I'd have to agree it's a conversation (the realist/idealist), especially during the rocking part's chorus, the "woooaaah, woaaaahs" between the "shut up, you talk to much [woooaaah, hoooaaa], pay the man" lines are important, I feel like it's a call and response device between the two voices. The shut up is directed right at the woooahs.
This song is the reason I love the Offspring more than any other punk band. They are actually saying something. They're serving up a concept for us on a silver platter: Don't pay the man just for living. It's unnecessary
"the man" is the jester in the corner, laughing silently to himself, getting paid for nothing. The malady abounds in our souls. We invite the man into our souls to create disaster and mischief, AND WE PAY HIM for it. The voice of this idealist isn't the band talking to us, it's the idealist pontificating about the state of affairs in our lives.
Dexter's voice in the harder parts is sneering. "look at you, and your struggle for freedom". He is the jester. He's just playing with us - he has the power and he knows it.
The very last part is the fight. The idealist becomes powerful, and his whiny/ethereal woooahs become wails and screams of power. "my life is for me - " and the song just ends.
Dexter wants us to fight and convince our friends and family to never pay the man.
I'd have to agree it's a conversation (the realist/idealist), especially during the rocking part's chorus, the "woooaaah, woaaaahs" between the "shut up, you talk to much [woooaaah, hoooaaa], pay the man" lines are important, I feel like it's a call and response device between the two voices. The shut up is directed right at the woooahs.
This song is the reason I love the Offspring more than any other punk band. They are actually saying something. They're serving up a concept for us on a silver platter: Don't pay the man just for living. It's unnecessary
"the man" is the jester in the corner, laughing silently to himself, getting paid for nothing. The malady abounds in our souls. We invite the man into our souls to create disaster and mischief, AND WE PAY HIM for it. The voice of this idealist isn't the band talking to us, it's the idealist pontificating about the state of affairs in our lives.
Dexter's voice in the harder parts is sneering. "look at you, and your struggle for freedom". He is the jester. He's just playing with us - he has the power and he knows it.
The very last part is the fight. The idealist becomes powerful, and his whiny/ethereal woooahs become wails and screams of power. "my life is for me - " and the song just ends.
Dexter wants us to fight and convince our friends and family to never pay the man.