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Accidentally 4th Street (Gloria) Lyrics
Oh, well, well, well, well, well
Well, we're looking at the cover
We're spending all our time just staring at the magazine
Well, look who's on the cover, wasting all our time
Some pseudo fascist hero machine
Well, that's no space for a human being
That man is not a hero or saint
When somewhere in deepest America
Grown men weep at the sound of his name
So it goes
And it goes
All the girls named Gloria sing sweetly out of key
The sun rose in the west today
Accidents in the land of the free
Oh, well, well, well, well, well
Well, I grew up where they showed you the body count
In color on your dinner TV
And I've been numbed so insensitive
That all I can think about is you and me
You know, children from the best homes
They all have 'guns and butter'
They have their share of 'murder blue'
Well, it's not such a wiggy awesome good time
When the shopping mall militia point their cannons at you
So it goes
All the girls named Gloria sing sweetly out of key
The sun rose in the west today
Accidents in the land of the free
I love this world harder in my imagination
Than my conscience should allow
But, accidents do happen
Accidents will happen
Don't you dare to ask me how
Now everyone believes in
The stories about the Cadillacs
Everybody's got enough to eat
And people always keep their eyes glued to the ground
When desperate men, he's gotta cling to the streets
And I swear, "Myself, I will help them. I will be an upstanding man."
Well, when I walk by and I hear them cry
That money just sticks to my hand
What's wrong with me?
All the girls named Gloria sing sweetly out of key
The sun rose in the west today
Accidents in the land of the free
I love this world harder in my imagination
Than my conscience should allow
But, accidents do happen
Accidents will happen
Don't you dare to ask me how
On and on it goes
All the girls named Gloria sing sweetly out of key
The sun rose in the west today
Accidents in the land of the free
Well, we're looking at the cover
We're spending all our time just staring at the magazine
Well, look who's on the cover, wasting all our time
Some pseudo fascist hero machine
Well, that's no space for a human being
That man is not a hero or saint
When somewhere in deepest America
Grown men weep at the sound of his name
So it goes
All the girls named Gloria sing sweetly out of key
The sun rose in the west today
Accidents in the land of the free
Well, I grew up where they showed you the body count
In color on your dinner TV
And I've been numbed so insensitive
That all I can think about is you and me
You know, children from the best homes
They all have 'guns and butter'
They have their share of 'murder blue'
Well, it's not such a wiggy awesome good time
When the shopping mall militia point their cannons at you
So it goes
The sun rose in the west today
Accidents in the land of the free
I love this world harder in my imagination
Than my conscience should allow
But, accidents do happen
Accidents will happen
Don't you dare to ask me how
The stories about the Cadillacs
Everybody's got enough to eat
And people always keep their eyes glued to the ground
When desperate men, he's gotta cling to the streets
And I swear, "Myself, I will help them. I will be an upstanding man."
Well, when I walk by and I hear them cry
That money just sticks to my hand
What's wrong with me?
The sun rose in the west today
Accidents in the land of the free
I love this world harder in my imagination
Than my conscience should allow
But, accidents do happen
Accidents will happen
Don't you dare to ask me how
On and on it goes
All the girls named Gloria sing sweetly out of key
The sun rose in the west today
Accidents in the land of the free
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I think the connection with Ronald Reagan is spot on. After reading the notes on this page, I did a web search and found that Reagan did a movie in 1938 called "Accidents Will Happen" and there was a character named Gloria in it. I haven't seen it, but the plot is about Reagan's character (Eric) and Gloria running insurance scams, one in which she fakes an injury from a drunk driver.
For years, I have listened to the version of this song from the Just Say Mao album and loved it. Just today, I listened to the original (which I like even more!) and read the words. Love the political commentary about life in the US.
first, the lyrics offer no clue what "4th Street" in the title signifies. therefore my guess, below, is preliminary and subject to change in the event the 4th Street reference ever becomes clear.
the song criticises aspects of modern America: the first verse condemns celebrity worship. the second condemns violence on TV and commercialism. The third condemns the myth of America as an affluent nation of Cadillacs and a chicken in every pot, juxtaposed with the reality of widespread domestic poverty, and hypocritical lip-service to altruistic values masking a culture of greed and egocentrism, of which much denial prevails.
"All the girls named Gloria" is a sarcastic term for angels "sing sweetly out of key" heavenly praises sung of America, however sweet, ring false, out of tune and out of touch "sun rose in the west today" could mean that everything we think is true is false/opposite (the sun should rise in the east). "...accidents in the land of the free" pulling this out of an unnamed orifice here, but this could be mean that individual "success" stories in America are nothing more than accidents, that success comes in spite of, not because of, the way things are. or it be meant sarcastically, that success-story "accidents" are not accidents at all and that individual success in America occurs only after climbing upon the backs of others.
"accidents do/will happen.... don't you dare ask me how" the narrator is ashamed of his/her own success, either calling it an accident literally, or suggesting sarcastically that it occurred not as an accident but at the expense of others.
"4th Street" may refer to a place where an accident occurred that inspired the song, but I can't fathom how an accident might have inspired this criticism of American culture/economy/society.
Continuing my post above,
Continuing my post above,
The title "Accidentally 4th Street" might be a play on Bob Dylan's "Positively 4th Street". In that way, this song could be viewed as a response or follow-up of that Dylan song.
The title "Accidentally 4th Street" might be a play on Bob Dylan's "Positively 4th Street". In that way, this song could be viewed as a response or follow-up of that Dylan song.
Dylan's song targets an unnamed person for being opportunistic, insincere, secretly hostile, lacking integrity, self-pitying, and otherwise an all-around *****, while this song, I think, targets modern consumer society and its decaying moral values. The same derisive tone is used in both songs. Another similarity is that "4th Street" is never mentioned in the lyrics of either song.
Dylan's song targets an unnamed person for being opportunistic, insincere, secretly hostile, lacking integrity, self-pitying, and otherwise an all-around *****, while this song, I think, targets modern consumer society and its decaying moral values. The same derisive tone is used in both songs. Another similarity is that "4th Street" is never mentioned in the lyrics of either song.
I always thought "the sun rose in the west today" referred to a (potential) nuclear explosion. To me, an explosion in "the west" would refer to America, also tying in the next lyric "accidents in the land of the free".
I always thought "the sun rose in the west today" referred to a (potential) nuclear explosion. To me, an explosion in "the west" would refer to America, also tying in the next lyric "accidents in the land of the free".
I think your analysis is pretty spot on for the rest, and I'll add to it that I think the criticism points specifically toward Ronald Reagan (the pseudo-fascist hero machine) as well as modern America at the time. Remember, this song was written in the mid 80's. Politics aside, Reagan was viewed my many...
I think your analysis is pretty spot on for the rest, and I'll add to it that I think the criticism points specifically toward Ronald Reagan (the pseudo-fascist hero machine) as well as modern America at the time. Remember, this song was written in the mid 80's. Politics aside, Reagan was viewed my many as warmongering and likely to get us all killed with his game of chicken with the Soviet Union. The song refers to the glossy sheen the administration put around the whole defense build up, glorifying war, while referring to having grown up in the Vietnam era where they showed the real cost of war on tv.
Overall, I think the song is referring to Reagan's military build up, the glorifying of war while ignoring poverty at home, and the potential for nuclear disaster. Of course this is completely subjective, it's just sort of what the song meant to me.