Cindy of a Thousand Lives
Billy Bragg Lyrics


Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴  Line by Line Meaning ↴

Blue velvet America
Half glimpsed in the headlights between the trees
Who punctured the beauty
And invited monsters such as these
The pig faced boy, the corrupted clown
The grotesque figure who never comes into town
Something broken, something stained
Something waiting for the worms to claim
And you can never go there again
Except in nightmares
The voyeur who dares not come near
Knows excitement is merely the beginning of fear
My shadow came this morning
And left some candy in my shoe
They're always watching me
Watching the things I do
Cindy of a thousand lives
Cindy of the Stepford Wives




I've looked at all the photographs
But Cindy, which one of them was you?

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Billy Bragg's song Cindy of a Thousand Lives are evocative and haunting. The opening lyrics, "blue velvet America, half glimpsed in the headlights between the trees," immediately set a dark and eerie tone, as if the song is describing a place that is not quite real or not quite of this world. The phrase "something broken, something stained, something waiting for the worms to claim" adds to the sense of decay and desolation, suggesting that whatever was once beautiful here has been corrupted and destroyed.


The song then turns to the figure of Cindy, who is described as having "a thousand lives" and being associated with the Stepford Wives. The Stepford Wives are a cultural reference to a book and later film about robotic housewives controlled by their husbands. This reference suggests that Cindy is similarly controlled or manipulated in some way. The lines "my shadow came this morning and left some candy in my shoe, they're always watching me, watching the things I do" suggest that the singer is being stalked or surveilled in some way, and that Cindy is somehow involved in this surveillance or manipulation.


Overall, the song seems to be a dark and enigmatic meditation on the perils of American life - on the way that beauty and idealism can be corrupted, and on the way that individuals can be controlled or watched without their knowledge. The figure of Cindy - with her "thousand lives" and ambiguous relationship to the singer - adds to the sense of unease and mystery that pervades the song.


Line by Line Meaning

Blue velvet America
An allusion to the idea of the American Dream and the beauty within it, but how obscured that vision can be.


Half glimpsed in the headlights between the trees
The beauty that is attempting to emerge, but still veiled and mysterious.


Who punctured the beauty
The forces that have negatively impacted the American Dream and hurt the pursuit of beauty.


And invited monsters such as these
The consequences of the aforementioned forces which attract unsavory and harmful individuals.


The pig faced boy, the corrupted clown
The individuals that have been attracted to harm the American Dream and create a grotesque vision for it.


The grotesque figure who never comes into town
The absence of the individuals in everyday life, but their constant presence in affecting everyone's lives.


Something broken, something stained
The remnants of the American Dream, no longer perfect and full of stains and flaws.


Something waiting for the worms to claim
The decay and ultimate destruction of the once beautiful dream.


And you can never go there again
The realization that the dream is gone and cannot be revisited.


Except in nightmares
The only way to revisit the dream is through the dreams and nightmares that people experience.


The voyeur who dares not come near
Those who cannot experience or be a part of the American Dream due to their own limitations or social status.


Knows excitement is merely the beginning of fear
The excitement around the dream is only the beginning, for it can quickly turn into a nightmare.


My shadow came this morning
A reference to the mysterious and unknown forces at work.


And left some candy in my shoe
The fleeting moments of happiness and hope that the dream brings.


They're always watching me
The constant presence and influence of the unknown and harmful forces.


Watching the things I do
The control that these forces have over the actions and behaviors of everyone involved with the dream.


Cindy of a thousand lives
A reference to the idea that Cindy represents the many people affected by the loss of the American Dream.


Cindy of the Stepford Wives
A reference to the homogenization and lack of individuality present in the society that the American Dream has created.


I've looked at all the photographs
The many attempts to revisit and recover the American Dream, through looking back at the past and attempting to understand what went wrong.


But Cindy, which one of them was you?
The question of personal identity and the role of the individual in the larger societal and cultural context.




Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: STEPHEN WILLIAM BRAGG

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it

Genre not found
Artist not found
Album not found
Song not found
Most interesting comment from YouTube:

@ThomasWilliamMusic

Blue velvet America
Half glimpsed in the headlights
Between the trees

Who punctured the beauty
And invited monsters
Such as these

The pig faced boy
The corrupted clown
The grotesque figure
Who never comes into town

Something broken
Something stained
Something waiting
For the worms to claim

And you can never
Go there again
Except in nightmares

The voyeur who dares
Not come near
Knows excitement is merely
The beginning of fear

My shadow came this morning
And left some candy in my shoe
They're always watching me
Watching the things I do

Cindy of a thousand lives
Cindy of the Stepford Wives
I've looked at all the photographs
But Cindy, which one of them was you?



All comments from YouTube:

@immediate66

I've always loved the spooky, evocative soundscape that Johnny Marr built around this beautiful Billy Bragg song, he completely nailed it - it's a standout track on this album. And now the perfect video to accompany it - nice work.

@azcarf44

Thanks for watching. It was fun assembling the montage on this extraordinary song. Completely agree with you... kudos to Marr!

@ThomasWilliamMusic

@azcarf44 Johnny's production is so spooky perfect. This is my favorite music video ever man!!!! Great story and connection w. Billy Bragg. How cool!!! Proud of ya...tw-

@mackeydirk8643

This song still gives me chills.....I was going through a rough patch in college and this song takes me back to that time. I always thought that some of Billy's best lyrics reside within this song.

@ohitbe3616

Mad that you posted this comment three hours ago, i woke up after a cheeky nap earlier and it was the first thing i thought of for some reason. Hadnt heard it for a good 20 years or so. Still magnificent, especially the final lyric in the outro.

@veritasrex66

"The voyeur who dares not come near knows excitement is merely the beginning of fear." wow. I don't believe this guy has ever penned a bad lyric.

@jdshearer

Can this sticky stuff really be love... there's one

@eyevocal

IMHO, he did pretty badly with "Trust" on the same album. It's meant to be a song about AIDS, but it wound up coming off like it was sung from the POV of a molested child.

@JeffreySmith84

It took me a long time to warm up to this album. Bought it on CD in the pre-YouTube era not having heard any of the tracks. Wasn't sure if I liked it at first but over the years, it's become one of my favorite Bragg albums. This song in particular is brilliant. Love the subject matter (I'm a former postman myself, so any song about mail is A-OK!) and the production/mix is more interesting than the average Bragg track. Thanks for making this video which puts it all in context.

@mountainman8775

Inspiring, Billy is a full-fledged musical genius imo, and what a dedication to this photographer that she should have had an impact like this.
Oh and thank you to the creator of the music video, finally, to accompany it! It’s deeply evocative and you’ve done a perfect job.

More Comments

More Versions