Moments can be monuments to you
If your life is interesting and true.
It's just the same for a man or a girl,
The meaning of the world lies outside thw world.

People love people and they understand
if you wanna renovate your background mind
(a federal woman needs a municipal man)
people gotta synchronize to animal time.

You can't change the feeling
but you can change your feelings about the feeling in a second or two…
People always come around.

I'm studying the ceiling on a little afternoon
and when I paint my dining room
people gonna come around.

I love to see a rainbow from a garden hose
lit up like the blood of a centerfold
I love the city and the city rain,
suburban kids with biblical names.

People ask people to watch their scotch.
People send people up to the moon.
When they return, well there isn't much.
People be careful not to crest too soon.

The drums march along at the clip of an I.V. drip
like sparks from a muffler dragged down the strip.
I really hope you'll come around.

It's sunny and 75. It feels so good to be alive.
Come on baby don't stay inside.
Everybody's coming out tonight.


Lyrics submitted by 3ric, edited by Mellow_Harsher

People Lyrics as written by

Lyrics © ROUGH TRADE PUBLISHING

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People song meanings
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9 Comments

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  • +2
    General Comment

    People, a generic title, and to me ironic, when considering the highly personal and soul-seeking nature of this song.

    ''It's just the same for a man or a girl, The meaning of the world lies outside the world. People love people and they understand if you wanna renovate your background mind''

    These four lines essentially define the song for me, inviting deep introspection, and a retreat to existential philosophy in order to defeat conflict. People are flawed true, but as Berman notes, not irreparably so. We need only to 'renovate our background minds' in order to alter the perceptions, (or more accurately the misperceptions), we have. Instead of allowing the mundane to crowd our minds, we need to seek a deeper, and more primordial aspect on life, one allowing the many moments we encounter to become the very monuments Berman sings of.. The rainbow from the garden hose IS the city and the city rain, The nature of such a journey is fragile however, with Berman encouraging the need to ‘scotch watch’ whilst ‘people travel to the moon’. The foundations are still too weak for us to 'crest too soon', and we need to take note of the fragility of such progression. Whilst such a pursuit is a step forward in exploration, Berman finally appears to consider the futility of such a quest, and the worryingly perpetual nature of common attitude. The slow and unsteady tempo of IV drips combined with a final decision to stay inside when, 'everybody's coming out tonight', suggest a begrudging abandonment of such naive, yet beautiful idealism. To put it bluntly, Berman cherishes his romantic and comforting dream, but realises he must always wake.

    (cookie)on July 19, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    My favorite line here is: "people ask people to watch their scotch".

    I've always thought he was just sort of pointing out something so simple and mundane that people do, that most would not even think of pointing it out at all. But the point is that it is only something you would understand if you ARE people, which makes it an excellent way to define what 'people' is. This is then juxtaposed with sending people to the moon, of of the great achievements that might also be used as a way to define 'people'.

    kevincson April 16, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    hahahahaha what a feel good song fuckin awesome

    youeatpoopon May 02, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Agreed, this song just puts me in a relaxed, fucking great mood.

    ClickForthon February 10, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    pretty sure he says "come on baby -don't- stay inside"

    imissiancurtison August 29, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Yeah it should be "don't stay inside". That's how it's written in the booklet of the album.

    m!keon September 07, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Yeah, you're right. In that case maybe he is clinging to this ideal. The romance remains intact.

    (cookie)on July 25, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    In general, I think Cookie got it right. Berman, as he frequently does in his poetry, encourages us to change our perception of the world. He attempts to draw us into the wonders of the every day that we usually pass up. In general, he's asking us to sit, relax, and watch the grass grow a bit. The first line points this out: "Moments", the small specks of life can be large and important, "Monuments", if we simply live in a way that cherishes these moments as they are.

    Along with this is the idea of People. He seems to hold them as something that can give or allow a sort of salvation to suffering. When he refers to "synchronize(ing) to animal time" I think he means reaching a sort of universal mind state among all people referred to in the opening lines.

    Later on, the images he provides are all simple everyday things given descriptions of large proportions: "Suburban kids with biblical names", see "a rainbow from a garden hose".

    Then he rips it open with the best verse I think he's, well, ever written:

    People ask people to watch their scotch. People send people up to the moon. When they return, well there isn't much People be careful not to crest too soon.

    It’s a warning. Here he brings an almost Buddhist tint to the philosophy: chasing greatness does not offer any lasting happiness. In either the case of the drunk or the astronaut, the trip ends sometime, and we are left with just memories of the past to hold to. I almost feel with the last line he's saying that momentary greatness can tarnish your ability to feel and be in the moment, but that can be left to interpretation.

    To finish it up, he drops the cryptic lines and simply provides cheery narration, and I feel it's simplicity hits hard after all the vagueness and metaphor.

    Above all, it's a perfect song and gets me out of bed in the morning. Berman is God.

    ImTooPretentiouson October 13, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Suburban Kids with Biblical Names!!!! i fit that description.

    thegreatfeveron September 22, 2009   Link

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