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The barons of the industry put inspiration on Hitler’s tongue
Then the century crashed hard with a loud sound like a starting gun
It’s a race for acquisition and to make more things that glow
I’ve got a knack for dodging bullets and flying zeroes
So I act like I am rich, try and make it my whole look
Because poor people don’t exist when times are good
Mozart’s foster parents put cigarettes out in his ears
When he got old enough to stutter, he said, “I don’t listen but I-I-I, I can hear”
The eloquence of traffic, yeah, the mill pond’s sad lament
It’s a requiem of moments, I keep living through them
But where is the monster in the closet? I can’t find the hangman inside his hood
I guess evil don’t exist when times are good
Doctor Oppenheimer winced when he felt the broken piece of his pacemaker
Unbuttoned his shirt on a subway platform, clutching his chest while his vision blurred
He saw the bane of his creation. The destroyer of the world
Yeah, truth can lead to solace or a lifelong bender
It’s like wading through a wasteland where a town you loved once stood
You just cry each time you think of when times were good
Napoleon’s tailor dressed him in a giant hat and funny platform shoes
He said, “Anyone can be a hero, you just got to force people to look up to you”
So when you’re talking on the hotline to a suicidal soul
Don’t let your voice sound like hot coffee, more like a scented pillow
And strive for understanding over being understood
Just don’t let yourself forget when the times get good
When times get good
When times get good
Then the century crashed hard with a loud sound like a starting gun
It’s a race for acquisition and to make more things that glow
I’ve got a knack for dodging bullets and flying zeroes
So I act like I am rich, try and make it my whole look
Because poor people don’t exist when times are good
Mozart’s foster parents put cigarettes out in his ears
When he got old enough to stutter, he said, “I don’t listen but I-I-I, I can hear”
The eloquence of traffic, yeah, the mill pond’s sad lament
It’s a requiem of moments, I keep living through them
But where is the monster in the closet? I can’t find the hangman inside his hood
I guess evil don’t exist when times are good
Doctor Oppenheimer winced when he felt the broken piece of his pacemaker
Unbuttoned his shirt on a subway platform, clutching his chest while his vision blurred
He saw the bane of his creation. The destroyer of the world
Yeah, truth can lead to solace or a lifelong bender
It’s like wading through a wasteland where a town you loved once stood
You just cry each time you think of when times were good
Napoleon’s tailor dressed him in a giant hat and funny platform shoes
He said, “Anyone can be a hero, you just got to force people to look up to you”
So when you’re talking on the hotline to a suicidal soul
Don’t let your voice sound like hot coffee, more like a scented pillow
And strive for understanding over being understood
Just don’t let yourself forget when the times get good
When times get good
When times get good
Lyrics submitted by benk0202
Track duration: 05:40
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Dodging bullets and flying zeroes also fits with WWII. Zeroes were planes flown by the Japenese during the war.
When he talks about acting like you're rich at the end of the first verse it seems like he means if people think you are poor you will basically be nothing to them, you won't exist - so you should act like you're not.
I don't have much to say about the second verse but the third verse begins by mentioning Oppenheimer, the creator of the Atomic Bomb and thus essentially the ender of WWII, though at a great cost. I think Oberst is talking about Oppenheimer's death and saying at the end of his life maybe he realized what destruction he had caused - "the bane of his creation".
I don't think the line "wading through a wasteland where the town you loved once stood" is about New Orleans. I think he meant it to be about Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The two Japanese cities reduced to "wastelands" after the atomic bomb was dropped on them.
lastly I wanted to comment on the Napoleon line, I do think Oberst meant this to be about Napoleon Bonaparte. Though there is some evidence that Napoleon was actually normal height, his recorded height is 5'2" which has led most to believe he was a very small man. This is where the phrase "napoleon complex" comes from, used to describe someone who overcompensates in some aspects of their lives to make up for their height.
Anyway, my writing was probably terrible but I hope at least somewhat understandable.
Dodging bullets and flying zeroes also fits with WWII. Zeroes were planes flown by the Japenese during the war.
When he talks about acting like you're rich at the end of the first verse it seems like he means if people think you are poor you will basically be nothing to them, you won't exist - so you should act like you're not.
I don't have much to say about the second verse but the third verse begins by mentioning Oppenheimer, the creator of the Atomic Bomb and thus essentially the ender of WWII, though at a great cost. I think Oberst is talking about Oppenheimer's death and saying at the end of his life maybe he realized what destruction he had caused - "the bane of his creation".
I don't think the line "wading through a wasteland where the town you loved once stood" is about New Orleans. I think he meant it to be about Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The two Japanese cities reduced to "wastelands" after the atomic bomb was dropped on them.
lastly I wanted to comment on the Napoleon line, I do think Oberst meant this to be about Napoleon Bonaparte. Though there is some evidence that Napoleon was actually normal height, his recorded height is 5'2" which has led most to believe he was a very small man. This is where the phrase "napoleon complex" comes from, used to describe someone who overcompensates in some aspects of their lives to make up for their height.
Anyway, my writing was probably terrible but I hope at least somewhat understandable.
I've always had a hypothesis that the Napoleon verse is a tad personal, too, because Conor himself is quite small physically [I was surprized at how tiny he was in person] and now he finds himself something of a "hero" to a lot of kids.
You just cry each time you think of when times were good" made me cry everytime i heard it. even if the song wasnt about the hurricane, it just reminded me of everything we lost as a city and how i missed all the good times i had when i was home in new orleans