Lyrics for Race for the Prize as interpreted by BobSaget666

Race for the Prize Lyrics
Two scientists are racing for the good of all mankind
Both of them side by side
So determined
Locked in heated battle for the cure that is the prize
But its so dangerous
But they're determined

Theirs is to win if it kills them
But they're just human with wives and children

Upwards to the vanguard, where the pressure is to high
Under the microscope
Hope against hope
Forging for the future but to sacrifice their lives
Both of them side by side
So determined

They're determined if it kills them
They're just human with wives and children

Theirs is to win, it will kill them
They're just humans with wives and children

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  • 22 Comments
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beulahrawk
06-09-2003

Rated 0 
for some reason, this happy-sounding song makes me so sad
the price of discovery..

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ZeroOne
05-15-2004

Rated 0 
This song feels so great to listen to, and so fitting of the Lips, to have songs feel opposite of their lyrics. However, the phrase "Upwards to the vanguard" is just gets me feeling powerful every time.

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ReActor
10-27-2004

Rated 0 
This is one of my favourite songs. The strings and the drums... so exhilarating.

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kozo
06-24-2005

Rated 0 
great song. reminds me of the polyphonic spree, a bit.

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Treefinger
07-24-2005

Rated -1 
I think it means that even if you cure Cancer or save the Earth, you're still human.

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DevastatorJr.
12-30-2005

Rated 0 
Yeah, it's about how ordinary human beings, with ordinary problems and concerns, wives and children, can do extraordinary things.

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moomoosnake
01-16-2006

Rated 0 
I love this song, but i'm a bit of a cynic - for me this song says something about the frivolity of progress, it's something to work towards but that there are more important things; however much you want something there's always something else there.

Think there's something about academic competition, that although they may be racing towards something that may be for the good of all mankind, there's still a sizable amount of selfish motive in what they are doing. Also the competition aspect says something unfair about the world of science in that although people may put the same effort into something, the prize is still won and lost and losers are often forgotten

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tomauto
01-16-2006

Rated 0 
good comments moomoosnake
as with most Lips tunes on the last few albums, the pretty music deceives a bit of negativity in the lyrics...even though it sounds positive on first listen, digging a bit deeper shows the underlying realism.

often times folks who strike to help improve the comfort of living for strangers do it at a cost to their own well being as well as those close to them

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inhumandecency
03-30-2006

Rated 0 
My feeling is that the scientists are cooperating in their struggle. They're racing, but it's not necessarily against each other. Against time, against danger. The term "side by side" is usually used for allies... in a competition it would be "neck and neck" or "head to head." That makes the song a lot happier to me!

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onestepbeyond
01-15-2007

Rated -1 
To me, this song is about overambition. How we are always aiming for perfection that will probably never be achieved.
The scientists in the song want to discover the cure, save the world, become superheroes. They'll do anything to achieve their goals. But no matter how far they try to climb, after all "they're just humans, with wives and children."

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BrokeAccount
03-17-2007

Rated 0 
RE: inhumandecency

I think it uses "side by side" in order to highlight the problem of competition and the idea of working WITH one another as opposed to AGAINST one another. They're both striving for exactly the same thing, and by using the phrase "side by side" it shows that they are practically the same and both in it together. The "race for the prize" is ridiculous, we shouldn't be racing one another, we should be pulling together and working as one. That's what the whole song is about, to me. Which means I think it is indeed positive!

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17180744
05-13-2007

Rated 0 
It reminds me of how in this day and age we live in, scientists who are working on important research, hardly get the same kudos or recognition as say, celebrity heiresses.

For example, Ian Frazer is the scientist who developed a vaccine for cervical cancer, a result which took many years to research while the researcher was not exactly living in luxury.

http://www.readersdigest.com.au/content/29307/

Great song!!

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ENi
07-31-2007

Rated 0 
imho it's about war between two superpowers and how the soldiers fighting on both side still are the same and the leaders on both sides too

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ENi
07-31-2007

Rated 0 
...and how the both sides claim to fight for the best for mankind

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freewneel
03-19-2008

Rated 0 
I think it's more about the early scientists who were searching for the cure to influenza and Yellow Fever and the like. In those days, viruses and bacteria were not well understood, and to study them was not without risk. Several early virologists died of the disease they were trying to cure.

Also, many of them had bad home lives (or none at all) because they spent so much time in the lab.

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Matt26mph
03-22-2008

Rated 0 
For me this track describes self-sacrifice, risking one's own valuable neck to save the lives of many. It's inspiring that so many great people throughout history have worked so hard, risking and losing their lives for complete strangers. We tend to view these people as being superhuman, but "They're just humans with wives and children." Beautiful song.

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dirtyvest
03-24-2009

Rated 0 
I don't think this song has any deep statments to make. To me it is an escapist fantasy song.

The lyrics and dramatic sounding music remind me of a comic book type scenario where the scientists are racing to invent some dangerous cure/device to avert an impending world ending crisis (comet striking earth/alien invasion/deadly virus etc), rather than actualy racing each other. They are obviously at great risk and may have to experiment on themselves to test the device/antidote at the cost of their own life, but the selfless heroes no choice, as it is to save the world and their loved ones!

Every time I hear this song I always have a picture of a couple of Clark Kent (6 foot 4, square chin) scientist types in white lab coats holding test tube and working with lazers. Sometimes the scientists are bitter rivals forced to work together to save the world. Sometimes they are respected colleagues racing in seperate labs, or in the same lab knowing that thety will both die.

Either way this is a great song

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LikeAMetaphor
08-11-2009

Rated 0 
I've always heard "upwards to the vanguard, where the pressure is to *hide* under the microscope, hope against hope"
i think of major drug companies hoping for a treatment to the disease vs. a cure and the vanguard of the drug company (head honcho) is lobbying the scientists to get on board with his profiteering agenda.

On a completely different note, I think the "their just humans with wives and children" line, when combined with the lyrics from "A Spoonful Weighs a Ton", is meant to say that the developers of a cure are not God.

Hooray for The Soft Bulletin

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rachel__face
09-29-2009

Rated 0 
this song is the most perfect opening song i've heard. for an album, for a show, anything ever.

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degree7
01-23-2010

Rated 0 
One of the worst songs I've ever heard.

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Gabs
02-22-2010

Rated 0 
The song could be about our struggles to make something of our lives and the limitations that we face represented by the line "they're just human, with wives and children". Ultimately, we can fight and struggle all we can to achieve something in our lives but we can't forget that, ultimately, we are just human ... we are not superman (which is also probably the meaning of another song in this album "waiting for superman," strangely enough).

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Gabs
02-22-2010

Rated 0 
The song could be about our struggles to make something of our lives and the limitations that we face represented by the line "they're just human, with wives and children". We can fight and struggle all we can to achieve something in our lives but we can't forget that, ultimately, we are just human ... we are not superman (which is also probably the meaning of another song in this album "waiting for superman," strangely enough ...)


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