In Q magazine stipe said (regarding the song, and why they printed they lyric in the sleevenote) "I felt the lyric would actually look good to read, and it does read well - there's words like divine and decree, they all start with a 'D', which is good, and things rhyme,but they don't rhyme too much. I can't remember what it's about... Well, somone's at wasr with themselves.....Anyway, in World Leader Pretend, that was me copying Leonard Cohen, using something like military terms to get across a very simple human emotion"
It wasn't the most coherent article... but i hope it adds some insight.
In Q magazine stipe said (regarding the song, and why they printed they lyric in the sleevenote) "I felt the lyric would actually look good to read, and it does read well - there's words like divine and decree, they all start with a 'D', which is good, and things rhyme,but they don't rhyme too much. I can't remember what it's about... Well, somone's at wasr with themselves.....Anyway, in World Leader Pretend, that was me copying Leonard Cohen, using something like military terms to get across a very simple human emotion" It wasn't the most coherent article... but i hope it adds some insight.