In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Help save the youth of America
Help save them from themselves
Help save the sun-tanned surfer boys
And the Californian girls
When the lights go out in the rest of the World
What do our cousins say
They're playing in the sun and having fun, fun, fun
Till Daddy takes the gun away
From the Big Church to the Big River
And out to the Shining Sea
This is the Land of Opportunity
And there's a Monkey Trial on TV
A nation with their freezers full
Are dancing in their seats
While outside another nation
Is sleeping in the streets
Don't tell me the old, old story
Tell me the truth this time
Is the Man in the Mask or the Indian
An enemy or a friend of mine
Help save the youth of America
Help save the youth of the world
Help save the boys in uniform
Their mothers and their faithful girls
Listen to the voice of the soldier
Down in the killing zone
Talking about the cost of living
And the price of bringing him home
They're already shipping the body bags
Down by the Rio Grande
But you can fight for democracy at home
And not in some foreign land
And the fate of the great United States
Is entwined in the fate of us all
And the incident at Tschernobyl proves
The world we live in is very small
And the cities of Europe have burned before
And they may yet burn again
And if they do I hope you understand
That Washington will burn with them
Omaha will burn with them
Los Alamos will burn with them
Help save them from themselves
Help save the sun-tanned surfer boys
And the Californian girls
When the lights go out in the rest of the World
What do our cousins say
They're playing in the sun and having fun, fun, fun
Till Daddy takes the gun away
From the Big Church to the Big River
And out to the Shining Sea
This is the Land of Opportunity
And there's a Monkey Trial on TV
A nation with their freezers full
Are dancing in their seats
While outside another nation
Is sleeping in the streets
Don't tell me the old, old story
Tell me the truth this time
Is the Man in the Mask or the Indian
An enemy or a friend of mine
Help save the youth of America
Help save the youth of the world
Help save the boys in uniform
Their mothers and their faithful girls
Listen to the voice of the soldier
Down in the killing zone
Talking about the cost of living
And the price of bringing him home
They're already shipping the body bags
Down by the Rio Grande
But you can fight for democracy at home
And not in some foreign land
And the fate of the great United States
Is entwined in the fate of us all
And the incident at Tschernobyl proves
The world we live in is very small
And the cities of Europe have burned before
And they may yet burn again
And if they do I hope you understand
That Washington will burn with them
Omaha will burn with them
Los Alamos will burn with them
Lyrics submitted by b-pot
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Wow, how is it possible that no one's commented on this song yet? One of the best songs ever written. Anyway, it's about the apathetic feeling among America's youth when it comes to politics. This song was written almost 20 years ago, but is even more relevant today. The "Washington will burn with them" lines at the end refer to the fact that we've fought world wars before, and with the proliferation of nuclear arms around the world, a third one would destroy us all.
The first couple of verses contain a few Beach Boys references, my favourite being \"having fun, fun, fun Till Daddy takes the gun away\"
Which is an obvious allusion to the Beach Boys song \'Fun Fun Fun\'.
well, it IS one of the five best songs ever written. it just so is.
i just typed up a long comment but i deleted it all. i just want to say: i love billy bragg, and all of his songs have deep meanings; some are love songs, some are political anthems, some are somewhere in between. i used to think this one was purely a political criticism of the apathetic way the youth of america react to the rest of the world, but once you dig into the lyrics, you can see it's a love song too; it's kind of bitter that america had such potential to help the rest of the world and never really did, and at the same time its hopeful that maybe the next generation will correct this generations mistakes.
so i dont know what i'm trying to say here. one of my favourite billy bragg songs. that's all i guess.
If only everyone cared as much.
This is also about the contrast between the ideals that America is suppossed to represent and what the country is really like - expressed best in the line 'But you can fight for democracy at home, And not in some foreign land' - all the more relevant today.
As an American I think that at the moment we have a problem with fighting for democracy in foreign lands...and allowing it to fall by the wayside here at home...IMHO
Washington - America's capital of course. But did you know? Omaha - former base of SAC (Strategic Air Command) Los Alamos - where many of America's nuclear weapons were manufactured