3 Meanings
Add Yours
Follow
Share
Q&A
I.G.Y. Lyrics
Standing tough under stars and stripes, we can tell
This dream's in sight, you've got to admit it
At this point in time that it's clear
The future looks bright
On that train, all graphite and glitter
Undersea by rail
Ninety minutes from New York to Paris
Well, by '76 we'll be a-okay
(Chorus)
What a beautiful world this will be
What a glorious time to be free
What a beautiful world this will be
What a glorious time to be free
Get your ticket to that wheel in space while there's time
The fix is in
You'll be a witness to that game of chance in the sky
You know we've got to win
Here at home we'll play in the city
Powered by the sun
Perfect weather for a streamlined world
There'll be Spandex jackets, one for everyone
(Chorus)
On that train, all graphite and glitter
Undersea by rail
Ninety minutes from New York to Paris
(More leisure for artists everywhere)
Just machines to make big decisions
Programmed by fellows with compassion and vision
We'll be clean when their work is done
We'll be eternally free, yes, and eternally young, ooh
(Chorus repeats)
This dream's in sight, you've got to admit it
At this point in time that it's clear
The future looks bright
Undersea by rail
Ninety minutes from New York to Paris
Well, by '76 we'll be a-okay
What a beautiful world this will be
What a glorious time to be free
What a beautiful world this will be
What a glorious time to be free
The fix is in
You'll be a witness to that game of chance in the sky
You know we've got to win
Powered by the sun
Perfect weather for a streamlined world
There'll be Spandex jackets, one for everyone
Undersea by rail
Ninety minutes from New York to Paris
(More leisure for artists everywhere)
Programmed by fellows with compassion and vision
We'll be clean when their work is done
We'll be eternally free, yes, and eternally young, ooh
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
I.G.Y stands for the International Geophysical Year. (1957) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Geophysical_Year
Fagen says on the album notes that the album is about him growing up. The sixty seven countries that participated in it seemed to give Fagen the idea that a bright future was on the horizon.
This song invokes images of all those old 50s films you see about "the kitchen of the future" and stuff like that, where everything is automated and robotic and technology solves all the world's problems.
I think this song is an homage to those sorts of ideals and also pokes fun at how ridiculous and impractical many of those ideas turned out to be..... like the underwater sea tunnel, for example.
This is a paean to the lost/stolen dream of the glorious science-fiction-style future lifestyle that the boomer generation was promised. Flying cars, atomic powered homes, bullet trains, everyday space travel, American hegemony, peace and democracy everywhere. Jetsons, Lost in Space, Star Trek, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, 2001. The perfect background music for thumbing through Corn & Horrigan's picture book, "Yesterday's Tomorrows." But you're going to need your Brooks Brothers handkerchief.