In addition, Belew is well-regarded for his contributions, particularly on guitar, to various other artists' recordings. In 1977, he performed with Frank Zappa, appearing in Zappa's 1979 concert film Baby Snakes, as well as Zappa's controversial album Sheik Yerbouti. He also supported David Bowie on his "Heroes" tour that was released as "Stage". He also played on the 1990 Sound + Vision tour. On both tours he was musical director, playing guitar and singing backing vocals.
Belew's other session credits include the 1980 album Remain in Light by the Talking Heads, Lights Out by Peter Wolf, and Paul Simon's landmark 1986 album Graceland. He worked with Laurie Anderson during the mid-1980s, appearing in her concert film Home of the Brave. During the 1990s, he contributed to three Nine Inch Nails albums, The Downward Spiral, The Fragile, and Ghosts. He played synthesized guitar on the song "God Shuffled His Feet" by Crash Test Dummies in 1993.
In the late-1980s, Belew formed the pop band The Bears with ex-Raisins members and released two albums, The Bears and Rise and Shine. A third album, Car Caught Fire, followed in 2001.
He features prominently on Tori Amos's 2001 cover album, "Strange Little Girls". He also contributed his lead guitar stylings to Porcupine Tree's album Deadwing (2005) as well as to a track ("I Can't Get Behind That", also featuring Henry Rollins) on the 2004 Ben Folds-produced William Shatner album Has Been.
House Of Cards
Adrian Belew Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And we keep informed via TV Guide
And we entertain in a house of cards
But the trouble remains
In our sleeping hearts
Wake up! Get out,
Get out of this house of cards
Wake up! Get out,
Get out of this house of cards
Why are we dreaming?
Why are we blinded,
Always the little guys?
Why do we find ourselves
Always compromised?
People like us have lives made of dust
And we know too little,
But we know too much
And our puzzled lives have come all apart
So we go back to bed
With our sleeping hearts
And we stay asleep
In a house of cards
The lyrics of Adrian Belew's song "House of Cards" reveal the emptiness and fragility of modern life. In the first verse, Belew describes people like us, who are obsessed with the stars and the media's portrayal of them, leading their lives of entertainment and distraction. However, despite everything, the underlying trouble remains in our sleeping hearts. The chorus is a call to action, to wake up and get out of the house of cards that we have constructed for ourselves. Belew urges us to question why we are sleeping and dreaming, and why we are always the little guys, blinded and compromised.
As the song progresses, Belew points out the futility of our lives, which are made up of dust and confusion. Although we might know too little or too much, our lives are ultimately in a state of chaos, leading to us retreating back to our beds, where we have no worries. However, this is not a solution, as we remain asleep in a house of cards, which can crumble at any given moment.
Overall, "House of Cards" is a critique of our modern lifestyle, which is built upon a false sense of security and the illusion of entertainment. It is a call to action, to wake up and confront reality and not get lost in the distractions all around us.
Line by Line Meaning
People like us have our eyes on the stars
We are ambitious and aspire to achieve great things. Our dreams are directed towards the sky.
And we keep informed via TV Guide
We rely on superficial sources like TV Guide to keep track of what's happening in the world around us.
And we entertain in a house of cards
We take pleasure in things that are fragile and easily destroyed. We build our enjoyment on a shaky foundation.
But the trouble remains
Despite our attempts to distract ourselves, we face pervasive problems that won't go away.
In our sleeping hearts
We ignore these problems and stay emotionally detached, refusing to acknowledge their impact on us.
Wake up! Get out,
It's time to take action and change our lives.
Get out of this house of cards
We need to rebuild our lives and find stability in something stronger than our fragile illusions.
Why are we sleeping?
We need to stay awake and aware of what's happening around us. We should not ignore the problems that plague us.
Why are we dreaming?
We need to dream of a better future, while working actively to manifest that dream.
Why are we blinded,
We are not seeing the whole picture. We are only getting a limited view of the world around us.
Always the little guys?
We feel powerless and insignificant in the grand scheme of things.
Why do we find ourselves
We are realizing that we are responsible for putting ourselves into our current predicament.
Always compromised?
We have had to make concessions and sacrifices in order to get by in life.
People like us have lives made of dust
Our lives are fleeting and temporary. We are here for a short amount of time and then we are gone.
And we know too little,
There is a lot we have yet to learn.
But we know too much
We also know enough to recognize how little we really know.
And our puzzled lives have come all apart
Our lives are full of contradictions and difficulties that we cannot fully sort out.
So we go back to bed
Rather than facing these problems, we retreat back into our comfortable illusions.
With our sleeping hearts
We remain emotionally detached and asleep to the reality that surrounds us.
And we stay asleep
We have resigned ourselves to a life of willful ignorance and complacency.
In a house of cards
We continue to build our lives on a fragile and unstable foundation that is likely to fail us at some point.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: ADRIAN BELEW
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind