"Well, I get off work at midnight/like I did it yesterday
and I listen to the signal that the ancient strangers play."
This song is clearly about how rock music had been turned into a commodity by the late 70s/ early 80s. By that time, less-and-less new music was being played and you started hearing the same thirty "classic" songs played on radio for years and years on end.
The missing opening lines are...
"Well, I get off work at midnight/like I did it yesterday and I listen to the signal that the ancient strangers play."
This song is clearly about how rock music had been turned into a commodity by the late 70s/ early 80s. By that time, less-and-less new music was being played and you started hearing the same thirty "classic" songs played on radio for years and years on end.