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Sell Sell Sell Lyrics
The credits roll, the camera pans,
And in the mist our hero stands,
He starts to speak then folds his hands in prayer.
An awkward pause, then "What's my line?
There's nothing left to say this time -
And what do you say to a bad guy who's not there?"
In terms of Roman numerals he's Ivy league with Roman Polanski,
He'd win an Oscar every time if he was only given a chance.
He started on the Broadway stage,
The product of another age,
An offer and a pilot drew him west.
The series bombed, commercials came,
And though nobody knew his name,
They all recognized the potential he possessed.
Deodorants and dental floss,
And how much does that new car cost?
His acting was methodical in
"You Don't Need A Medical".
He's branded like a racing car,
He's like a movie star without movies.
The week of Independence Day,
The casting agent called to say -
"Your smile could save the movie and the world."
Buy, buy, buy, buy,
Sell, sell, sell.
How well you learn to
Not discern who's
Foe and who is friend,
We'll own them all in the end.
It goes like this, we have no choice.
The minarets, the wailing voice,
And vaguely Celtic music fills the air.
We choose a foreigner to hate,
The new Iraq gets more irate,
We really know nothing about them
And no one cares.
Aladdin and the forty thieves
Enhanced by brand new special effects.
Saddam and his cow disease
Spiced up with some gratuitous sex.
A movie's made, a war is won,
A low speed chase, a smoking gun,
Distract us while the actor takes the stand.
Buy, buy, buy, buy,
Sell, sell, sell.
How well you learn to
Not discern who's
Foe and who is friend,
We'll own them all in the end.
And in the mist our hero stands,
He starts to speak then folds his hands in prayer.
An awkward pause, then "What's my line?
There's nothing left to say this time -
And what do you say to a bad guy who's not there?"
In terms of Roman numerals he's Ivy league with Roman Polanski,
He'd win an Oscar every time if he was only given a chance.
He started on the Broadway stage,
The product of another age,
An offer and a pilot drew him west.
The series bombed, commercials came,
And though nobody knew his name,
They all recognized the potential he possessed.
Deodorants and dental floss,
And how much does that new car cost?
His acting was methodical in
"You Don't Need A Medical".
He's branded like a racing car,
He's like a movie star without movies.
The week of Independence Day,
The casting agent called to say -
"Your smile could save the movie and the world."
Sell, sell, sell.
How well you learn to
Not discern who's
Foe and who is friend,
We'll own them all in the end.
The minarets, the wailing voice,
And vaguely Celtic music fills the air.
We choose a foreigner to hate,
The new Iraq gets more irate,
We really know nothing about them
And no one cares.
Aladdin and the forty thieves
Enhanced by brand new special effects.
Saddam and his cow disease
Spiced up with some gratuitous sex.
A movie's made, a war is won,
A low speed chase, a smoking gun,
Distract us while the actor takes the stand.
Sell, sell, sell.
How well you learn to
Not discern who's
Foe and who is friend,
We'll own them all in the end.
Song Info
Submitted by
ojms On Apr 26, 2001
More Barenaked Ladies
One Week
Pinch Me
What A Good Boy
If I Had A $1000000
Tonight Is The Night I Fell Asleep At The Wheel
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
Bill Pullman was first on Broadway in 2002, two years after the album came out, so no, it was not him.
Jeff Goldblum, however, was on Broadway in the 1970s and 1980s, but was not in many commercials.
Other likely candidates include Judd Hirsch, James Rebhorn, Randy Quaid, or Robert Loggia. I have not seen the "You don't need a medical" commercials, though.
Interesting.
My politically-minded sister is convinced it's about Ronald Reagan, and his legacy in the White House.
"His casting agent called to say "your smile could save our movie and the world".
As he reached success in Hollywood and then in Washington....
or
"An awkward pause, then "what's my line?" there's nothing left to say this time And what do you say to a bad guy who's not there? "
A direct reference to his Alzheimers.
"Buy buy buy sell sell sell.... How well you learn to not discern who's foe and who is friend
We'll own them all in the end."
Of course, the song goes on to incorporate the Middle East and the things that went on immediately following Reagan's presidency with the Bush dynasty.
BNL songs from E2E and Barenaked Ladies Are Me have a definite political bent to them, being almost exclusively against America's war-making actions during that time.
battaryacid...the album was released in 2000... something tells me, though the barenaked ladies have some good thoughts and lyrics, they didnt have so much insight that they could comment on a war which their album preceded by 3 years... unless by 'this whole war' you were referencing Bush Sr and previous conflicts?
this song foresees Bush's war on Iraq. odd how the barenaked ladies have been silent during this whole war.
they haven't been that silent. Read the interpretation for Second Best
it's about an actor that thins he is a big star but he's really just a little person in the company
so this song is pretty self-explanatory...just thought i'd add that it's pretty damn amazing =]
I think the 'war' they're singing about is IN the movie he's playing...
While the initial listen of this song leads to the believe it's about movies or possibly politics, I believe this is also a major shot at the bow of the music industry.
Basically, the takeaway from this is that substance means nothing in the arts anymore. Instead, it's about the person selling the product (actor, or ostensibly singer), no matter how inferior that product is. Who knows? Maybe it's semi-autobiographical...their most successful period in the industry's terms was a period when it seemed like their music went furthest from it's beginnings.
Well the third section is obviously about The Persian Gulf War and the OJ Simpson trial.