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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  • 243 Comments
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kaleidoscope~eyes
07-06-2007

Rated 0 
i know there r already a lotta comments, but nevermind.
I'm 16 now, and today is the beginning of our summer holiday. Tonight I'm going out with my best friends and we'll party the whole night, we'll party the whole summer.
Right now I'm listening to that song over and over again, and it makes me feel alive; it's so great to be young and to get that special feeling of freedom and all. I'm just feeling great right now, although it's raining. Maybe I'm too over-enthusiastic, but I know the summer's going to be great and something I want to remember forever. I'll tramp through my whole country, go to some festivals, and I'll finally get over my ex-bf. Keep smiling everybody! =)

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MTHkraft
07-16-2007

Rated 0 
=] i agree
feels good to be young.
plus its a great song

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Ucoldchili
07-23-2007

Rated 0 
This song isn't deep i don't think, i reckon its all about teens not giving a shit. and a good reference to the year of birth of the pumpkin's fans. This song was released in 1995, meaning those born in 1979 would be 16 - fits perfectly. cool video by the way, which shows again about not really caring about anything much.

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rhcpfan1
07-28-2007

Rated 0 
saweet song.

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billyc33
08-08-2007

Rated 0 
I remember seeing somewhere on the Rolling Stone website that this was in a list for the best songs of all time about smoking weed. I kinda see it, especially with the song being about unmotivated teenagers. Second fav song all time, only to Tonight, Tonight.

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The Infamous S.A.B
08-14-2007

Rated 0 
I love this song, it reminds me of growing up on Baltimore Ave. in RI, no kids lived on the street and so i just sat outside most of the time waiting for night to come and watch as dusk arrived and the street lights came on. god, such depressing times.

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LandProductions
08-17-2007

Rated 0 
I really think that this song is about just being who you were when you were a teen and not knowing what would happen. When I hear this song I remember those times in my life where I just wanted to sit down and look up at the sky and soak in everything that was way too heavy for me, maybe shed a few tears. I don't know why but this song is so amazing to me, it's not the lyrics, but it's for sure just not the way it's sung. I think the best way to support the fact that this song is just about being a teenager is for some reason the line "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". Another great thing about this song is that it's not about the outcast kid or the jock or the prep, it's just about being a kid. I love it, no matter how many times I hear it. It gets to me.

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pennylane44
08-31-2007

Rated 0 
This song reminds me of at the beginning of this summer when my best friend first got her license. It was just this amazing feeling of freedom, just blasting our music and going wherever we wanted. I think the line "we were sure we'd never see an end to it all" is perfect. Being a teenager is all about living in the moment and enjoying that freedom because even though it seems so far away, we're all going to have to grow up and live with major responsibilites.I just love this song because it really captures the essence of being a kid and not caring, doing whatever you want. But I guess it all really does go by faster then you thought it would go.

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thrillhouse123
10-06-2007

Rated 0 
Great song, probably the track that made me reconsider smashing pumpkins and now I believe they are one of the definitive bands of the 90's

Deeply meaningful lyrics, while ambiguous enough to be left for interpretation, I find there are many times of seeming monotony or helplessness that this song puts it in perspective to a degree.

Honestly, I find this song is what music should be, meaningful and melodic and universally relevant.

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thrillhouse123
10-06-2007

Rated 0 
- ya, morphine city slippin dues, all regarding drugs or trying to find a way out of the same old same.

- don't know where our bones will rest, to dust I guess.
man this song really makes me feell nostalgic for teenage years, even though it was only a few years back.

Overall I think it's referring to the unknown and how you try and live for the next thrill or major event and are not really in control of the final destination.

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danagirl001
10-25-2007

Rated 0 
simply amazing. there seems to be so much hidden meaning in the song though- im sure that only billy knows the extent of the meaning of the lyrics. it makes me sad to think that i'll probably never fully understand it...

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oldschoolLiver
10-31-2007

Rated 0 
I've always thought the song started as "shagged out 1979" kinda like what would have happened to the 1972 Dodge Charger in the music video. That car would have been the car to have in '79 (I own a '71 Charger) I also own a 1979 Chrysler LeBaron Station Wagon so It fits me on a personal level being a teenager.

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Gravijar
11-10-2007

Rated 0 
All about youth, the perfect song to drive to on your summer holiday with your feet out the window.

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Holdyr.ashtraytight
11-15-2007

Rated -1 
I heard pavement play it live once.

It was fantastic.

and then they played range life, and i was like, "yeahhhhhhhhh, FUCK YOU BILLY CORGAN!"

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bestwombat11
11-20-2007

Rated 0 
this song just kills me, i adore it.

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heynonnynonny
11-24-2007

Rated 0 
This song feels alot deeper then some teenagers having a good time over the summer.. its like not only teenagers, its young adults like 18+ who hang out with the same old people doing the same old things smoking a lot of pot and fucking around in the uncertainty that is their future

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joiedevivre
12-27-2007

Rated 0 
did anything drastic happen in 1979?

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1 Reply
extasy_wonderland
01-03-2008

Rated 0 
when i hear this song I picture someone trying to commit suicide..
they never get it right though.
The person ends up living in the end.
I guess that's good, right?

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Homeless67
01-05-2008

Rated 0 
This song is about a generation putting a stamp in time, nothing will ever feel this way again, and it stems deep into his mind, vivid memories and feelings that of course have been imortilized.

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alian
01-20-2008

Rated 0 
oh,it is my Favourite song，i am chinese in beijing ，nice to meets you all

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dyingatheistxx
01-23-2008

Rated 0 
growing up. that is what i get from the song, being a teenager and growing up.

this sing really starts to mean something to you when you're 16 and thinking about your future. that's what this song means to me.

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Naked
01-24-2008

Rated 0 
12 years later, I realize this song means me at age 11, sitting in my room recording this song onto my tape player. It means playing and rewinding the tape as i wallow around doing my homework.

Back in 1996 never did I think I'd be wishing I was back there by the year 2008, listening to this song repeatedly...(not truly understanding what it really meant.)

The song is obviously about growing up, as everyone else has already said.

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wild_tigre
01-27-2008

Rated 0 
I agree 100% with Mo0stah it is an awesome song.It's powerful and it has a meaning to it I'm just not quite sure what the meaning is yet, but it's still a good song no doubt about that.

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Santiagof
02-15-2008

Rated 0 
I loved this song since I listened to it years ago, but I only managed to feel it 100000% once I returned from my summer holidays... I lived in Brazil for a few years, went to high school there and made my very best friends... then I had to return to my home country, which is Argentina. Last month I went back to visit them and we just had the best times of our lives, we went out every day and night, had some seemingly endless fun and tons of memories that simply will NEVER go out of my mind...
Then I got to listen to this song (already one of my faves from SP) when I came back... It just hit me like a brick in the head, plus the accompaning video. Many of the verses are the most accurate description of my trip, and the overall feel of the song (notably that bridge after the 2nd chorus) is EXACTLY how I feel when I remember those times... It's quite an accurate portrait of times of no worry, just plain fun ("we were sure we'd never see an end...") enjoying youth and friends, knowing who's close to your heart, who "matters"...
Musically speaking, the melody is plain fantastic, but it's those tear-inducing (for me) lyrics and vocal delivery that won me over from the beginning, and now, with those beautiful times behind and back to routine in the country next door, it's even stronger... 33 and Mayonaise too!

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RatInACage10
03-14-2008

Rated 0 
I think this song is about when he was a kid...because in 1979 Billy was only 12...I also feel this song s just about having the time of your life when your that young...I really adore this song dearly.

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