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After the Garden Lyrics

Won't need no shadow man
Runnin' the government
Won't need no stinkin' WAR
Won't need no haircut
Won't need no shoe shine

After the garden is gone
After the garden is gone
After the garden is gone

What will people do?
After the garden is gone
What will people say?
After the garden

Won't need no strong man
Walkin' through the night
To live a weak man's day
Won't need no sunshine
Won't need no purple haze

After the garden is gone
After the garden is gone
After the garden is gone

Where will people go?

After the garden is gone
What will people know?

After the garden

After the garden is gone
After the garden is gone

We live in the garden of Eden, yeah
Don't know why we wanna tear the whole thing to the ground
We live in the garden of Eden, yeah
Don't know why we wanna tear the whole thing down

And we've got to get ourselves
Back to the garden
6 Meanings

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Cover art for After the Garden lyrics by Neil Young

This is an environmental song. Neil loves our planet and so do I. Thank you Neil!

Cover art for After the Garden lyrics by Neil Young

i dunno, i always interpretted "the garden" as being Bush. y'know, bushes are in gardens? either way, this is a great song done by a great man!

Cover art for After the Garden lyrics by Neil Young

I took this song a little deeper, but not neccesarily any more "correct". I interpreted the lyrics as being about nuclear war; "We live in the garden of Eden, yeah. Don't know why we wanna tear the whole thing to the ground"

My Interpretation
Cover art for After the Garden lyrics by Neil Young

'After The Garden' the Garden is where we live. The Shadow men are the CIA and DHSS. The sneaking war is the one started against Iraq and Afghanistan, maybe disquiet at the explanations of 9/11 given by the Bush government.

Yes it can be read as a warning against nuclear war but I see it as being similar to Walking in your Footsteps by the Police. However I think it is about climate change/global warming which seems to be escalating. Google "Permian Extinction" for how the garden can be lost.

My Interpretation
Cover art for After the Garden lyrics by Neil Young

After the garden may refer to the rose garden that surrounds the Oval Office. After the garden may refer to a post presidential system where power is diffused and a single commander in chief can no longer take a nation to war on a lie

Cover art for After the Garden lyrics by Neil Young

Before this, I heard the song "Atomic Garden" by Bad Religion, which shapes the lens I hear this through. I hear the garden (of Eden) as a large nuclear arsenal, and after it's gone is when it has been launched, or harvested.

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