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Here's a prayer for the body buried by the interstate
Murder of a soldier, a tree in a forest up in flames
Black valley, peace beneath the city
Where the women hear the washboard rhythm in their bosom when they say,
"Give me good legs and a Japanese car and show me a road?
Sing a song for the bodies buried by the riverbank
A well-dressed boy and a pig with a bullet in the brain
Black valley, peace beneath the city
Where the white girls wander the strip mall, singing all day,
?Give me a juggernaut heart and a Japanese car and someone to free"
Sing a song for the body buried like a keepsake
Mother of million mouths with the very same name
Black valley, peace beneath the city
Where the women tell the weather but never ever tell you what they pray
They pray, "Give me a yellow brick road and a Japanese car and benevolent change"
Murder of a soldier, a tree in a forest up in flames
Black valley, peace beneath the city
Where the women hear the washboard rhythm in their bosom when they say,
"Give me good legs and a Japanese car and show me a road?
Sing a song for the bodies buried by the riverbank
A well-dressed boy and a pig with a bullet in the brain
Black valley, peace beneath the city
Where the white girls wander the strip mall, singing all day,
?Give me a juggernaut heart and a Japanese car and someone to free"
Sing a song for the body buried like a keepsake
Mother of million mouths with the very same name
Black valley, peace beneath the city
Where the women tell the weather but never ever tell you what they pray
They pray, "Give me a yellow brick road and a Japanese car and benevolent change"
Lyrics submitted by Mellow_Harsher
Peace Beneath the City Lyrics as written by Samuel Ervin Beam
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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So I guess I interpreted this song as three different scenarios, different places in the world for each stanza. Each place is run-down, depressing, somewhere where people go when they have little money or where they end up if they've had bad luck. All of these places are where women are trapped, probably by money problems. They can't go anywhere by themselves, so they ask for a car and the motivation to leave. (Yellow brick road, show me a road, someone to save, juggernaut [unstoppable] heart, benevolent change.) Sam Beam respects women, I think (I first noticed this in "Woman King,") and he's just reflecting on how consumerism can trap people in horrible places and that the woman cannot do anything about it, so they don't tell anyone about their desire to leave.
I like some of what you said, but am shocked at this: "consumerism can trap people in horrible places and that the woman cannot do anything about it, so they don't tell anyone about their desire to leave." It's pure sexism and generalization. Leaving or staying is a choice, and probably influenced by many factors. I doubt consumerism would be tops on any woman's list. And why just women? Consumerism infects most people regardless of sex. And if you look at the stats, more women and children live below the poverty level than men. It's not consumerism that is trapping them; it's lack of education; lack of social status; lack of well-paying employment; etc.
I happen to be a feminist and I think you misunderstood what I meant. Actually, what you said is exactly what I meant, I may have worded it wrong? He's singing about women of lower socio-economic class, and many people do not have the money to just get up and leave the situation they are in. I'm not talking about all women, I'm talking about this song, and that is how I interpreted this song. Besides, other commenters have cited consumerism as an interpretation......