Answer me
Why won't you answer me?
I can't recall the day that I last heard from you
Well you don't get a town like this for nothing
So here's what you've got to do
You work your way to the top of the world
Then you break your life in two
Well what's the use in complaining
When you've got what you don't need
Anyone would think you were hard done to
What do you want me to believe
What the hell is happening
I can't think of everything
I don't know what day it is
Or who I'm talking to
But I know that I'm ok
'Cause you're here with me today
I haven't got a single problem
Now that I'm with you
So what's the use in complaining
When you've got everything you need
Anyone would think you were hard done to
What do you want me to believe
Why won't you answer me?
I can't recall the day that I last heard from you
Well you don't get a town like this for nothing
So here's what you've got to do
You work your way to the top of the world
Then you break your life in two
When you've got what you don't need
Anyone would think you were hard done to
What do you want me to believe
I can't think of everything
I don't know what day it is
Or who I'm talking to
'Cause you're here with me today
I haven't got a single problem
Now that I'm with you
When you've got everything you need
Anyone would think you were hard done to
What do you want me to believe
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
..I am stunned that noone has yet commented on this song. Firstly it is one of the most catchy tunes ever written (it has some similarity to the earlier Bryan Adams song "One night love affair").
I have always assumed the lyrics is about someone who has worked hard to become sucessful (sacrifing their personal relationship to some degree) and their partner is complaining... could of course be completely wrong but its the tune that makes it memorable.
I've read Bernard's book and isn't this about Factory Records? He felt they weren't getting the fruits of their labour and the label was taking an enormous chunk of their cash, partly to fill a black whole called the Hacienda. Even when it was full it lost money as people weren't there to drink what was behind the bar. Something else I can't put my finger on.
But yeah I'm sure this song is about Bernard feeling ripped off and sarcastically intoning Wilson's refrain of "you're not starving to death so what have you got to complain about?"
@theBesotted @thebesotted i love how you picked up on the sarcasm in his delivery
@theBesotted @thebesotted i love how you picked up on the sarcasm in his delivery
John Denver sued the band way back when, claiming the music was too similar to his Leaving on a Jet Plane.
In fact, Denver must have won that lawsuit. I just got the Singles greatest hits disc, and he's credited as one of the writers.
Supposedly it's just the guitar melody in the break that is similar to Leaving on a Jet Plane. So for subsequent releases, they don't include it.
It's definitely "hard done to" (meaning hard done by, treated unfairly), not "hardened too". The refrain to me does conjure up moany celebrity interviews, the idea of someone overburdened by life's gifts and still unsatisfied... the solution being to simplify and cut back. The official video (by Robert Frank), featuring a middle-aged man (David Warrilow) sitting at a table and changing expression as he recalls memories, is quite trippy.
The Denver case was settled out of court, I think. It seems baffling when you think you know both songs. Isn't it about a faint melodic similarity between the last line of the verse (also in the guitar)? "I hate to wake you UP to say goodbye" with "I can't recall the day when I last heard from you"? There are extra beats in Run, but the interval is similar.
Hard-on'd not hardened. The song is about adults having sex with little people (pedophilia). Why do people take time to make website that provides no useful information? This website is basically useless.
In Run Wild (another song by NO), the parent won't give up their child to Jesus/Jehovah because the parent "loves" their child so much, they can't let go (i.e., more pedophilia). Look at the album cover art of Get Ready, you will see the kid shooting back.
CharmingMan has it right I think. fohalla is talking crap.
CharmingMan has it right I think. fohalla is talking crap.
I hear a couple of things differently:
I hear a couple of things differently:
"Well you don't get a tan like this for nothing"
"Well you don't get a tan like this for nothing"
They recorded this album in Ibiza, and they're all from Manchester where it never stops raining.
They recorded this album in Ibiza, and they're all from Manchester where it never stops raining.
and
and
"Anyone would think you were hard done to"
"Anyone would think you were hard done to"
to feel "hard done to" meaning to feel "not treated fairly" or "taken advantage of unfairly"
to feel "hard done to" meaning to feel "not treated fairly" or "taken advantage of unfairly"