Lyrics for 1979 as interpreted by Ice

1979 Lyrics
Shakedown 1979
Cool kids never have the time
On a live wire right up off the street
You and I should meet

Junebug skipping like a stone
With the headlights pointed at the dawn
We were sure we'd never see an end
To it all

And I don't even care
To shake these zipper blues
And we don't know
Just where our bones will rest to dust
I guess forgotten and absorbed
Into the earth below

Double cross the vacant and the bored
They're not sure just what we have in store
Morphine city slippin dues
Down to see

That we don't even care
As restless as we are
We feel the pull
In the land of a thousand guilts
And poured cement
Lamented and assured
To the lights and towns below
Faster than the speed of sound
Faster than we thought we'd go
Beneath the sound of hope

Justine never knew the rules
Hung down with the freaks and the ghouls
No apologies ever need be made
I know you better than you fake it

To see that we don't care
To shake these zipper blues
And we don't know
Just where our bones will rest to dust
I guess forgotten and absorbed
Into the earth below

The street heats the urgency of sound
As you can see there's no one around


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weezergirl
06-10-2002

Rated 0 
this song made me cry once, and i dont know why.. it's just so.. awesome..

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PeaceGypsy420
06-17-2002

Rated 0 
this song makes me feel all nostalgic and teary-eyed....and im not so sure why, but it makes that whole bored suburban teenage life (the one that i live *sigh*) seem slightly glamorous in its ability to foster such...oh, gah! i don't know what I'm talking about...lol. This just makes me think of kinda how my life is. Bored. Stoned. Pseudo-rebellious. Teenage. Suburban. Musical. Everyone can relate.

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1979
06-20-2002

Rated 0 
If you really wanna know what the song is about just watch the video. Not just the kids but Billy's face as he watchs all around him. :)

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alterna_chick822
06-20-2002

Rated 0 
the smashing pumpkins are beautiful, their songs are beautiful, their videos are beautiful...what else is there to say?

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DeathRockBoy
06-20-2002

Rated 0 
I think it's a look at teenage angst...you people know what it's like in the suburbs. It's miserable. But this song has that magic ability, in that it connotes something different to everyone that listens to it. We all agree on the theme (suburban teenage life) but I bet that, for each of us, it brings to mind a certain moment or feeling. I connect it to that feeling of where you're surrounded by other people in the same situation as you but they're at the same time completely different from you and you feel very alone. So, basically, feeling alone in a crowd. And so transfer that to the teenage suburban setting. I hope that made sense. >:\

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WiSdOm
06-30-2002

Rated 0 
teen angst described through brilliant poetry.people have said that the lyrics don't make sense, but i think it makes perfect sense - you just have to read it deeper. there's a lot of symbolism and metaphor.

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PorcelainHope
07-03-2002

Rated 0 
This song is extremely depressing to me for some reason. It's definitely about reflecting upon your youth, probably in the suburbs. When I listen to this song, it fills me with regret. It causes me to wonder if I haven't wasted it all. It makes me want everything back again. You know that you will only have your teenage years once and they flash in front of your eyes so quickly. This song makes me wonder if when I am 30, I'll look back with regrets on my actions as a teenager. "faster than the speed of sound, faster than we though we'd go." I think that line expresses how these times speed by so quicly. We'll never have them back again. Even though the lyrics might be confusing, I think they make perfect sense. Listen to the music, hear the lyrics. They mesh together to form this beautiful nostalgic picture.

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Lets_kill_music
07-07-2002

Rated 0 
this an excellent song, mainly because its so against the grain of anything else they've ever done. Its sort of sonic youth-esque art rock post indie ex-grunge or something. The lyrics are very good, it just reminds me of good times

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nirpumpbarbiedoll
07-11-2002

Rated 0 
it is one of there best songs. i would have to say simply put it is about "teenage angst."

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Junebug17
07-24-2002

Rated 0 
This song is simply amazing. It is one of those few that seems to shift to fit whatever mood you're in. The lyrics send vivid images but are still vaugely mysterious.

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Nowhere_Girl
07-26-2002

Rated 0 
I love this song...
It remembers me of the past...
even thought i didn't know it in the past....
LOL

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kurtcobain
07-28-2002

Rated 0 
this is a great song and it reminds me of a lot of parties i've been to and stuff...

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rybo
08-07-2002

Rated 0 
sweet song. i dont know if somebody already said this but for the 'zipper blues' part i am guessing that they are called the zipper blues because they have their ups and downs... u know.. emotional teenager stuff. we all have our ups and downs.
check out the band 'ogulate'

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y2doggy
08-11-2002

Rated 0 
I thought "shake these zipper blues" meant that kids don't give a crap what they wear...they just wear jeans 'cause they're comfortable. And that's what being a teen in the suburbs is about. Fitting in...being comfortable. Yeah?

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starlightfading
08-18-2002

Rated 0 
what's great about music is that it means different things to different people. to me, i see this song as a look into the past and the "good old days" when you used to hang out and do whatever the fook you wanted. its a really amazing song, i learned d'arcy's bassline to it and its really fun to play. viva la smashing pumpkins (well, their music, anyway)

FAVORITE PART: "..to the lights and towns below; faster than the speed of sound, faster than we thought we'd go beneath the sound of hope" [to play on bass] AND "justine never knew the rules; hung down with the freaks and ghouls. no apologies ever need be made, i know you better than you fake it.."


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PennyLane18
08-23-2002

Rated 0 
This seems like a song ud wanna listen to on a roadtrip with friends and u dont have any plans and ur just going to escape from parents and responsiblities and living life to the fullest, this is definetly my fav band, i think their lyrics mean different things to different ppl, they're very versatile!

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blueberrysurprise
08-31-2002

Rated 0 
Supposedly, one day while Billy was stopped at a red light he thought, "hmm...1979, that was a good year." and then he went home and wrote a song about it. We all know that the almighty Billy's lyrics can be interpreted in many different ways. I believe that a good song's lyrics allow individuals to get their own special vibes from it.
From the lyrics it seems to start off, kinda with good vibes from sex(which is often occupies teenage thoughts): headlights pointed at the dawn, zipper blues, backseat of a car... but of course, all that can be taken differently.
Sponteniatiy (sp?) also seems to be an important theme. Many times nostalgic songs are of a carefree time when, you acted on what you felt at the moment, and you don't have to worry about where your bones might rest. There is freedom in that nostalgia, seen thru the following lyrics: an almost drug-like extasy in which all the problems of the rest of the world and the towns below, are indeed below you, that you have risen above all the petty everyday crap, and are flying high.
Although the "thousand guilts/and poured cement" don't seem to drag Billy/the speaker down, Justine does (by the way, mad props to crone85, for catching that allusion!). but after that, he tries to get back to that carefree state, but can't, and finds that he is all alone. There is no one around, it's just him and his nostalgia. And from that last, clenching lyric, listeners are supposed to apply it to their own lives.
Just my humble little thoughts...

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x bloody kisses x
09-10-2002

Rated 0 
I remember hearing this song at a young age. It stood out at me because my name is Justine, and I don't hear or see my name very often.. :) I have every smashing pumpkins cd..and I really love this song.. but I think my favorite song is Believe..

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creatingME
10-17-2002

Rated 0 
perhaps one of the greatest songs ever. one of my favorites anyway. and a pretty damn good video too.

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Rocklovinggirl
03-07-2003

Rated 0 
Awesome video! Song has great meaning.

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gueveralives
03-08-2003

Rated -1 
ALL Smashing Pumpkins songs are too hard to understand. Unless you're Corgan or one of his good friends or a psychologist, why post?

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punkiebruster21
03-09-2003

Rated 0 
it seems like this song is about sex drugs and rock and roll oviously because of the year btu also the pressures you have as a teen and the people you hang out with.bulshit ect ect

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pinkubus_floyd
03-10-2003

Rated 0 
Teenage angst yes, but not in the sense that that phrase has come to mean. It's more like an idealized version ya know? It's like, you have kids who identified with "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and wanted a revolution of sorts and the kids who identified with "1979" and knew they couldn't change much so just did what they wanted in like a carefree way...I dunno...

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Rocklovinggirl
03-17-2003

Rated 0 
Smashing Pumpkins song all have different meanings to them which is why SP is one of the greatest bands! Yes I would say this song is about living your teen years and not caring what happens then realizing its all over! GREAT song!

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HoldMyBones
03-29-2003

Rated 0 
Maybe I'm fooling myself, but the lyrics make sense to me. It just seems to state what it feels like to be a teenager.

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