A political pop tune that takes no sides and spares no one, the narrator included. (Again, the narrator is not me, he is a character.) This was a slam on the Reagan era concept of trying to return to some glorious earlier time in America. I once asked my dad, who grew up in the slums of Philadelphia in the '20s, whether things were really more innocent back then. He said it had actually been much worse than the way things were today, it's just that in those days, no one talked about it. And he had the stories to back up his statement.
The lyrics actually were written to fit the music this time- usually it works the other way around for me.
lyrics
I saw you just the other day
and you said that you were doing fine
You couldn't pay the rent, you said,
It's too expensive when you're doing lines
And then you couldn't get to sleep
so you had to buy some downs
The world's not made for having fun,
Maybe it's better in some other town
Maybe someday soon we'll see the life we used to know
I think of you and think about how far we have to go
Saw fearless leader on the tube
and as usual his news was bad
The children of the USA
won't have a richer life than Mom and Dad
The standard of living's sinking fast
and the past is dead and gone
And half my paycheck builds your bombs
and cuts the White House lawn
Maybe someday soon we'll see the life we used to know
I think of you and think about how far we have to go
I sit up late at night
and wonder what the hell I'll do
'Cause all the fears and doubts all seem
to be coming true.....
I saw you just the other day
and I said that I was doing fine
I couldn't look you in the eyes
'cause I was handing you the same old line
Can't find a job, can't find a girl,
and there's so much that I don't know
And I don't know where I'm going to,
is there anyplace to go?
Maybe some day soon we'll see the life we used to know
I think of you and think about how far we have to go
I think of me and think about
How far we have to go.
credits
from A Man Who Was Here,
released March 19, 2014
Lyrics & music: '84. Instruments: guitar, vocals, drums, 8-string bass
The Long Island metal band's third album etches arena-sized hooks into their jagged compositions, deftly balancing experimental and poppy inclinations. Bandcamp Album of the Day May 12, 2022
