Ok, it seems like everyone has gotten some basic facts wrong about this song, so i'm posting this just to clear a few things up and make a few verses clearer.
Shakedown 1979
Cool kids never have the time
On a live wire right up off the street
You and I should meet
Billy is being nostalgic and saying it's a shame there wasn't enough time for you to get to know him back when he was one of the "cool kids" and his life was energetic and unpredictable (on a live wire).
Junebug skipping like a stone
With the headlights pointed at the dawn
We were sure we'd never see an end
To it all
Billy is now painting a portrait of his youth: he's driving in a car with his friends and doesn't know where they are going or will end up in life-adulthood just seems too far away as a teenager. A Junebug is an old car and it's skipping like a stone because it no longer runs well. Headlights pointed at the dawn is a direct reference to their driving without a destination and the fact their whole lives are in front on them.
And I don't even care
To shake these zipper blues
And we don't know
Just where our bones will rest
To dust I guess
Forgotten and absorbed
Into the earth below
Zipper blues is slang for depression caused by always moving. It's a reference to being depressed (blue) because you're never in one place long enough to unzip your jacket. Anyway, he's saying he doesn't even care to settle down in one place. He is a young and doesn't know where he will end up or where his bones will rest. He knows he will eventually die and have his bones absorbed into the earth, but he has no idea where he will be going in the meantime and he seems to enjoy being young with his future ahead of him and not knowing what will happen. This could also be a reference to Billy being on tour with his band, and constantly going from city to city on tour.
Double cross the vacant and the bored
They're not sure just what we have in store
Morphine city slippin dues
Down to see
The vacant and bored are probably adults who no longer have the passion that teenagers have and Billy is saying he wanted to stir things up and change the world because it's become boring and tedious-they don't know just what he has in store for them.
(This may also be a less subtle reference to teenagers being mischievous and playing pranks on the adult world-the music video shows them vandalize a convenient store while a vacant and bored adult sits at the register oblivious to what's going on.)
That we don't even care
As restless as we are
We feel the pull
In the land of a thousand guilts
And poured cement, lamented and assured
To the lights and towns below
Faster than the speed of sound
Faster than we thought we'd go
Beneath the sound of hope
They are restless teenagers with no immediate desire to grow up yet are getting pressured towards adulthood (the land of guilt and poured cement aka offices and buildings adults work at) and they eventually do get pulled into the into this world faster than they thought they would and they lost their youthful dreams and hopes along the way.
Justine never knew the rules
Hung down with the freaks and ghouls
No apologies ever need be made
I know you better than you fake it
Justine hung out with outcasts as a teenager. Back then, Billy had a strong enough bond with her (and probably the rest of his friends) that apologizes weren't needed between them-he was close enough to tell the apologies were fake anyway.
To see that we don't even care
To shake these zipper blues
And we don't know
Just where our bones will rest
To dust I guess
forgotten and absorbed
Into the earth below
See above.
The street heats the urgency of now
As you see there's no one around
Time moves too fast; the times Billy shared shared with his friends as a teenager were all about being there in the moment disfranchised with the world yet having what seemed like infinite possibilities for their futures ahead of them. Billy and his friends have all grown up and moved on; there's no longer anyone around.
Ok, it seems like everyone has gotten some basic facts wrong about this song, so i'm posting this just to clear a few things up and make a few verses clearer.
Shakedown 1979 Cool kids never have the time On a live wire right up off the street You and I should meet
Billy is being nostalgic and saying it's a shame there wasn't enough time for you to get to know him back when he was one of the "cool kids" and his life was energetic and unpredictable (on a live wire).
Junebug skipping like a stone With the headlights pointed at the dawn We were sure we'd never see an end To it all
Billy is now painting a portrait of his youth: he's driving in a car with his friends and doesn't know where they are going or will end up in life-adulthood just seems too far away as a teenager. A Junebug is an old car and it's skipping like a stone because it no longer runs well. Headlights pointed at the dawn is a direct reference to their driving without a destination and the fact their whole lives are in front on them.
And I don't even care To shake these zipper blues And we don't know Just where our bones will rest To dust I guess Forgotten and absorbed Into the earth below
Zipper blues is slang for depression caused by always moving. It's a reference to being depressed (blue) because you're never in one place long enough to unzip your jacket. Anyway, he's saying he doesn't even care to settle down in one place. He is a young and doesn't know where he will end up or where his bones will rest. He knows he will eventually die and have his bones absorbed into the earth, but he has no idea where he will be going in the meantime and he seems to enjoy being young with his future ahead of him and not knowing what will happen. This could also be a reference to Billy being on tour with his band, and constantly going from city to city on tour.
Double cross the vacant and the bored They're not sure just what we have in store Morphine city slippin dues Down to see
The vacant and bored are probably adults who no longer have the passion that teenagers have and Billy is saying he wanted to stir things up and change the world because it's become boring and tedious-they don't know just what he has in store for them. (This may also be a less subtle reference to teenagers being mischievous and playing pranks on the adult world-the music video shows them vandalize a convenient store while a vacant and bored adult sits at the register oblivious to what's going on.)
That we don't even care As restless as we are We feel the pull In the land of a thousand guilts And poured cement, lamented and assured To the lights and towns below Faster than the speed of sound Faster than we thought we'd go Beneath the sound of hope
They are restless teenagers with no immediate desire to grow up yet are getting pressured towards adulthood (the land of guilt and poured cement aka offices and buildings adults work at) and they eventually do get pulled into the into this world faster than they thought they would and they lost their youthful dreams and hopes along the way.
Justine never knew the rules Hung down with the freaks and ghouls No apologies ever need be made I know you better than you fake it
Justine hung out with outcasts as a teenager. Back then, Billy had a strong enough bond with her (and probably the rest of his friends) that apologizes weren't needed between them-he was close enough to tell the apologies were fake anyway.
To see that we don't even care To shake these zipper blues And we don't know Just where our bones will rest To dust I guess forgotten and absorbed Into the earth below
See above.
The street heats the urgency of now As you see there's no one around
Time moves too fast; the times Billy shared shared with his friends as a teenager were all about being there in the moment disfranchised with the world yet having what seemed like infinite possibilities for their futures ahead of them. Billy and his friends have all grown up and moved on; there's no longer anyone around.