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Rubber Band Lyrics
Rubber Band
There's a rubber band that plays tunes out of tune
In the library garden Sunday afternoon
While a little chappie waves a golden wand
Rubber Band
In 1910 I was so handsome and so strong
My moustache was stiffly waxed and one foot long
And I loved a girl while you played teatime tunes
Dear Rubber Band, you're playing my tune out of tune, oh
Rubber Band
Won't you play a haunting theme again to me
While I eat my scones and drink my cup of tea
The sun is warm but it's a lonely afternoon
Oh, play that theme
Rubber Band
How I wish that I could join your Rubber Band
We could play in lively parks throughout the land
And one Sunday afternoon, I'd find my love
Rubber Band,
In the '14-'18 war I went to sea
Thought my Sunday love was waiting home for me
And now she's married to the leader of the band, oh
(spoken)
Oh sob... I hope you break your baton
There's a rubber band that plays tunes out of tune
In the library garden Sunday afternoon
While a little chappie waves a golden wand
In 1910 I was so handsome and so strong
My moustache was stiffly waxed and one foot long
And I loved a girl while you played teatime tunes
Won't you play a haunting theme again to me
While I eat my scones and drink my cup of tea
The sun is warm but it's a lonely afternoon
How I wish that I could join your Rubber Band
We could play in lively parks throughout the land
And one Sunday afternoon, I'd find my love
In the '14-'18 war I went to sea
Thought my Sunday love was waiting home for me
And now she's married to the leader of the band, oh
Oh sob... I hope you break your baton
Song Info
Submitted by
saturnine On May 02, 2004
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I think this is a very poetic song. It would seem the narrator is a European intellectual, and from the reference to 1910 being in the past, it has probably got something to do with World War One. I imagine an artist or composer or philosopher or actor who had many dreams when he was younger, and was in love with a girl, and listened to music he only vaguely liked "out of tune" being the give-away that he wasn't too fond of the music. but now, after getting back from the war, perhaps, or returning to the country he fled during the war... seeing how destroyed it is, he would give anything to relive the days with that girl again (who's left him, or died) and asks the rubber band to play a "haunting tune" and share his pain. Great song and great lyrics. I love this early British whimsical Bowie music.
There's a rubber band who plays tunes out of tune. All rubber bands play tunes out of tune. Bowie's love of word play clearly evident here. The narrator goes to his local library garden every sunday afternoon with his girlfriend, where they watch and listen to the resident band play a selection of tunes. He tells us that 2010 he was so handsome and so strong ( full of the joys of life ). The 1st world war begins and he joins the navy to fight for king and country. When the war is over, he returns home, only to find that the love of his life has since married the rubber band leader.