The End Has No End

This song is a great example of how the Strokes' lyrics are really simple but convey a lot of information. For instance, I think that the lines near the start are excellent:

"it's not the secret of the government that's keeping you dumb/oh it's the other way round..."

To me, it's suggesting that people always assume that the government is big and evil and in control of everything, and that they are being kept in the dark or somehow controlled, but if they only looked at the reality of the situation they would realise that instead of blaming some government manipulation for keeping the people dumb, it's "the other way round": the dumb people allow a corrupt government through their inaction.

Then the theme of inaction resonates through the song, like "he want it easy; he want it relaxed" - e.g. did you ever know someone who was really smart and capable but refused to confront any political issues? And "can't you find some other guy" - people always assume someone else will sort out political problems rather than them having to actually get off their behinds and doing something positive themselves.

Then you have "what's that sound" repeated through the song, which seems to be a reference to the song 'For What It's Worth' by Buffalo Springfield, another great song about political inaction amongst intelligent, well informed people being a big problem.

In line with this general theme, 1963 was the year JFK was assassinated and the US escalated its involvement in South East Asia (Vietnam). 1969 was when the draft began, and when huge anti-war protests took place in the US against the Vietnam war. It was also the year of the My Lai massacre by US forces in Vietnam, and the year of Woodstock.