1
And you may find yourself living in a shotgun shack
And you may find yourself in another part of the world
And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile
And you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife
And you may ask yourself, "Well, how did I get here?"
Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
Into the blue again after the money's gone
Once in a lifetime, water flowing underground
And you may ask yourself, "How do I work this?"
And you may ask yourself, "Where is that large automobile?"
And you may tell yourself, "This is not my beautiful house"
And you may tell yourself, "This is not my beautiful wife"
Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
Into the blue again after the money's gone
Once in a lifetime, water flowing underground
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Water dissolving and water removing
There is water at the bottom of the ocean
Under the water, carry the water
Remove the water at the bottom of the ocean
Water dissolving and water removing
Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
Into the blue again, into the silent water
Under the rocks and stones, there is water underground
Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
Into the blue again after the money's gone
Once in a lifetime, water flowing underground
You may ask yourself, "What is that beautiful house?"
You may ask yourself, "Where does that highway go to?"
And you may ask yourself, "Am I right? Am I wrong?"
And you may say to yourself, "My God, what have I done?"
Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
Into the blue again, into the silent water
Under the rocks and stones, there is water underground
Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
Into the blue again after the money's gone
Once in a lifetime, water flowing underground
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Same as it ever was and look where my hand was
Time isn't holding up, time isn't after us
Same as it ever was, the same as it ever was
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Here a twister comes, here comes a twister
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was (letting the days go by)
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was (letting the days go by)
Once in a lifetime, let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
Into the blue again
And you may find yourself in another part of the world
And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile
And you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife
And you may ask yourself, "Well, how did I get here?"
Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
Into the blue again after the money's gone
Once in a lifetime, water flowing underground
And you may ask yourself, "How do I work this?"
And you may ask yourself, "Where is that large automobile?"
And you may tell yourself, "This is not my beautiful house"
And you may tell yourself, "This is not my beautiful wife"
Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
Into the blue again after the money's gone
Once in a lifetime, water flowing underground
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Water dissolving and water removing
There is water at the bottom of the ocean
Under the water, carry the water
Remove the water at the bottom of the ocean
Water dissolving and water removing
Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
Into the blue again, into the silent water
Under the rocks and stones, there is water underground
Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
Into the blue again after the money's gone
Once in a lifetime, water flowing underground
You may ask yourself, "What is that beautiful house?"
You may ask yourself, "Where does that highway go to?"
And you may ask yourself, "Am I right? Am I wrong?"
And you may say to yourself, "My God, what have I done?"
Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
Into the blue again, into the silent water
Under the rocks and stones, there is water underground
Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
Into the blue again after the money's gone
Once in a lifetime, water flowing underground
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Same as it ever was and look where my hand was
Time isn't holding up, time isn't after us
Same as it ever was, the same as it ever was
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Here a twister comes, here comes a twister
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was (letting the days go by)
Same as it ever was, same as it ever was (letting the days go by)
Once in a lifetime, let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
Into the blue again
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This song is about how most people spend the vast majority of their lives unconscious to what happens. Most people let things happen to them, instead of being a causing and driving force in their life. The "you may find yourself" bits are brief moments of lucidity in an otherwise numb life, where you look around at your life and question how you ended up here. "You may tell yourself 'this is not my beautiful house,' and you may tell yourself 'this is not my beautiful wife!'" That is literally the reaction to waking up and seeing things are the way they are, and wondering what happened, where you let all that time go. You find yourself somewhere and you don't know how it happened, because you've been unconscious to the entirety of your life up until that brief moment of clarity.
Nicely articulated.
@Rion <br /> I think your interpretation of this song is excellent and is kinda similar to how I see it.<br /> I think it means we kind of go with the flow of life and accept what it gives us and while living we have some really special moments that we don't fully appreciate at the time then when you look back at those moments you think where did my life go....why did I not appreciate those moments/make the most of them at the time and you can't go back and change them (regrets) the past is gone and life goes on.
@Rion yes, but the imagery of water, there stones... I agree with yuor your general comments, and I think these water images speak to our Unconscious.<br /> 'Talking Heads around then were writing of Spiritual experience -'Remain in Light' especially - and going back to remember traumatic memories - all deep & sometimes Heavy Stuff)
@Rion - Yeah, I was unconscious when I got married and when I bought my house. I don't dispute your interpretation, because this is "art" and therefore means absolutely nothing, but it's a load of shit.<br /> <br /> It's just a smug artist telling everyone how acutely wonderful and "awake" and powerful he is, and everyone else is a poor, useless, unthinking zombie. And I say fuck that.<br /> <br /> When I look back, time seems to have raced by, and I don't recall many things very deeply. But I do recall knowing that time is precious and that I should be aware and not be a zombie as I go through life.<br /> <br /> I also recall that no douchebag artist knows a thing about me.
@Rion Yes, this is my interpretation as well. I would add that if you watch the music video when he sings these parts:<br /> <br /> "Same as it ever was<br /> Same as it ever was<br /> Look where my hand was<br /> Time isn't holding up<br /> Time isn't after us<br /> Same as it ever was<br /> Same as it ever was"<br /> <br /> You can see the panic and exasperation in his face. My interpretation is that in those lucid moments he realizes over and over again at certain points in his life how finite life is, how fragile it is, how directionless and meaningless it all is in the end. Same as it ever was. Time isn't holding up, but it isn't after you either. It moves on, generations past you. We are all doing the same thing, letting the days go by and forgetting what life should really be about. And that's an overbearing thought to have. A repeating existential crisis for someone who has more than a couple of brain cells to rub together and think about. Same as it ever was.
@despondent<br /> <br /> Knowing the type of person David Byrne is, I don't think you're far from wrong. That having been said, this song was written when he was a lot younger and a lot less up his own ass. I'll extend him a little benefit of the doubt on his earnestness and sincerity for this one. On the other side of the coin, "Like Humans Do" from his 2001 solo album "Look Into the Eyeball" does pretty much exactly what you're accusing him of in this song, so you've definitely got a pretty good read on him.