A lot of people have really hit the nail on the head with the meaning of this song, but I'll throw in my opinion anyway.
This is comes across as Devo's tongue in cheek commentary on commercialism and the general 80s "money is good" mentality. Creating a false sense of happiness, surrounding yourself with items and people you don't care about. However, you continue kidding yourself you're happy... almost putting on a show for other people.
The way the lyrics come across is almost like Devo are patting these people on the head and saying, "You're beautiful and have money, that's nice, good for you." But, they're above that and it's not for them.
The music video also reminds me of old American news/info shorts from the 40s and 50s; they have a stiff upper lip attitude combined with sweeping things under the carpet. The world is OK, everything is OK... go back to sleep.
A lot of people have really hit the nail on the head with the meaning of this song, but I'll throw in my opinion anyway.
This is comes across as Devo's tongue in cheek commentary on commercialism and the general 80s "money is good" mentality. Creating a false sense of happiness, surrounding yourself with items and people you don't care about. However, you continue kidding yourself you're happy... almost putting on a show for other people.
The way the lyrics come across is almost like Devo are patting these people on the head and saying, "You're beautiful and have money, that's nice, good for you." But, they're above that and it's not for them.
The music video also reminds me of old American news/info shorts from the 40s and 50s; they have a stiff upper lip attitude combined with sweeping things under the carpet. The world is OK, everything is OK... go back to sleep.