Both as a standalone and as part of the DSOTS album, you can take this lyric as read. As a matter of public record, Jourgensen's drug intake was legendary even in the 1980s. By the late 90s, in his own words, he was grappling with massive addiction issues and had lost almost everything: friends, spouse, money and had nearly died more than once. "Dark Side of the Spoon" is a both funny & sad title for an album made by a musical genius who was losing the plot; and this song is a message to his fans & friends saying he knows it. It's painful to listen to so I'm glad the "Keith Richards of industrial metals" wised up and cleaned up. Well done sir.
O Superman.
O judge.
O Mom and Dad.
Mom and Dad.
O Superman.
O judge.
O Mom and Dad.
Mom and Dad.
Hi.
I'm not home right now.
But if you want to leave a message, just start talking at the sound of the tone.
Hello?
This is your Mother.
Are you there?
Are you coming home?
Hello?
Is anybody home?
Well, you don't know me, but I know you.
And I've got a message to give to you.
Here come the planes.
So you better get ready.
Ready to go.
You can come as you are, but pay as you go.
Pay as you go.
And I said: OK.
Who is this really?
And the voice said: This is the hand, the hand that takes.
This is the hand, the hand that takes.
This is the hand, the hand that takes.
Here come the planes.
They're American planes.
Made in America.
Smoking or non-smoking?
And the voice said: Neither snow nor rain nor gloom of night shall stay these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.
'Cause when love is gone, there's always justice. And when justive is gone, there's always force. And when force is gone, there's always Mom.
Hi Mom!
So hold me, Mom, in your long arms.
So hold me, Mom, in your long arms.
In your automatic arms.
Your electronic arms.
In your arms.
So hold me, Mom, in your long arms.
Your petrochemical arms.
Your military arms.
In your electronic arms.
O judge.
O Mom and Dad.
Mom and Dad.
O Superman.
O judge.
O Mom and Dad.
Mom and Dad.
Hi.
I'm not home right now.
But if you want to leave a message, just start talking at the sound of the tone.
Hello?
This is your Mother.
Are you there?
Are you coming home?
Hello?
Is anybody home?
Well, you don't know me, but I know you.
And I've got a message to give to you.
Here come the planes.
So you better get ready.
Ready to go.
You can come as you are, but pay as you go.
Pay as you go.
And I said: OK.
Who is this really?
And the voice said: This is the hand, the hand that takes.
This is the hand, the hand that takes.
This is the hand, the hand that takes.
Here come the planes.
They're American planes.
Made in America.
Smoking or non-smoking?
And the voice said: Neither snow nor rain nor gloom of night shall stay these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.
'Cause when love is gone, there's always justice. And when justive is gone, there's always force. And when force is gone, there's always Mom.
Hi Mom!
So hold me, Mom, in your long arms.
So hold me, Mom, in your long arms.
In your automatic arms.
Your electronic arms.
In your arms.
So hold me, Mom, in your long arms.
Your petrochemical arms.
Your military arms.
In your electronic arms.
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Step
Ministry
Ministry
Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
Van Halen
The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
When she says, "This is the hand, the hand that takes" it creeps me out. Just the thought of talking on the phone with God or Death or something like that is eerie.
@judyg13 The "hand that takes", is the USA gov't. And society, who didn't want to spend the time watching their gov't.<br /> <br /> USA gov't, now, is working hard to kill the entire planet-- so a small group of sociopaths can brag to each other. True.
I'm surprised nobody has pointed this out yet. The title of this song is a (very) loose translation of the aria "O Souverain, o juge, o père" from Jules Massenet's opera "Le Cid". The original title means "O sovereign, O judge, O father", and it is a prayer sung by the hero as he is about to go into battle against overwhelming odds. I don't think I see that exact theme in "O Superman", but there is definitely the feel of the military-industrial complex.
In fact, David Bowie just standing around is far more profound than most entire musical careers. But I digress...
I saw Laurie perform this in a tiny theater about 5 days after Sept. 11, in Boston. I think the theater at Harvard. When she got to 'here come the planes', I think the majority of listeners were overcome emotionally. I cried for the rest of the song. Never thought I would hear that song that way, and I can't listen to it now....
I wonder if she knows that she's a prophet? I'm sure she understands that she's at least a genius.
@rainwalk \r\nHere come the planes ...
@rainwalk \r\nHere come the planes ...
I have loved this song for years ever since I heard it on the old Night Flights before it sold out. All the people she sings about are authority figures. Mom and dad, the judge, the pilot, the postman. The postman might be a stretch, but I think it is authority figures to a child.
I believe the cliche is "eerily prescient."
There are ghosts of future planes in this song, recorded in 1990, part of her Live in America concent/performence art tour a couple of years earlier than even that.
Also, the foreshadowing of the first stirrings of the rough beast of techno-militaristic fascism, and the seemingly inexorable logic of its ascendency.
And cool vocorder sounds.
@amoebius Language Is A Virus also has 911 in zooming numbers on a stage screen. Of course it means the emergency number, but they\'re also 3 numbers for a particularly infamous date
@amoebius Language Is A Virus also has 911 in zooming numbers on a stage screen. Of course it means the emergency number, but they\'re also 3 numbers for a particularly infamous date
This song is obviously about War
'Cause when love is gone, there's always justice. And when justice is gone, there's always force.
This is a nation that is running the world and destroying it at the same time, Here come the planes, they're American planes....has this more to do with America going to war...with other countries for resources like Electronics/Petrochemical....OIL
Mom, in your long arms. In your automatic arms. Your electronic arms. In your arms. So hold me, Mom, in your long arms. Your petrochemical arms. Your military arms. In your electronic arms.
Its about War and Greed
This is the hand, the hand that takes. This is the hand, the hand that takes.
I love that the rather deep "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds" is the motto of the US Postal Service. Not being American, I've only just found that out.
But I agree 100% with those for whom "here comes the planes" has a chilling edge now. I like this song and I like people who like it as well.
Actually, it's not the motto of the US Postal Service. The line appears above a certain post office (I think) in New York, but actually came from Herodotus' Histories, referring to the courier service of the Persian Empire. The USPS doesn't have an official "creed."
Not being a very deep person, I take a simplistic view on this song. No doubt it's beautiful, but I definately think that it's about death, ("The hand that takes"), adversity and struggle ("'Cause when love is gone, there's always justice. And when justice is gone, there's always force.And when force is gone, there's always Mom. Hi Mom!"). Definately one of the most profound and beautiful songs ever.
I think this song is about war and how we cannot actually stop it no matter what we do. Neither Superman, the Judge or our Mum and Dad can stop war.
Just a note, she performed this song live with David Bowie once... I'm not sure exactly what part he played though. Eh, he could've stood around being awesome. He's cool like that.
@ashre_ashre he played harlequin
@ashre_ashre he played harlequin