15. Scarecrow People
Andy Partridge/XTC Lyrics

Hope you enjoyed your flight,
We offer you a warm welcome to our land of straw and decay

In one of our new straw aeroplanes,
We have made some progress with our technological advancements, but it's made with trash

You'll find things here are just like what you're used to.
Our society is similar to yours, which is also driven by waste and ignorance

There's lots of waste and razor wire,
Our land is actually a junkyard, and we've used razor wires to keep our people in line

And no one gives a damn about the land,
We have no value for our environment and resources in our society

We just stand around and stare like you folks do.
We lack the motivation and knowledge to fix our problems, just like your society

For we ain't got no brains,
We are a people lacking the basic intelligence to solve our societal issues

And we ain't got no hearts,
We don't feel empathy or emotional intelligence, which makes us indifferent to the misery we cause

It's just that wild old wind that tears us all apart.
Our society is fragile and easily damaged, just like a scarecrow during a storm

We're the scarecrow people,
We are a society of lifeless beings, just like a scarecrow

Have we got lots in common with you.
Although we are different societies, there are some striking similarities shared between us

And if you don't start living well,
As a warning, if you continue your path of ignorant destruction, your society will join us in decay

You're all gonna wind up scarecrow people too.
Your society's future is likely to suffer the same fate as ours, lifeless and decaying

Hope you enjoyed your meal,
We hope you don't mind consuming food made up of unnatural chemicals

It's only gas and chemicals,
Our food is made up of artificial elements instead of natural ingredients

We thought that you'd prefer something not nature made.
As a society, we have accepted unnatural food as the standard

Now while you're here can you advise us,
We seek advice on how to start an unnecessary war against people we don't like

On a war we'd like to start,
Our ignorance and aggression causes us to think that war is a solution to our societal issues

Against some scarecrows over there, a different shade?
We wish to make war against a group of people who are different from us, an absurdity for no reason

We don't have no tears here,
Our society is devoid of the basic human emotion, empathy

No one hopes or cares or fears here,
We lack hope, concern, and fear, important human emotions

For the old, the sick, the poor and them what taint you.
We have no empathy or concern for those who are vulnerable or different in our society

We thought we'd base our civilization upon yours,
As a society, we have tried to imitate your intelligence, but it did not work for us

'Cause you're the smartest animals on earth, now ain't you?
We believed that humans are the most intelligent species on the planet, but our imitation didn't make us any smarter

We don't have no love here,
Love is an emotion that we are unfamiliar with in our society

There's no need to rise above here,
We have no intention of expanding our knowledge, skills, or progress because we are lifeless beings just like a scarecrow

No one wants to write a book or try to paint thee.
Creativity and motivation are nonexistent in our society

And I ain't got no brains,
As a scarecrow person, I have no intelligence just like the rest of us in our society

And I ain't got no heart,
As a scarecrow person, I lack empathy and emotions like the rest of my society

It's just them other humans tear my soul apart.
Being a lifeless being, any interaction with a human tears me apart and crushes my soul

Have I got quite some message for you.
As a scarecrow person, I wish to convey a message to you humans

For if we don't start learning well,
A cautionary message that if we don't start learning and improving our society, we are doomed to failure

we're all gonna wind up scarecrow people too!
We will all end up as lifeless beings just like the rest of the people in our society.