This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
Adjectives on the typewriter
He moves his words like a prize fighter
The frenzied pace of the mind inside to sell
The man on the street might just as well be
The man on the street might just as well
The man on the street might just as well be
Outside, outside the world
Out there you don't hear the echos and calls
But the steel eye,
Tight jaw
Say it all
Say it all
But the white paint,
Plastic saints
Say it all
Say it all
Say it all
Say it all,
Say it all,
Say it all,
Say it all,
Say it all,
Say somebody,
Has got to say it all
Somebody
Has got to say it all
I'm so nervous
I'm so tense
My heart can't forget about this self defense
The air is so hot
and my breath comes fast
I thumb the cool blade but I know this can't last
I thumb the cool blade but I know this can't last...
Outside, outside the world
Out there you don't hear the echos and calls
But the steel eye,
Tight jaw
Say it all
Say it all
But the white paint,
plastic saints
Say it all
Say it all
Say it all
Say it all,
Say it all,
Say it all,
Say it all,
Say it all,
Say somebody,
Has got to say it all
Somebody
Has got to say it all
Yeah, adjectives on the typewriter
He moves his words like a prize fighter
The frenzied pace of the mind inside to sell
The man on the street might just as well be
The man on the street might just as well
The man on the street might just as well be
He moves his words like a prize fighter
The frenzied pace of the mind inside to sell
The man on the street might just as well be
The man on the street might just as well
The man on the street might just as well be
Outside, outside the world
Out there you don't hear the echos and calls
But the steel eye,
Tight jaw
Say it all
Say it all
But the white paint,
Plastic saints
Say it all
Say it all
Say it all
Say it all,
Say it all,
Say it all,
Say it all,
Say it all,
Say somebody,
Has got to say it all
Somebody
Has got to say it all
I'm so nervous
I'm so tense
My heart can't forget about this self defense
The air is so hot
and my breath comes fast
I thumb the cool blade but I know this can't last
I thumb the cool blade but I know this can't last...
Outside, outside the world
Out there you don't hear the echos and calls
But the steel eye,
Tight jaw
Say it all
Say it all
But the white paint,
plastic saints
Say it all
Say it all
Say it all
Say it all,
Say it all,
Say it all,
Say it all,
Say it all,
Say somebody,
Has got to say it all
Somebody
Has got to say it all
Yeah, adjectives on the typewriter
He moves his words like a prize fighter
The frenzied pace of the mind inside to sell
The man on the street might just as well be
The man on the street might just as well
The man on the street might just as well be
Lyrics submitted by shut
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Hmm, I am curious about this murder theory. But not curious enought to email Munkman.
Don't know if it's true, but growing up I always thought this song was about Rubin "Hurricane" Carter who was a famous boxer ("prize fighter") who was wrongly convicted of a murder at a bar which took place in the middle of the night ("shadow stabbing"). He was imprisoned for two decades during which time he wrote his autobiography and his version of events:
"While incarcerated at Trenton State and Rahway State prisons, Carter continued to maintain his innocence by defying the authority of the prison guards, refusing to wear an inmate's uniform, and becoming a recluse in his cell. He read and studied extensively, and in 1974 published his autobiography, The 16th Round: From Number 1 Contender to Number 45472, to widespread acclaim."
You can see the parallels with the writing references in the song and "frenzied pace of the mind inside the cell" and "heart can't forget about this self-defense" as he's writing his story to claim his innocence. Also, "thumbing the cool blade" could be a clever play on words referring to the fact that Carter's true blade was his pencil a la "pen is mightier than the sword". It seems like the whole song stages this furious scribbling of words almost as if it's a pre-fight routine ("I'm so nervous, I'm so tense"), or like he's awaiting his final verdict/appeal.
This may not be the best interpretation, but I see it as a song about a journalist.
"Adjectives on the typewriter He moves his words like a prize fighter The frenzied pace of the mind inside [the cell]" --The journalist frantically and (he believes) masterfully manipulates the language, his prize work. The cell could just be the newspaper office, or his cubicle or den. Whatever. "to sell" also works -- gotta sell the paper.
"The man on the street might just as well be The man on the street might just as well The man on the street might just as well be" --He believes he is so much more informed than John Doe. Whether this is true or not is up for grabs; perhaps he is not special and might as well be a man on the street!
"Outside, outside the world Out there you don't hear the echos and calls" --The world is ignorant, but our hero knows what's going on!
"But the steel eye, Tight jaw" --He's a real hero, really determined to tell the world, to: "Say it all Say it all"
"But the white paint, Plastic saints Say it all..." --Not really sure yet... Plastic saints = his personality? "Say it all" is repeated; that's the journalist's creed, to say it all, to tell the whole story.
"Say it all, Say somebody, Has got to say it all" --and that somebody is our hero, the journalist.
"I'm so nervous I'm so tense My heart can't forget about this self defense The air is so hot and my breath comes fast I thumb the cool blade but I know this can't last" --Not really sure -- but, if he is "saying it all" about a corrupt government, as has been speculated, he may have to fight the oppressive "ministries" of information or censors... he is getting high off his rebellion (the high is suggested by "can't last" and the thumbing of a "cool blade" -- very sensory-oriented details)
Anyway, no doubt a fantastic song.
It's not about murder in general, it's suicide.
-"adjectives on the typewriter/he moves his words like a prize fighter/the frenzied pace of the mind inside the cell" He's writing out his suicide note and passionately listing the reasons why he wants to die, probably listing wrong-doings of specific people and trying to hurt them with his words. He is absolutely set on suicide, feverishly typing out the note and not thinking about anything else.
-"the man on the street might just as well be/ outside, outside the world/ out there you don't hear the echos and calls" This verse reiterates the fact that he feels isolated, as if he must be alone in the world. Any attempts he might have made to get people to notice his depression were ignored, thus leading to suicide. Maybe he even threatened suicide before, so this attempt is being ignored.
-"the steel eye/ tight jaw/ say it all" You can easily picture the expression he wears; an emotion of pure decisiveness that he has made his decision to commit suicide.
-"white paint/ plastic saints/ say it all" Obviously a reference to religion, specifically Catholicism. White paint sounds like a reference to a mental institution since the walls are usually a bare white. Perhaps he had attempted to get psychiatric help in the past without success.
-"somebody/ has got to say it all" He feels like people need to know what he feels and what they did wrong to him.
-"I'm so nervous, I'm so tense/ my heart can't forget about this self-defense" Humans naturally want to fight for survival when faced with death.
-"The air is so hot and my breath comes fast/ I thumb the cool blade, but I know this can't last" He has a moment of insecurity with his decision as his instincts fight for survival, but because he is so set with the idea of suicide, he knows that feeling won't last.
@Chesterette Oh interesting. I took it almost the same, but I think the difference is in the weighting.. I believe it is more about writing and less about suicide. I saw that cool blade line as meaning more along the lines of, I need to write this but I'm a bit miserable and think about suicide, okay the feeling will pass, you need to get out there and write.<br /> But then I am a writer so maybe that is why I took it that way! hah!
@Chesterette everything you said is spot on! It’s not about murder . He’s contemplating suicide and is torn.
i guess i won't go into detail right now, but the song is about Murder....if you want more detail, e-mail me.....
I originally just liked this song because it's so catchy, and that line about how "The white paint / Plastic saints / Say it all." The more I think about it, the more I think it's about creativity, and how when you're writing something, you're sort of inside yourself (that's why the MIND's inside the cell). There's a really cool artist-as-deviant/criminal/outsider thing going on. You try to express what you feel, and what you see, but you can't, because there's always something there that does it better (Steel eyes, tight jaws; it's always something unspoken that you're trying to put into words).You feel like it's your mission to tell the whole truth about the world. "Somebody has got to say it all."
murder?
The above comment is pure blasphemy.
you've never heard of someone being "steely eyed"? It's about someone's facial features at the time.. he's steely eyed and has a tight jaw... he's angry, or anxious
basically a writer in prison who's writing about select things. However some people are saying murder, no he means suicide. This song is incredibly written