In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Rain magic up down America
And on comes our man
With a smile that's taken years to fix
Spreading pestilence and disease
To those old women
Who couldn't know no difference
And now I know
I want to know
I want to know
Is this going to be the one
The one who gets it done?
Sell me the burning bush
Tell me I'm burning Bush
Maybe we should burn Bush
I believe in feeling for the next ones
The ones who cannot cope
It's a land full of heart attacks
Money builds McDonalds and Coca-Cola
The corporations own the very air that you breath
And I want to know
I want to know
I want to know
Is this going to be the one
The one who drops the bomb
The one who gets it done?
Tell me I'm burning Bush
Maybe we should burn Bush
I want to know
I want to know
I want to know
Is this going to be the one
The one who drops the bomb
The one who gets it done?
Tell me I'm burning Bush
Maybe we should burn Bush
And on comes our man
With a smile that's taken years to fix
Spreading pestilence and disease
To those old women
Who couldn't know no difference
And now I know
I want to know
I want to know
Is this going to be the one
The one who gets it done?
Sell me the burning bush
Tell me I'm burning Bush
Maybe we should burn Bush
I believe in feeling for the next ones
The ones who cannot cope
It's a land full of heart attacks
Money builds McDonalds and Coca-Cola
The corporations own the very air that you breath
And I want to know
I want to know
I want to know
Is this going to be the one
The one who drops the bomb
The one who gets it done?
Tell me I'm burning Bush
Maybe we should burn Bush
I want to know
I want to know
I want to know
Is this going to be the one
The one who drops the bomb
The one who gets it done?
Tell me I'm burning Bush
Maybe we should burn Bush
Lyrics submitted by paper bag writer
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Rain magic up down America (Election campaign) And on comes our man (George Bush I) With a smile that's taken years to fix( Fixed smile = insincere) Spreading pestilence and disease (Wars started by him) To those old women Who couldn't know no difference (Ignorant, innocent 3rd world (or non-Western) victims)
And now I know I want to know I want to know Is this going to be the one (Biblical reference — the one = the messiah who redeems the world of its evil) The one who gets it done? (Biblical and literal — end of the world) Sell me the burning bush (Christian selling a Jewish story - meant to be taken figuratively but with literal intentions) Tell me I'm burning Bush (Pun: 'Burning' to know/be sold/join the war OR burning with embarrassment) Maybe we should burn Bush (What most Arabs want to do)
I believe in feeling for the next ones (Like a good Christian should feel for the meek) The ones who cannot cope It's a land full of heart attacks (Disease caused by Western lifestyle and diet arranged by the unfeeling corporations mentioned also in Brian Eno’s Bottom Liners) Money builds McDonalds and Coca-Cola (The corporate cause of so much disease) The corporations own the very air that you breathe
And I want to know I want to know I want to know Is this going to be the one The one who drops the bomb (Satan ending the world?The great Satan of the Arab world?) The one who gets it done? Tell me I'm burning Bush Maybe we should burn Bush
I want to know I want to know I want to know Is this going be the one The one who drops the bomb The one who gets it done? Tell me I'm burning Bush Maybe we should burn Bush
maybe he does care about bush...
nm
as this is an on a friday track i think it might be about bush sr.
wow io never thought they'd be so....literal
Thom must really hate him
radiohead did not write this.
I think burning bush is refering to religion "And god appeared to Moses in the form of a burning bush..." happens when Moses climbs the holy mtn. and before he unleashes the plagues on Egypt. I'm not sure how this plays into the song, maybe refering to religion in politics. Or it could be a double entendre and be refering to the persona and the religious stuff.