Lyrics for Talk Shows on Mute as interpreted by SoccrFwd13

Talk Shows on Mute Lyrics
Take a bow
Pack on powder
Wash 'em out with buzzing lights
Pay an audience to care
Impress me personality

Still and transfixed
The electric sheep,
Are dreaming of your face
Enjoy you from the chemical
Comfort of America

Come one
Come all
Into 1984
Yeah, three, two, one
Lights, camera, transaction

Quick, your time is almost up
Make all forget that they're the moth
Edging in, towards the flame
Burn into obscurity

Still and transfixed
the electric sheep
are dreaming up your fate
We judge you from
the card castle
comfort of America

Come one
Come all
Into 1984
Yeah, three, two, one
Lights, camera...

Come one
Come all
To 1984
Yeah, three, two, one
Lights, camera, transaction

The foundation is canyoning
Fault lines should be worn with pride
I hate to say it
You're so much more
You're so much more
Endearing with the sound turned off.

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  • 127 Comments
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Ph00ky
04-18-2004

Rated 0 
this song rocks!!!!
i just dont get it.. something about electric sheep dreraming of your face? going back in time?

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PiiMPDADii
04-19-2004

Rated 0 
this song is a mockery of bush and the u.s. gov't, comparing it to the totalitarian regime portrayed in george orwell's '1984'

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shryan135
04-28-2004

Rated 0 
kick ass song and mr. Boyd over there just keeps that good sheiza comin. its a commentary on society and a damn good one. laterz

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Z1z
04-30-2004

Rated 0 
This is what true brainwashing looks like. Where paranoids believe 1984 is coming true because of one temporary president. This song makes a mockery of Incubus itself more than Bush. It makes Incubus look like little left-wing puppets.

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funshine
05-01-2004

Rated 0 
i agree.

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Krwlng_n_mie_skn
05-03-2004

Rated 0 
First off, I am a huge incubus fan (my personal fav band) but I cannot make myself like this song. I completely agree with Z!z. Now that they are making a single out of it I just can only scratch my head. The lines "Come one /Come all /Into 1984 " is probly the worst brandon has ever written. the comparison to 1984 is neither accurate, nor original. Excellent album overall though guys. just need better single selection next time around! i suggest "Beware! Criminal," or "Smile Lines," or possibly "a crow left of the murder."

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Outside Irony
05-05-2004

Rated 0 
No, I completely disagree. Megalomaniac is Brandon's only slap in the face to Bush on the entire album.
This song is a metaphorical beatdown to society itself. A "commentary on society" is exactly what it is.

There is no paranoia here, they aren't afraid of a president. Have you ever listened to "Just A Phase"? Boyd's COMFORT is temporaryism.

Ignore that the line "The foundation is canyoning" sounds so apocalyptic and look at the rest of the song. Brandon is making fun of stereotypical American slobs. That's all there is to it.
Watch the video.

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Krwlng_n_mie_skn
05-05-2004

Rated 0 
I didn't mean that I dislike the song for being anti-Bush (whether it is or not). I personally think Bush has been a horrible mistake, but the allusion to 1984 is very cliche & that was my main complaint.

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Melange
05-06-2004

Rated 0 
The part about dreaming of electric sheep i believe is a reference to Philip K Dick's brilliant sci-fi novel titled "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" The movie Blade Runner is an adaptation of the book. . .
put briefly, the story is about a man who is a "blade runner" and is set out to destroy human clones known as "replicants. . .highly recommended

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sergio_0
05-09-2004

Rated 0 
i don't think, it's a commentary just on american society, just because the "comfort of america" is mentioned two times.. neither i think it's a parody to bush.. like said above it's more a commentary on society itsself (also in europe) the powder in your face and the "still and transfixed" behaviour reflects the "obscurity", boyd's talking about. although i don't get the comparison to 1984 (seems more like it's the complete opposite - "brave new world" or something), i don't think it really has something to do with bush...

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screamy_mimi
05-11-2004

Rated 0 
well i may be wrong but i believe that the song is titled 'talk SHOW on mute' not 'talk showS on mute'.
but anyway, this song is also a bit more simple than all of this. its true that the idea of it is based on the book 1984 but brandon was watching a talk show on day and the volume was on mute. he found it amusing and thought about how one day the tvs might be watching us, just like in 1984. im not sure if this is creditable or not but i also read that he made up his own dialogue to the show that was on. well just felt like telling u guys that! :)
*mimi*

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Jinx
05-16-2004

Rated 0 
you people LOVVVVVVEE to jump on the "incubus is anti-bush" bandwagon

everytime he says "america" you respons" BUSH SUCKS", its almost as if its you guys who are making up your meaning to this song and shoving it into the mouth of incubus

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Xolom
05-17-2004

Rated 0 
its a nice sounding song, but the anti-bush is a bit excessive... bunch of left-wing puppets, i agree... they need to stay out of politics when they have no clue whats going on

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lorna-timewasted
05-18-2004

Rated 0 
its good i like it. it has meaning, but i dont kno what it is. exept it is obviously linked, strongly to the excellent novel '1984' maybe its tryin to say, someone is always watching you silently, discussing you and your problems, or just thinking about you. but like i said i duno, i am no philosopher just some random kid that has ideas, n that luvs incubus... i gess...

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lorna-timewasted
05-18-2004

Rated 0 
to justify the above, in some way.... it says.... 'we judge you from the card castles'

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boomerstyle
05-18-2004

Rated 0 
I don't think this is at Bush, but like someone said at society as a whole. The video to this song adds to the message that I think Incubus are trying to get across. Along with the obvious lyrical references to 1984, the video has a strange semblance to Orwell's Animal Farm. It pokes fun at the media and pop culture. Also, when I think of the title I imagine muting my television and watching the various programs that are on TV nowadays, the superfluity of reality television, etc. We seem like a bunch of animals.

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RisingBeauty
05-21-2004

Rated 0 
First of all, this is not a political song, but even if it was, Incubus has the right to say whatever they want to say, so all of you that say they should stay out of it haven't heard of a little thing called 'the freedom of speech." But what I think this song is about, is the brainwashing effects of tv, and how people praise the movie stars on tv. Hence "the foundation is canyoning, fault lines should be worn with pride." You call someone a sheep when they follow just whatever everyone else does, so an electric sheep would be someone who doesn't think for themselves, and just follows the crowd. All in all, the song is telling us to open our eyes and think for ourselves, or we are going to end up in a country that is no different from the society in George Orwell's "1984".

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soemoithurts
05-21-2004

Rated 0 
Incubus has been making songs like this for awhile, though kind of sparingly. "Idiot Box" had the same (general) theme. The only reason it's being attributed to a political scope is because that is what is dominating the American mindset. And honestly, let it. Songs can take different meanings to fit your perception, so if people want it to be anti-Bush because they ARE anti-Bush, let them. Just call them a moron under your breath.

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FahQ_Nigel
05-22-2004

Rated 0 
I was on an airplane last year when a talk show began playing on the TVs. I decided to start narrating for the people, which is a really great game if you're ever bored enough. I realized a time will probably come when television will watch us if we're watching it, if that hasn't already happened, figuratively or literally. It sounded like some sort of pseudo-Big Brother nightmare, so I wrote it down.

~Brandon Boyd

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boss_2k
05-23-2004

Rated 0 
Its "Electric sheep are dreaming of your FATE," not FACE. Fucker.

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roughvelvet
05-23-2004

Rated 0 
i think all of you who call this the product of "left wing puppets" are the ones who are paranoid. this isn't anti-bush; this satirizes modern media. the "electric sheep" are the people who believe everything they see on tv and never bother to have their own ideas or second guess what is being force fed to them. that also works with the moth imagery later in the song. americans are so easily amused with tv that they get sucked in and, mentally, leave the real world. incubus is amazing and extremely creative. whether or not you agree with what they have to say, it has to be said. that's what free speech is all about. if we silence the oposition we will never grow as a country or as the human race.

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FahQ_Nigel
05-24-2004

Rated 0 
If boss_2k would have read the lyrics correctly, he would know that Boyd sings first "Electric sheep are dreaming of your face", then "Electric sheep are dreaming up your fate". Listen more closely before you make an ass of yourself.

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boss_2k
05-24-2004

Rated 0 
It says "Electric sheep are dreaming of your FATES" then "Electric sheep are dreaming of your FATE." Shum.

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FahQ_Nigel
05-24-2004

Rated 0 
Hmm...how about nah

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yoko
05-27-2004

Rated 0 
The song questions, how civilized are we really? I'm disgusted by the way tv transforms human beings. Television is a mindless piece of action. And before anything else, Incubus is entitled to say whatever they want to say.
I highly recommend the book "Ishmael" by Daniel Quinn..on account that it points the comparisons humans have with animals.

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