid and cut off from society, he is dreaming about an Armageddon where everyone is dead.

The singer is dreaming about "life underground" which is death. It doesn't ever move, doesn't make a sound.

At the end, he sings "please leave my heart." He's referring to these dark feelings that trouble him at night.

I love this song so much, it has so much meaning. I am a huge Oingo Boingo fan, have every album but Good For Your Soul. The one thing about this song is that one of the best parts is not in any lyrics I've found. At the end of the song, the rest of the band starts repeating "It's just another day," while Danny sings out something that is pretty unrecognizable. I have come to believe he is saying "Please heal my heart." It is slightly easier to hear on the Boingo Alive version.

When we step out of our comfort bubble, unknown things may happen. We take for granted that everyday we step out and we could be held up for money or mugged, or hit by someone in a car having a heart attack, or just die, period. At night there's even more chance of that.

"I had a dream last night / The world was set on fire And everywhere I ran / There wasn't any water" Maybe about being constantly scared, as you would be when going into a world set on fire and having no water to put it out. There's no way to stop all the bad thats happening in the world while you're in it, there's no sure way to always be safe here. "and everyone was dead" Not literal? He does say it's a dream. Just from hearing all the news of people dying every day, it seems everyone should be dead.

"But there's a smile on my face, for everyone" To try and stay safe from pissing off the wrong person? "Lonely place that's always cold" Cold inside from having to be constantly scared? "Place in the stars" Is probably something comforting to think of. Possibly another reason why he'd be smiling for everyone.

Razors in his bed, he can't even sleep. Dreaming of life underground could be imagining things going on that maybe aren't or are, but either way it bugs him a lot, so much that he dreams about it when he does sleep.

That's just my take on it all. Great, meaningful song. Everyone has their different meanings that relate to them, and that's when you know you're hearing some great lyrics! ;]

TenderLumpling, The correct lyric that you are hearing is, "Please leave my heart". Good on you for getting that far. Most folks think that he's just singing a melody.

The whole song speaks to me of alienation and fear of connection. He begins the song with images of paranoia. Life outside of his home is compared to a jungle that is alive. He risks death every time he sets foot outside of his door and cannot even rely upon his senses to steer him clear of danger.

"I will not fall in love, I cannot risk the bet/'cause hearts are fragile toys, so easy to forget." He refuses to even attempt to connect with another person.

He is surrounded by death and destruction everyday. People cling to any scrap of hope. The fear in the night could be a fear of something physical, but I see it as a fear of irrelevancy. Why are we here? What purpose do we serve? As we go about our day to day lives (school, work, etc.), it's easy to think we have some reason for existing. However, alone at night, without human attachments, seeing ourselves as superfluous becomes easier.

The scene he describes in his dream is apocalyptic. The crimson sky and smoke imply that some destructive event has occured. Everyone is dead and he is alone. Combined with the lines about the razors in his bed, this creates an idea that he cannot find relief from his paranoia even during sleep.

The smile on his face could be his attempt to connect with anyone at all. The golden coin reflecting the sun seems like a signal, like a person stranded on an island would try to signal an airplane or boat with a piece of mirror. (I wonder if the fact that he's signalling with a coin is a statement on trying to buy happiness with money.) Yet, even with these semi-hopeful gestures, the loneliness is always there, it's always cold. The place in the stars could be his final rest, but I take no comfort in it. What comfort can you have being a tiny bright spot in the night sky, indistinguishable from the countless others?

He dreams of life underground that doesn't ever move. Is this representing a segment of society that has detached itself from the paranoia and he cannot find them? Or is the fact that the "life" doesn't move or make a sound indicate that they are really dead?

Any time he dares let himself hope that things will be OK, everything turns out wrong. Even though he earlier sang about not letting himself love (or make a connection), he still hopes that things can change for the better.

I actually think the last line that Danny repeats is "Please hear my heart." It could possibly be "heal", but I doubt it is "leave". In any case, just hearing him sing that line-the emotion he conveys, my own heart aches. He yearns for someone, anyone, to hear him and understand.

I think seclusion and isolation from humanity are common themes for Mr. Elfman. Compare this to 'On the Outside':

They laugh at me aloud They say I'm just a clown That I ain't got no pride I'm on the outside

Danny likes to write about those dark thoughts we all usually keep to ourselves, but in this, I think he writes partly from experience. It's clear that he's encouraged being an outsider, poking fun at both the left and the right - even death itself, and often writing lyrics from an observer point of view.

I would go as far to assume (based on his incredibly late start in music and unbelievable success), that he is very, VERY smart, and never quite fit in with the average crowd.

From 'It Only Makes Me Laugh':

Remembering when I was a young man How everything seemed to turn against me I didn't know a soul, it was an alien place The sun was covered by a dark cloud And though I tried, I couldn't find a way to escape The only way to go: straight down

That kind of intelligence can be very lonely. You try to see the world through the eyes of people who can't understand you. I think his lyrics are closer to who he is than he would admit himself. Does he keep a 'smile on his face for everyone', in spite of the way he feels? I don't think anyone but Danny can really say.

There's so much hate and violence, and lonliness both within soicety and onesself but society has taught us not to show negative feelings we must keep them to ourselves and never ever put down the human race because that woulld mena we weren't the best. It's all about pretending things that are there aren't in order to please society

The song envisions a post-apocalypse (likely nuclear) world. It is not dark. The human spirit adapts and will triumph.

"Just Another Day" about drugs? How about something else? "When I step out the door, the jungle is alive, I do not trust my ears, I don't believe my eyes." What is the effect of total sleep deprivation, not for days, but for months while staying alive, in my case, completely apart from all drugs, street or prescriptive? Voices in your head is one effect. These are not part of any temporary or intractable paranoid psychosis or schizophrenia but are indistinguishable from same. When completely awake for that long you are functional, sane, and yet live in a half life. (Nothing to do with zombie TV shows). My psyche or "subtle physical" was hacked and programmed by humans+++ who are very sane but who use evil, psychopathy and sound as a weapon to manipulate individuals and societies. Their methods are completely apart from commercially available sound or "non-lethal" remote weaponry.

Comments like that are usually followed by reactions that are deliberately contrived and stupid about Gov. mind control, "Reptilians", or Satanic possession made to sound as stupid as possible to nullify the possibility that anyone might pick up on the right idea. These are (usually) by pretend psychotics, pretend religious fanatics. You see them on all the fake mind control and fear and doom channels on YT trying desperately to support deliberately dumb videos that are pumped out by the thousands. The videos are mostly made by the same network, by ppl who are completely sane and very smart. It is not easy to figure out what they are trying to compensate for or why so many doing more to conceal not reveal.