Where The Hell Is Bill?

Bill used to be in the band. He was always late for practice and was generally unreliable and unpredictable and had many varied interests. The other band members often wondered where the hell Bill was, when it was time for practice and he wasn't there. So they wrote this song about it, speculating where Bill might be and what he might be up to.

Now Bill works in a health food restaurant in Oregon.

I think this is a fairly simple song. bill is kinda like the lost youth looking for somewhere to fit into. looking for some kinda style to represent him. The underlying theme seems to be that whereever bill is...he is still lost. The line that hits home with me is "maybe he went to get an airforce parka" because im in the airforce. To so many of my friends the airforce IS who they are. i mean sure its a large part of my life...but im still my own person at the end of the day.

Right. About some insecure dude in the very early 80s who is looking for a subculture to fit into, or to buy into. Maybe he became a new waver, maybe he became a mod, maybe he became a punk. and CBV is saying yeah, thats nice, nice costume and trendy transportation choice and everything, but where is the person behind all this, BILL? don't let your preferred music subculture tell you who you are

Martin got it right, this is a song about their former drummer, Bill McDonald. He was always late for practice and sometimes didn't show up, so they wrote this song making fun of him.