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John A. Hobson was a good man
He used to loan me books and mic stands
He even got me a subscription
To the Socialist Review
Listening to records in his basement
Old folk songs about the government
It's love of money not the market
He said, "These fuckers push on you"
And freedom yells, it don't cry
Whatever sells will decide
But there's no hell when you die
So don't look so worried
He got a nightlife, lost his day job
Pushing papers, swinging pendulums
Anything to serve a function
Or to occupy some time
You've got to earn this living somehow
You're good as dead without a bank account
But it's funny how alive he felt
Down in that unemployment line
With all that trash at his feet
The pools of piss in the street
All of that filthy empathy
For the way we're feeling
The billboard's shade
The flags, they wave
The anthem was playing loud
The baseball game was letting out
And all at once he saw the dust
And heard every tiny sound
Got in his truck and turned around
Drove out through the crowd
And the cops
Drove out past that center mall
Drove out past that sickening sprawl
Out past that fenced in gold
And maybe he lost control
Fucking with the radio
But I bet the stars
Seemed so close
At the end
At the end
At the end
At the end
At the end
He used to loan me books and mic stands
He even got me a subscription
To the Socialist Review
Listening to records in his basement
Old folk songs about the government
It's love of money not the market
He said, "These fuckers push on you"
And freedom yells, it don't cry
Whatever sells will decide
But there's no hell when you die
So don't look so worried
He got a nightlife, lost his day job
Pushing papers, swinging pendulums
Anything to serve a function
Or to occupy some time
You've got to earn this living somehow
You're good as dead without a bank account
But it's funny how alive he felt
Down in that unemployment line
With all that trash at his feet
The pools of piss in the street
All of that filthy empathy
For the way we're feeling
The billboard's shade
The flags, they wave
The anthem was playing loud
The baseball game was letting out
And all at once he saw the dust
And heard every tiny sound
Got in his truck and turned around
Drove out through the crowd
And the cops
Drove out past that center mall
Drove out past that sickening sprawl
Out past that fenced in gold
And maybe he lost control
Fucking with the radio
But I bet the stars
Seemed so close
At the end
At the end
At the end
At the end
At the end
Lyrics submitted by Mopnugget
Track duration: 03:16
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WORDS THAT ARE APPROPRIATE FOR ANY OCCASION.
From there, I think the point of the song is to say that the way that society functions today is ridiculous. Corporations and special interest groups run the country. They say that they want to preserve a free market, when they only care about making money. "There's no hell when you die..." could be about the conservative population in America, or it could state that justice will not be given to those who manipulate the system, or it could just be a statement of atheism.
"He got a nightlife..." could refer to the idea that there are only a few places in society where people are allowed to fit in. You have to have a job and do something. We all need to make money because money is what fuels our society, sadly. We can't just simply exist. No one needs material possessions to make themselves happy. We were programed to think so during the 20th century.
"The billboard's shade..." is a list of things that exemplify America. Suddenly, he becomes aware of the hoax and quits buying into it. His vision is no longer polluted.
At the end, he gets as far away from society as he can. He's out of police jurisdiction, away from people, consumerism, past cultivated land... until he is finally away from everything. At the end, he can finally see the stars because there is no light pollution keeping him from seeing the truth and living his life as he chooses.
I could elaborate on light pollution, but I think I've written enough.
I don't think it matters if the character is real or not, the message of the song is meant to be political. "Separation of Corporation and State"
This song is a Release from the ties that bind you. this song is about absolute freedom.. and the cost
light pollution in cities makes it real hard to see stars. i dont know if conor meant to make that connection but yeah.. just thought i'd add it in :)
also
i believe the quotations should go until so dont look so wooried"
as in
"These fuckers push on you
And freedom yells, it don't cry
Whatever sells will decide
But there's no hell when you die
So don't look so worried"
"freedom yells, it don't cry"
I just hope they don't think socialism = freedom. :s
But what's really interesting about your comment is that you're cautioning the rest of us to not immediately assume he's attacking democracy. There are a great many countries that have socialist democracies. A lot of the Scandinavian countries, for example, are fairly socialist.