This song was originally by the band Wire and so I take it in that context to probably about punk music as a scene and cultural phenomenon.
Here's the correct lyrics, copied from the Wire entry with the parenthesesed (spelling?) parts being my commentary:
Reviewed, it seemed
As if someone were watching over it
Before it was
As if response were based on fact
(It seemed like punk had to happen because it filled a space that had to be filled, it seemed planned but it really happened because of the revolutionary spark in mankind, etc.)
Providing, deciding, it was soon there
Squared to it, faced to it, it was not there
(Getting together, making the rules, that shit was easy. Getting shit done, making it count, not so much.)
Renewed, it fought
As if it had a cause to live for
Denied, it learned
As if it had sooner been destroyed
(Punk came again after the first wave of bands. It was like the concept of punk, an abstract ideology, was anthropomorphic and was fighting to preserve itself. But then, it died and came back again as a commercial thing, just like everything else was and was no longer special, as if it had sooner been destroyed.)
Providing, deciding, it was soon there
Squared to it, faced to it, it was not there
Reviewed, it fought
As if someone were watching over it
Before it had sooner been denied
Renewed, it seemed
As if it had a cause to live for
Destroyed, it was later based on fact
(The winners write history and punk is now whatever we make of it, and just as some people can look at the emergence of punk scenes and get the strength to change the world from it, people can also look at punk and use it to sell t-shirts.)
This song was originally by the band Wire and so I take it in that context to probably about punk music as a scene and cultural phenomenon.
Here's the correct lyrics, copied from the Wire entry with the parenthesesed (spelling?) parts being my commentary:
Reviewed, it seemed As if someone were watching over it Before it was As if response were based on fact
(It seemed like punk had to happen because it filled a space that had to be filled, it seemed planned but it really happened because of the revolutionary spark in mankind, etc.)
Providing, deciding, it was soon there Squared to it, faced to it, it was not there
(Getting together, making the rules, that shit was easy. Getting shit done, making it count, not so much.)
Renewed, it fought As if it had a cause to live for Denied, it learned As if it had sooner been destroyed
(Punk came again after the first wave of bands. It was like the concept of punk, an abstract ideology, was anthropomorphic and was fighting to preserve itself. But then, it died and came back again as a commercial thing, just like everything else was and was no longer special, as if it had sooner been destroyed.)
Providing, deciding, it was soon there Squared to it, faced to it, it was not there
Reviewed, it fought As if someone were watching over it Before it had sooner been denied Renewed, it seemed As if it had a cause to live for Destroyed, it was later based on fact
(The winners write history and punk is now whatever we make of it, and just as some people can look at the emergence of punk scenes and get the strength to change the world from it, people can also look at punk and use it to sell t-shirts.)