I'M ENVIOUS OF YOUR I.Q. OF 37
YOU, YOU'RE THE ONE
IT'S WRITTEN ALL OVER YOUR FACE
YOU, YOU'RE THE ONE
I'D LIKE TO TAKE YOUR PLACE.
I'M ENVIOUS OF YOUR I.Q. OF 37
YOUR LACK OF BRAINS JUST DRIVES ME CRAZY
ITS THE ONLY WAY TO GET BY AND BE LAZY
YOU, YOU'RE THE ONE
IT'S WRITTEN ALL OVER YOUR FACE
YOU, YOU'RE SO DUMB
I'D LIKE TO TAKE YOUR PLACE.
I'M ENVIOUS OF YOUR I.Q. OF 37
FROM WHERE I COME IT'S THE DUMBER THE BETTER
NO-ONE LIKES A REALLY GO GETTER
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This is a basic Devo mission statement - de-evolution means that the dumber you are, the more you fit in.
This song is centered on the theme "ignorance is bliss". There are many popular media depictions of such sentiments including an episode of House M.D. where an extremely intelligent man wants to be stupid because dealing with the populus of lesser intelect beings is so frustrating. Devo postulates that instead they are normal men and the populus is in fact certifiably severely mentally handicapped with an IQ score under 40. Wishing they could be blissfully ignorant would make living in this world ("Where i'm from the dumbber the better") far less stressfull.
This song is centered on the theme "ignorance is bliss". There are many popular media depictions of such sentiments including an episode of House M.D. where an extremely intelligent man wants to be stupid because dealing with the populus of lesser intelect beings is so frustrating. Devo postulates that instead they are normal men and the populus is in fact certifiably severely mentally handicapped with an IQ score under 40. Wishing they could be blissfully ignorant would make living in this world ("Where i'm from the dumbber the better") far less stressfull.
DEVO is from a unionized industrial town. Akron, Ohio, auto industry, tires. Artists in an industrial town. It is easy to be jealous of union or corporate automatons making high union wages, for lowest common demoninator work. where a band not playing pro-smalltown springstein covers are shunned. It is easy to be stupid the burden of intellegence is a burden.
Booji Boy's Basement did an interview with Bob1, who said, verbatim: "'37' is tongue in cheek angst about thinking that if I was dumb I wouldn't feel bad about the horrible atrocities of life."
It seems that Bob1, as a songwriter, isn't as subversive or into interwoven messages as his brother or Jerry Casale.