Men Without Hats - The Burning Hell

Clutching a ten dollar bill in my hand

Sir John A’s face getting wrinkled and damp

I went down to the mall on Saturday after cartoons

I made straight for the tape store

I knew exactly what to look for

I skipped the candy shop and the clown with the animal balloons

I saw it on the rack with the other new tapes

That baby face with the gap-tooth gape

And I grabbed one quick like a pervert in a video store

I guess I was shy it was my first time

And I joined the girls with the curled bangs in line

And when I got back home I discovered what my ears were for

That was my first day in the world of pop music

Where the sound of a drum or the strum of an acoustic

Could pop it all open like a blister in the sun

A world where Johnny played guitar and Jenny played bass

And they started a band just to see their face

In a magazine ‘cause what else is there to do for fun

A few years later drawing logos of bands

On backpacks and binders and the backs of my hands

And writing out lyrics with the help of rewind pause and play

Math class flashed past in a blur of zeros

Daydreaming about all those musical heroes

Who never needed numbers to say what they had to say

Meanwhile I developed an unholy affection

For the older girls in the smoking section

With the boots and the buckles and the pins and the circle a shirts

Their music was rough but strangely enough

Turned out I liked getting angry and shouting about stuff

I knew the message was meaningful though I didn’t understand a word

And so I discovered another world of music

Where the kids are alright just like the Who said

You count to four and then play the one or two chords you sort of know

A world where hey ho, let’s go is a legitimate chorus

And you can search the stacks and thumb the thesaurus

But there’s no synonym for rock and roll

Back at that young and impressionable age

I never dreamed some day I’d be the one on the stage

But now that I’m here I guess I have to think of something to say

So to all the young girls and young guys out there

Experimenting with drugs, experimenting with hair

Press record on your four track, or whatever kids are using these days

It’s life or death but it’s also just music

And it chooses you, you don’t get to choose it

But once you’re hooked you’re hooked like a rug or a john

So hats off to Ivan and all the rest of the bands

Thanks for giving us so many good reasons to dance

Thanks for giving us so many good reasons to sing along