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Dinosaurs Will Die Lyrics
This is not a test on the emergency broadcast system
This is the real thing
Sit back watch it crumble, see the drowning watch the fall
I feel just terrible about it, that’s sarcasm, let it burn
I’m gonna make at toast when it falls apart
I’m gonna raise my glass above my heart
Then someone shouts that’s what they get!
For all the years of hit and run for all the piss broke bands on VH one
Where did all their money go don’t we all know
Parasitic music industry as it destroys itself
We’ll show them how it’s supposed to be
Music written from devotion not ambition, not for fame
Zero people are exploited there are no tricks up or sleeve
Were gonna fight against the mass appeal
Were gonna kill the seven record deal
Make records that have more then one good song
The dinosaurs will slowly die and I do believe no one will cry
I’m just fucking glad I’m gonna be there to watch the fall
Prehistoric music industry three feet in la brea tar
Extinction never felt so good
If you think anyone will feel badly you are sadly mistaken
The time has come for evolution fuck collusion kill the big five
What ever happened to the handshake whatever happened to deals no one would break
whatever happened to integrity
It’s still there it always was for playing music just because
A million reasons why all dinosaurs must (will) die
This song is about the music industry. It is about how the industry is changing and the major record labels are gonna be the losers because of their failure to keep up. Their failure to evolve with the climate if you will. Hence "Dinosaurs".
The song was on the band's turn of the millennium album, and Nofx, having run their own label for years by their own DIY rules correctly anticipated the shift in the music industry. The main change is file sharing and the free distribution of music over the internet. The result of which is record labels are losing potential sales. This is affecting the Major labels the most. As for independent labels and smaller bands it could be argued that they are reaching a larger and wider audience that may mean MORE sales and they get to keep doing what they're doing. Some bands are even making it BIG without any record label.
The first couple of lines are self explanatory. It's a message to the major labels. 'You're worst fears, doomsday, it's happening....now.' For those who don't know the emergency broadcast system is a transmission that would automatically kick in on every tv channel/radio station etc upon some major emergency. ie a World War.
ALL THE YEARS OF HIT AND RUN - the way record labels sign a band, milk them for a few years and then put them out pasture/send them to the glue factory.
WHERE DID ALL THEIR MONEY GO?..... - the label - hence PARASITIC. The way a major record deal works is the band get an advance out of which they have to pay for everything to make a record, studio time etc,,, and they keep what's left, then the finished songs are the property of the label and the band get a tiny percentage of record sales/royalties... I'm not sure what the standard is but I'm sue it's somewhere between 1 and 10%. That aint much. Considering there's 3 - 6 people in most bands.
WE'LL SHOW THEM HOW IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE. Mike is speaking for his label FAT here but also more broadly for all indies. Fat Wreck Chords only and always have signed ONE record deals with their bands, meaning the bands are under no pressure to bust out an album when perhaps they don't have the material or inspiration. So when they DO create an album, it's out of devotion etc...
When a band signs a (7) record deal with a major, they HAVE to release albums, whether they have material or not. The result is shit albums. But hey it makes the the label money so who cares.
Yeh La brea is an area in Downtown LA. I guess there's tar pits there and tar pits preserve stuff perfectly and many a dinosaur has been found in them.
In the '90s there were SIX major labels, Warner; Emi; Sony; BMG; Universal; Polygram. At the time of writing this song there were 5, (no Polygram) Currently (since '04) there are 4 remaining (Sony and BMG have merged)
I think that sums it up. It's pretty self explanatory but it is beautifully poetic and so insightful. this was written in the '90s. Amazing lyrics and as always with NOFX, dead on the mark. For a deeper understanding I recommend the book 'The Pirate's Dilemma' by Matt Mason.
Yes but as the major labels diminish, those left can offer even shittier deals to up and coming bands as they will then hold the monopoly... and they wont have any option but to sign. LOL... (no option.. rolls eyes) Maybe they should do it DIY like the Buzzcocks did originally or something, then onvce they get a name for themselves they can command a decent deal rather than a shit one... DIE YOU BASTARD DINOSAURS!!
Yes but as the major labels diminish, those left can offer even shittier deals to up and coming bands as they will then hold the monopoly... and they wont have any option but to sign. LOL... (no option.. rolls eyes) Maybe they should do it DIY like the Buzzcocks did originally or something, then onvce they get a name for themselves they can command a decent deal rather than a shit one... DIE YOU BASTARD DINOSAURS!!
i think this is about all the big record companies and how they rip people off but in the end they are just gonna end up ripping themselves off. yaa.
yeah right ! FUCK UNIVERSAL MUSIC ! Epitaph rules !
YAAAAA!!!!!! Epitaph and Fat rule
NOFX is awesome! Tellin' it exactly how it is! keep that REAL music playin!
This song's great!! It's another one of my favorites off of Pump Up The Valuum!! The first time i heard it i was sleepin on the bus and the intro kicks in n woke me the fuck up and got me paying attention to the music again!
I know the exact meaning of this song, and I'll share. This song is about the downfall of the radio. The original plan for this song was to allow the radio stations to play songs off pump up the valuum(hoping they'd play Dinosaurs will die) because Fat Mike thought it would be funny if the radio started playing a song about their own downfall, But then after, the radio stations started playing mainly their other songs so they had to make them stop playing the album. Good idea, bad plan I guess, but the full meaning is dinosaurs = radio I'm guessing. (Think about it, pissbroke bands on VH1, because the radio overplays their singles and people get bored of them)
everybody's close but not quite there. This song is about how the way the record industry is set up. The major labels that exist today take a good band and make them sign a deal that requires them to come out with a certian # of albums (7 record deal) no matter how much truly good material that band has. As a reult, bands dillute the album with filler just because they have to pump out x songs. Its been this way for ever (prehistoric) and will change because of bands like NOFX who don't sign such deals. ...and put on concerts for a dollar ...and bands like NOFX who will put 40 songs on 1 album insteaad of making us fans buy three. Oh yeah, and the broke VHS bands...where does thier maoney go...please -- snort, snort.
gotta learn to spell
well i all for dollar concerts and forty songs on a cd but how about not puttin songs on your eps and releasing fuck loads of singles, i mean its original but still a way to make loads of dough