32 Meanings
Add Yours
Follow
Share
Q&A
Road To Nowhere Lyrics
WELL WE KNOW WHERE WE'RE GOIN'
BUT WE DON'T KNOW WHERE WE'VE BEEN
AND WE KNOW WHAT WE'RE KNOWIN'
BUT WE CAN'T SAY WHAT WE'VE SEEN
AND WE'RE NOT LITTLE CHILDREN
AND WE KNOW WHAT WE WANT
AND THE FUTURE IS CERTAIN
GIVE US TIME TO WORK IT OUT
We're on a road to nowhere
Come on inside
Takin' that ride to nowhere
We'll take that ride
I'm feelin' okay this mornin'
And you know,
We're on the road to paradise
Here we go, here we go
CHORUS
Maybe you wonder where you are
I don't care
Here is where time is on our side
Take you there...take you there
We're on a road to nowhere
We're on a road to nowhere
We're on a road to nowhere
There's a city in my mind
Come along and take that ride
and it's all right, baby, it's all right
And it's very far away
But it's growing day by day
And it's all right, baby, it's all right
They can tell you what to do
But they'll make a fool of you
And it's all right, baby, it's all right
We're on a road to nowhere
BUT WE DON'T KNOW WHERE WE'VE BEEN
AND WE KNOW WHAT WE'RE KNOWIN'
BUT WE CAN'T SAY WHAT WE'VE SEEN
AND WE'RE NOT LITTLE CHILDREN
AND WE KNOW WHAT WE WANT
AND THE FUTURE IS CERTAIN
GIVE US TIME TO WORK IT OUT
Come on inside
Takin' that ride to nowhere
We'll take that ride
And you know,
We're on the road to paradise
Here we go, here we go
I don't care
Here is where time is on our side
Take you there...take you there
We're on a road to nowhere
We're on a road to nowhere
Come along and take that ride
and it's all right, baby, it's all right
But it's growing day by day
And it's all right, baby, it's all right
But they'll make a fool of you
And it's all right, baby, it's all right
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
I remember reading David Byrne commenting that this song was Talking Heads' anthem to celebrate the futility of our existence, i.e. we're born, we live, we die. Instead of postulating what lies beyond ('Nowhere') we should merely enjoy the ride along the way. Life is about the journey, not the destination.
Top Notch Song! What I love about it is its galloping drumbeat, as if the narrator is on horseback to his destination. But according to the lyrics, the destination is nowhere! How typically Bryne! Great Song! I also love the haunting female vox in the build up to the end.
Love your description about the galloping drumbeat...great observation
Love your description about the galloping drumbeat...great observation
I have nominated this song as the company that i work fors theme song: 'we're on the road to nowhere...' haha, love it.
i love this song. we know where we're going. death is the only certainty in life. where on the road to nowhere <3
This song builds up towards a big climax in the end. And I think that is also what this song is about, a big climax in the end...
I heard an interview with the band when Little Creatures was being released. David Byrne was surprised the Road to Nowhere was proving so popular, and would thus become a single, as it was downbeat and about the road to oblivion.
yes it's in "little monsters" when fred savage and howie mandel are walking. that's all i remember. i used to like the song more but i have to skip it in the album now. that type of stuff is usually cyclical.
i love this song. even though its about the road to oblivion, it makes me happy. Good sound to the song.
i don't think that this is about the road to OBLIVION. it's about the road to paradise, and few that are able to wake up out of the rigid, politically correct, broad road that everyone takes. he's trying to wake others up...to take that ride...there's TIME...but you don't really have to GO ANYWHERE. it's about BEING. but, like a cattle driver, he is cracking a whip trying to get the audience to GET MOVING ALONG THAT PATH.
i don't think that this is about the road to OBLIVION. it's about the road to paradise, and few that are able to wake up out of the rigid, politically correct, broad road that everyone takes. he's trying to wake others up...to take that ride...there's TIME...but you don't really have to GO ANYWHERE. it's about BEING. but, like a cattle driver, he is cracking a whip trying to get the audience to GET MOVING ALONG THAT PATH.
@everybodylovesbass. @parismatch here fighting the inevitable. Byrne has said many times it's about the inevitable march toward death (the song even has a marching beat) or the apocalypse, and encouraging us to take a resigned or even joyful look at our eventual doom. I wonder if 16 years has made that inevitability more real for you, especially THESE past 16 years lo
@everybodylovesbass. @parismatch here fighting the inevitable. Byrne has said many times it's about the inevitable march toward death (the song even has a marching beat) or the apocalypse, and encouraging us to take a resigned or even joyful look at our eventual doom. I wonder if 16 years has made that inevitability more real for you, especially THESE past 16 years lo
We Used This For The Main Tune For Our A Level Drama Thingy... A Production Of "Road".. How Fitting.
Its A Good Catchy But Still Deep Song... Me Likes =)_
I get the impression that he doesn't mean oblivion in this song. I think he's talking about how homogenized cities have become in the past couple of decades; it's gotten to the point where towns are no longer distinct from each other, don't have anything that gives them a sense of place. It's a bit like "True Stories," looking at the world and seeing that it's all the same and the feeling of freedom he gets from never having to be anyhwere, ever. He's always "nowhere" or on his way there.
That's just one interpretation, mind.