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Amused To Death Lyrics
Artist: Roger Waters
Album: Amused To Death
Doctor Doctor what is wrong with me
This supermarket life is getting long
What is the heart life of a colour TV
What is the shelf life of a teenage queen
Ooh western woman
Ooh western girl
News hound sniffs the air
When Jessica Hahn goes down
He latches on to that symbol
Of detachment
Attracted by the peeling away of feeling
The celebrity of the abused shell the belle
Ooh western woman
Ooh western girl
And the children of Melrose
Strut their stuff
Is absolute zero cold enough
And out in the valley warm and clean
The little ones sit by their TV screens
No thoughts to think
No tears to cry
All sucked dry
Down to the very last breath
Bartender what is wrong with me
Why am I so out of breath
The captain said excuse me ma'am
This species has amused itself to death
Amused itself to death
Amused itself to death
We watched the tragedy unfold
We did as we were told
We bought and sold
It was the greatest show on earth
But then it was over
We ohhed and aahed
We drove our racing cars
We ate our last few jars of caviar
And somewhere out there in the stars
A keen-eyed look-out
Spied a flickering light
Our last hurrah
And when they found our shadows
Grouped around the TV sets
They ran down every lead
They repeated every test
They checked out all the data on their lists
And then the alien anthropologists
Admitted they were still perplexed
But on eliminating every other reason
For our sad demise
They logged the only explanation left
This species has amused itself to death
No tears to cry no feelings left
This species has amused itself to death
(Switch Channels)
[Alf Razzell:]
"Years later, I saw Bill Hubbard's name on the memorial to the missing
at Aras[?]. And I...when I saw his name I was absolutely transfixed; it
was as though he was now a human being instead of some sort of
nightmarish memory of how I had to leave him, all those years ago.
And I felt relieved, and ever since then I've felt happier about it,
because always before, whenever I thought of him, I said to myself,
'Was there something else that I could have done?'
[Background: "I'd rather die, I'd rather die..."]
And that always sort of worried me. And having seen him, and his
name in the register - as you know in the memorials there's a little safe,
there's a register in there with every name - and seeing his name and
his name on the memorial; it sort of lightened my...heart, if you like."
(Woman) "When was it that you saw his name on the memorial?"
"Ah, when I was eighty-seven, that would be a year, ninete...eighty-
four, nineteen eighty-four."
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Comments/Interpretations
These lyrics are sheer genius!
SLIGHT AMENDMENT TO LYRICS AT END: (Alf Razell - 4th line down ......
"instead of some nighmarish memory I had OF LEAVING HIM all those years ago"
yes,we are amused ourself to death by our so called system,civilization and especially the progress of science,as this is the worled of hipocracy we shouldn't be amused toward the death.
very generous from roger water, very grat work; we are really amused ourself to death
well he always been a very proud man as we all are of him well dear roger hop you keep your hopes high and even if yur back is against the wall.
Amused to Death is one of my favorite albums but it's very sad at times. The Bill Hubbard stuff always kinda chokes me up when I actually pay attention to it.
Slight amendment - "memorial to the missing at Arras". It's a town in North East France scene of a WW1 battle.
Roger remains behind his wall, even here you can hear him screaming. He's living legend. There won't be an another Roger Waters anymore. Sorry Dave :)
Alf Razzel told about "Aras".
I think he told about Arras, a city in the north of France.
Great lyrics! I always think of this when I accidentally watch bits of some of the stupid 'reality' shows.
There's more to this than perhaps you realise. There's another level. Keep searching for the answer.
this album still rings tru some 17 years after Rog wrote it. In fact it resonates more now than it ever did. A stunning powerful piece of work for sure!
This album is a masterpiece. Rogers sarcastic humor ledgendary
I've had this album since it was released and only listened to it a few times during that time - until recently... Since January 20th, '09, for some reason I've been drawn into it and listening to it daily. There is no better album that describes the current American psychy. It makes me want to throw my TV down a flight of stairs and move my family to the mountains and live off the grid. This whole album chokes me up for so many reasons.
bishalban, you dont even get it!!!!
JLGB, nice you get it.....
Rodger has been a fasinating writer always. Its indiscribable. He is like a prophet. Keep it up..
I am a HUGE Roger fan. Saw him in Dallas in about 2000. He was(is) brilliant.
He IS and WAS Pink Floyd.
They're both Pink Floyd...
Roger's better at the lyrics for sure...
Dave's better at the music.
Would've been great to have a few more years of them if they could put aside their differences.
I'm really curious what the anonymous commentor on 12/18/08 (which coincidentally happens to be my birthday) meant about another level of meaning. I agree about the album as a whole, but I I think this song is pretty straight forward in it's meaning, although I could be wrong.(I'll be on songmeanings.net next). Amazing album, at times I enjoy it as much or more than any Pink Floyd album. Like Adam, it wasnt an album that blew me away at first, it just hit me all of a sudden a couple of years ago and became my favorite for awhile. I hope my comment was of some use to someone, beyond just amusement. :) Seriously though, this song pops into my head all the time, like a subconscious self-indictment...
very pleased to see folks still dig anti-establishment artists like Waters. The system doesn't allow for many like him to flourish these days... sad to think of the world we've created. What's it gonna take to bring back deep thinking? Sadly, another world war...
Roger Water's words and music always creates a kind of mournful longing in my soul...I agree, he was Pink Floyd. Simply Beautiful.
My main problem figuring this out is... the memorial bit... did Bill Hubbard get found and was he at the memorial? Or was his name there because they never found him? Cse if they never found him that doesn't explain why Alf feels relieved...
I can usually pick out everything in a Floyd/Waters song... this is the only ever puzzlement.
Still makes me teary eyed.
The whole album does.
All his songs are... just a slap in the face.
Harsh but amazingly beautiful.
lo mejor de lo mejor...roger eres un genio
genio
me encanta amused to death, me gustaria conocer toda las letras de las canciones en espanol
yo, anonymous is a fucking tool
ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT ALBUM very moving .equal too if not better than "the wall" if thats what you compare it too,makes me want to meet the man, how come brilliant ,kind ,extremly intelligant people run the world like roger.
i have seen the show "roger waters and the dark side of the moon" in july 2006, it was so wonderfull, no words, i am looking foward to his concents in berlin in 2011, just being death could stop me go
@ Sylicia,Bill Hubbard was a soldier from his battalion that he found badly wounded and sadly, he had to leave behind. After an attempted rescue,Bill was in to much pain and demanded to be left to die.
Small ammendment to lyrics: line3,
What is the half-life of a colour TV
This album is an absolute masterpiece. But as many of you have experienced, I also did not think much of it to start with. But for some strange reason it grows on you. Now it is one of my favorite Waters/Pink Floyd albums. I'm looking forward to see Roger in Pittsburgh September 26th. 2010.
@Devon...sorry, they have it right. It's "heart life of a colour TV." I have the CD sleeve w/lyrics.
this man rocks my world and is a PURE GENIUS!!
Aras as to be replaced by ARRAS, city in the North of France where stands a great memorial of Commonwealth graves
Roger!!! you are the bricks in the wall
I wish I am Roger Waters, he can understand, he can see and he can express. Very very rare
This song brings tears and I have been listening to this for close to 15 years maybe. Roger waters, as some said, no one can come close to him. Absolutely brilliant.
This is absolutly beautiful...I just discovered this album like last week (im 18 gimme a break). I can't believe how he wrote these lyrics...I wouldn't even begin to imagine how to write like he does. He is well respected in my book!
doctor doctor, what is wrong with us....
I am 43 and as eacj year goes by my sense of homour tells me that this is all so very true. we species have amused all to death! what prophetic lyrics from a genius artist! I have had the opportunity to see the great Roger live twice and must say his concerts . performance , stage , ligting and sets are the best that are ever made. No artist comes in touching distance to this only LEGEND! god bless him!
no comment we love you roger
To each and everyone of you who loves this music...You are the legend !!
At Adam B... I doubt you'll ever read this, but, I know exactly how you feel. I'm only a mere 16 years old, but I know.
Thought I'd something more to say.
You are all so right - it is poignant and so beautiful - every time I listen to it, it makes me cry.... even a single song although every single song makes me want to play the CD in its entirety.... Thank you Mr Waters... please keep writing...
Roger Waters was NOT just another brick in the wall, that's for sure!
The lyrics in this song are so true it would be wonderful if the whole world could take time out of their lives and sit down with their families and listen to this song i mean really listen to it it made me sad that this is a large possibility
as a long long long time fan of this album i relish every opportunity to introduce people to it and watch the ever widening understanding that floods their faces when its message hits home. It is also a fantastic driving album for road trips as a changing landscape brings new images for the lyrics to bounce off.
i love music ,but when i listen roger i put all down ...it's out of control to me,and yes david is virtuose guitarist but roger at other universe nothing to compare...
roger says to david i write the song and you adapt nots to my poesie ,he can't for sure here is why the final cut in 1983
The perfect match, roger and jef
Nineteen eightie four, huh?
The only thing amusing about any RW composition is that his adolescent simplicity somehow passes for genius. His narcissism has reached bloated pathological proportions. I'm going to have his "In the Flesh" ring tone sent to my rectal thermometer.
Transfixed by this one for years....
Indeed he is a genius, and yes the truths of this era is sad...
Pure Genius can only be Roger Waters,These lyrics are truely a masterpiece!!
Played this for the first time in a few years, i remember now why i loved it so much..... Absolutely brilliant and one of my favourites of all time
Prophets and saints still exist nowadays, disguised as poets, singers, and other - It's up to you to spot them !
when your one of the few to land on your feet what do you do to make ends meet TEACH etc
Genius.
Every one of Rogers solo protects are distinctly original masterpieces. Amused to death is my favorite. The album ends with the words "nineteen eighty four" and that pretty much sums up the theme of the album. Pure genius.
I just played this song 4 times this morning and really listened to the lyrics and want to so much post to fb......then realized how fb is a huge way we amuse ourselves to death. Ty for this forum. I love this album so much. Great work Roger!
I became a Pink Floyd since I was 12, when The Wall was released in Spain in 1979. Amused to Death is one of the MASTERPIECES of Floyd, Waters - Gilmour production, at same level as Echoes, Time, Another Brick in the Wall or Confortably Numb. An as an entire album, is one of the three best albums(Dark side of the Moon, The Wall, Amused to Death...) simply great.
Enjoy people. 100 years from now children will read about him in Music books, the way my generation read about Back, Mozart, etc. I liked what Kelli said above...
by Kelli on 8/14/2009 8:26am
Roger Water's words and music always creates a kind of mournful longing in my soul...I agree
This song is a masterpiece. In my opinion, Amused To Death and The Tide Is Turning are the two greatest songs of Roger's solo career. Obviously, there are a lot more, but these two are my favorite. :)
Whenever i listen to this album i pair it up with the division bell for me the messages are both very similar. i hope both Dave and Roger come out with new albums soon.
War is all around us ... because people forget about the past. I live in Belgium so I'm surrounded with memories of deadly battles. Rogers music gives a meaning to all the monuments and landmarks. He makes me realize that every fight is a pure waist of time as for most people it will only be remembered as a couple of hours of television amusement.
I hope that the aliens will discover me with his lyrics burnt in my shadow...
ATM is a little weaker in the middle, but the three last songs are a real miracle.
The end of the lyrics always leaves me speechless...
"That would be a year, nineteen... eighty-four, nineteen eighty four"...
The silence after is still pure Roger Waters, one would say.
And the auto-irony of "it's only business"...
But i can feel both the music and the lyrics, at times they kill me. Roger is beyond everything. Love him
.Great.