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Beautiful Future Lyrics
Take a ride around the city
and tell me what do you see
Empty houses, burning cars
Naked bodies hanging from the trees
Don't say what you're thinking
Just think before you say
If you say the wrong thing,
the man is gonna come and take you away
Oh, oh oh oh
You've got a beautiful future(x2)
You tell me baby it's good to be free
Can't you see you've never been free?
You live by the sword, you die by the sword
You're only free to buy the things you can't afford
The flash car, the house in the country
The sexy wife, the beautiful children
Congratulations! You're living a dream in the dead heat of the control machine
Oh, oh oh oh
You've got a beautiful future(x2)
Are you headed for the gas chamber?
Do you wanna seat in the electric chair?
We got a noose if you wanna hang around.
Or maybe a little torture to tousle up your hair.
You've got a beautiful future
Take a ride around your city
Tell me what do you see
Pretty houses, expensive cars
Golden apples hanging from the trees
Oh, oh oh oh
You've got a beautiful future(x2)
Oh, oh. You're living a dream in the dead heart of the control machine(x10)
and tell me what do you see
Empty houses, burning cars
Naked bodies hanging from the trees
Just think before you say
If you say the wrong thing,
the man is gonna come and take you away
You've got a beautiful future(x2)
Can't you see you've never been free?
You live by the sword, you die by the sword
You're only free to buy the things you can't afford
The sexy wife, the beautiful children
Congratulations! You're living a dream in the dead heat of the control machine
You've got a beautiful future(x2)
Do you wanna seat in the electric chair?
We got a noose if you wanna hang around.
Or maybe a little torture to tousle up your hair.
Tell me what do you see
Pretty houses, expensive cars
Golden apples hanging from the trees
You've got a beautiful future(x2)
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These lyrics are metaphoric. I see this song as saying that the dream life is something invented by the man [the control machine] in that having the flash car, the house in the country, the sexy wife, the beautiful children is just what is expected of you. That what we regard as a beautiful future is really just a conformist expectation and a burden. You are not free. You are being controlled by being expected to strive to live a high end lifestyle as your goal. You're only free to buy the things you can't afford means that people get trapped into trying to maintain a certain standard of consumption whether they can afford it or not. The references to the gas chamber, electric chair and noose means that you are trapped in your dream life and for many it is a prison where they struggle to keep up but all that shows on the outside is the Norman Rockwell scene of suburban perfection. This band regards the dream life as being superficial, similar to the backlash against yuppies in the 80s who were seen as being vain and materialistic.
I'm sure Bobby Gillespie was hating the "dead heart of the control machine" when he accepted his latest advance check from the studio.
I'm sure Bobby Gillespie was hating the "dead heart of the control machine" when he accepted his latest advance check from the studio.
It took me a while to really figure out what this song means to me, but after thinking about it for a while, I can say that it's a bit sarcastic in its effect. A 'dream life' is actually something that isn't completely free and is composed of restrictions just like the life that is full of problems. It's an artificial take on society, especially a perfect one, and could be used to define how humans are never going to be perfected by any means. The world isn't completely dystopian when pared against the events that could be happening but aren't, but it will never be perfect. Humans will always be flawed, and naturally, life itself will always be flawed. The dream house, perfect children, wife / husband etc do not make life more meaningful. They are add-ons for better, but they do not make life perfect. I see this song as also branching out towards the artificial 'voice' of fame and fortune. Celebrities with all of their expensive cars etc, but then again, that is a part of the artificial feelings stemmed from a so-called 'perfect life.'
The bells in the song remind me of operant conditioning-which takes away freedom. In particular, it sounds like they're church bells-which controls people's minds. Religion is supposed to be a salvation from the reality of how ugly life is, but instead the church works to suppress you. Government is no worse than the church.