Know something about this song or lyrics?
Add it to our wiki.
Say, "You don't know me or recognize my face"
Say, "You don't care who goes to that kind of place"
Knee deep in the hoopla sinking in your fight
Too many runaways eating up the night
Marconi plays the Mamba, listen to the radio, don't you remember
We built this city, we built this city on rock and roll
We built this city, we built this city on rock and roll
Built this city, we built this city on rock and roll
Someone always playing corporation games
Who cares they're always changing corporation names
We just want to dance here, someone stole the stage
They call us irresponsible, write us off the page
Marconi plays the Mamba, listen to the radio, don't you remember
We built this city, we built this city on rock and roll
We built this city, we built this city on rock and roll
Built this city, we built this city on rock and roll
It's just another Sunday, in a tired old street
Police have got the choke hold, oh, then we just lost the beat
Who counts the money, underneath the bar
Who rides the wrecking ball in two rock guitars
Don't tell us you need us, 'cause we're the ship of fools
Looking for America coming through your schools
Don't you remember
('Member, 'member)
Marconi plays the Mamba, listen to the radio, don't you remember
We built this city, we built this city on rock and roll
We built this city, we built this city on rock and roll
Built this city, we built this city on rock and roll
Built this city, we built this city on rock and roll
Built this city, we built this city on rock and roll
(We built, we built this city)
Built this city
(We built, we built this city)
(We built, we built this city)
Built this city
(We built, we built this city)
(We built, we built this city)
Built this city
(We built, we built this city)
(We built, we built this city)
Built this city
(We built, we built this city)
Say, "You don't care who goes to that kind of place"
Knee deep in the hoopla sinking in your fight
Too many runaways eating up the night
Marconi plays the Mamba, listen to the radio, don't you remember
We built this city, we built this city on rock and roll
We built this city, we built this city on rock and roll
Built this city, we built this city on rock and roll
Someone always playing corporation games
Who cares they're always changing corporation names
We just want to dance here, someone stole the stage
They call us irresponsible, write us off the page
Marconi plays the Mamba, listen to the radio, don't you remember
We built this city, we built this city on rock and roll
We built this city, we built this city on rock and roll
Built this city, we built this city on rock and roll
It's just another Sunday, in a tired old street
Police have got the choke hold, oh, then we just lost the beat
Who counts the money, underneath the bar
Who rides the wrecking ball in two rock guitars
Don't tell us you need us, 'cause we're the ship of fools
Looking for America coming through your schools
Don't you remember
('Member, 'member)
Marconi plays the Mamba, listen to the radio, don't you remember
We built this city, we built this city on rock and roll
We built this city, we built this city on rock and roll
Built this city, we built this city on rock and roll
Built this city, we built this city on rock and roll
Built this city, we built this city on rock and roll
(We built, we built this city)
Built this city
(We built, we built this city)
(We built, we built this city)
Built this city
(We built, we built this city)
(We built, we built this city)
Built this city
(We built, we built this city)
(We built, we built this city)
Built this city
(We built, we built this city)
Lyrics submitted by Boonechic_21
Track duration: 04:54
"We Built This City [DVD]" as written by Martin George Page, Bernie Taupin, Dennis Lambert, Peter F. Wolf
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
Back then it was FUN and it was a relief to have GOOFY songs to listen to
It was mindless fun and a joy to hear and watch the video
Thus the meaning is pretty straightforward. It's a reference to both the history of radio, and the history of rock and roll through the radio.
This is then followed by bringing us back to the present and asking us the same thing from the 'now' perspective: 'listen to the radio / don't you remember?'
I certainly agree the lyrics can be quite trite. But I never thought they were stupid or unclear.
(otoh, if someone can show evidence that Starship's *intended* lyrics were 'marconi plays the mamba' or whatever, then I'll certainly have to reconsider that last point :)
Bernie Taupin is one of the greatest lyricists of all time (see nearly all of Elton John's songs). He didn't write this crap by accident. The public at large and perhaps even the band members themselves may not realize it, but the lyrics to this song are a *satire* of the 80s music scene and perhaps even the band itself.
"Someone's always playing corporation games
Who cares, they're always changing corporation names"
"Marconi plays the mamba
Listen to the radio"
is a double meaning imo. Marconi, as mentioned, was the founder of modern radio. So the Marconi reference is, literally, a radio. Like the actual thing that plays music.
The tougher part is the 'mamba'. Some have referenced it's a dance or type of music, but that's actually the MAMBO. The MAMBA is one of the most poisonous snakes in the world. Saying MAMBA instead of MAMBO fits more with the lyrical meaning of the song.
Since the song is about the corporatization (is that a word?) of I believe San Francisco, the Marconi (radio) is playing a mamba - corporate-filtered music that poisons the minds of those listening. The double meaning is since it's so close to mambo, that's what the listening public hears. They hear the sterilized, filtered corporate music ("mambo"), but it's really poison that's killing the counter-culture that defined the previous genre of the San Francisco area ("mamba").
For as silly as some of the lyrics in this song are, that line actually has a pretty deep meaning and was very cleverly written.
This came out my freshman year of college - my friends and I were into all sorts of music, and we couldn't believe a follow on to Jefferson Airplane/Jefferson Starship had put something this lame out. Yes, the tune is catchy - but so are many tunes of 30 second commercials!
Lyrically it's vapid at best. Here is the relic of one of he sixties standard bearer groups, desperately trying to remain relevant (and obviously more importantly, commercially viable), all the while singing trite lyrics about the commercialism of the music industry. Folks, it doesn't get much more hypocritical than that!
We laughed that the guitarist (I can't recall his name right now) was heavily featured as a Carvin endorser in many of the music magazines. We figured any company that would want someone from this loser band as a product endorser must be pretty hard up for artists.
Personally I never really cared much for Grace Slick (not that she was bad looking back in the day), but after this song I knew I would never take her or anything she said seriously again.
Overall: It's a bad joke, told badly.
I'm pretty sure it's:
"Who rides the wrecking ball in two-part guitars"
Two-part guitars describes when a song or at least parts thereof (like the solo) is played alternately by two guitarists. The two parts or melodies usually relate to eachother in a 'question & answer' type structure. Often the second or 'answer' guitar plays the more showy part with distortion or tremolo effects - the wrecking ball.
this is one of those songs we love to hate.
i'll sing it, but i'll curse myself for doing it.
hoop⋅la [hoop-lah] Show IPA
–noun Informal.
1. bustling excitement or activity; commotion; hullabaloo; to-do.
2. sensational publicity; ballyhoo.
3. speech or writing intended to mislead or to obscure an issue.
hoop·la (hōōp'lä', hŏŏp'-)
n. Informal
Boisterous, jovial commotion or excitement.
Extravagant publicity: The new sedan was introduced to the public with much hoopla.
Talk intended to mislead or confuse.