Lyrics Post: Alienation

Release: Blackbreaks E.P.

For a few months I had in mind a song about that feeling of alienation, that I had particularly when I was a little younger. Growing up in the suburbs or regional areas of Australia there is a great gulf between what you see presented on TV or in the movies or games, and the reality of the daily grind of school or work. Everyone seeks some way of breaking out of the patterns. Some hot-up cars. Some look for love. Some, like I did, find solace in the songs on the radio.

I came to know the concept of Social ‘Alienation’ through the writings of some sociologists. It just seems like a good way to describe that loss of connection to genuine community that you can feel, even when you are surrounded by people in a big city, or massively wired into mass-media or the internet.

Kerry had written some verse that had a line: ‘spinning like a bald tyre on a wet road in the outer reaches of suburbia’ so we rolled it all together, to make a song about girls, cars, boys, disconnection, mothers, and the radio. C.D. >>

Do you see him at the wheel,
Is his world view actually real?
Wondering what he’ll be feeling like later tonight.
It’s been raining all day,
will he listen (to) what you say,
will he see through all this so-called entertainment
Burning rubber tyres
spinning into fires,
is this all a boy can do for kicks tonight.
Now he’s pushed accelerator,
girl you better tell him later,
he’s going nowhere,
(and) you feel nothing.

Alienation, Alienation Alienation,
across your radio station.
‘Cos we are seekers of the truth,
we are seekers of the real,
wont be taken by your lies,
wont be taken for a..

Alienation, its your right to feel,
And the radio say,
Sing it like a superstar.
Let her feel it for a warm one minute,
Let her emulate the power,
From the engine with a supercharge.
Shocked down from the might,
Start to listen in the night,
all this bitumen and bight,
Ready Set Go!
And in the morning when the rain came down,
Will be soothing your soul,
Just like a motorshow.

Alienation, Alienation Alienation,
across your radio station.
‘Cos we are seekers of the truth,
we are seekers of the real,
wont be taken by your lies,
wont be taken for a..
fool of the nation,
fool of the nation,
fool of the nation,
across your radio station
‘Cos we are seekers of the truth,
we are seekers of the real,
wont be taken by your lies,
wont be taken for a fool.
All hail the rise,
All hail the rise,
All hail the rise,
Of the disconnection.

You reel in the suburbs,
And the locker room emotions.
It washes and it’s coming fast,
She wonders why when she sees your eyes,
But then a mother’s gotta work,
She gotta make life last.
Then in the middle of the night,
There’s a sliver of light,
Liberation from the radio fire,
You’re so hungry for a brand new tune,
But then darling you’re a freak,
And I’m a, oh-oh disco!