3 Meanings
Add Yours
Follow
Share
Q&A
The Great Intoxication Lyrics
Who Disco?
Who Techno?
Who Hip-Hop?
Who Be Bop?
Who's been playing records in his bedroom?
Who rocks out?
Who's spaced out?
Who brings you?
Who sings you?
Who's still workin' on his masterpiece?
The great intoxication
The mental generation
Sound effects & laughter
Stupid ever after
Hopin' it was cranked up
Loud enough for you to hear
He's drunk and he's insistent
Shy but he's persistent
Boisterous & jumpy
Disorganized & funky
Every day he wonders
What the hell she sees in him?
Ah, but who saves you?
Who craves you?
Who Heartbreaks?
Who love makes?
Look into the eyeball of your boyfriend
Who drives you?
Capsized you?
Who shakes you?
Who wakes you?
Who's still workin' on his masterpiece
Who Techno?
Who Hip-Hop?
Who Be Bop?
Who's been playing records in his bedroom?
Who's spaced out?
Who brings you?
Who sings you?
Who's still workin' on his masterpiece?
The mental generation
Sound effects & laughter
Stupid ever after
Hopin' it was cranked up
Loud enough for you to hear
Shy but he's persistent
Boisterous & jumpy
Disorganized & funky
What the hell she sees in him?
Who craves you?
Who Heartbreaks?
Who love makes?
Look into the eyeball of your boyfriend
Capsized you?
Who shakes you?
Who wakes you?
Who's still workin' on his masterpiece
Song Info
Submitted by
windmills221b On Feb 17, 2005
More David Byrne
Like Humans Do
Glass, Concrete & Stone
Dance On Vaseline
Miss America
Tiny Apocalypse
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
When I saw Byrne play this song, he explained beforehand: "This next song is about a letter written by a coworker of mine to someone he was in love with. The letter never got sent."
What a weird guy. Great song.
I've always thought of it as a song about a man who views himself as a cutup and thinks his girlfriend is way too good for him. He's amazed by the fact that she'd even bother with him, but she sees him for what he is: someone with great potential if he's only given the chence.
David Byrne explains the meaning of this song, HIMSELF (see his Union Chapel video of this song - there is an intro there which explains how the song came about.
Byrne was observing his friend fall in LOVE...the Great Intoxication is LOVE. He wrote the song as if he was writing a letter about the guy to his girlfriend. Then, months later, he realized that the song could also apply to his own life.
The Union Chapel video is intoxicating itself. It's an amazing set with an exquisite admixture and interplay of colours and sounds and ideas. This prodution is wondrous.