Although a vein of social and political humor runs though even his earliest work, Bern's work became more explicitly political during the 2004 US presidential election campaign, with songs such as "Bush Must Be Defeated" and "President" highlighting his sometimes surreal political takes.
Bern is reflexively literate, in the style of his favorite authors, including L.A.'s legendary bohemians Charles Bukowski and John Fante, urbane fantasist James Thurber, and yarn-spinning humorist Ring Lardner. He is in love with the power of words to turn on themselves, to frolic, to bite, and his strong, friendly voice can go from earnest to ferocious within seconds. Being captivated by Dan is the easy part; describing his music to the non-initiated is more difficult. One journalist tried: "topical-poetical-sarcastic-punk-folk." An admirable effort, further elaborated by the New York Times: "He veers from comedy to anger, conjectures to shaggy-dog stories; he takes sidelong approaches to theology, science fiction, consumer culture, art, love and baseball."
Go to Sleep
Dan Bern Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
If you wanna sing two notes at once
Why don't you do like everyone else
Get a multi-track machine
Lay 'em down separately
Make a little harmony
Maybe a bass track
Like one from the Rolling Stones
This archaic stuff
Go out and make something
If you wanna make some dough
You oughta invest in my company
We're putting barcodes
On the fetuses
Using ultrasound
And laser technology
We used to do babies
But some of them still got mixed up
This takes care of that
My love, go to sleep
We'll wake you tomorrow
My love, go to sleep
We'll wake you tomorrow
There's some tomatoes
Chemically engineered
They come out square
To fit in boxes
There's some people
Chemically engineered
They come out square
To fit in boxes
I'm sitting on the roof today
All by myself
Not saying nothing
To no one
I'm sitting on the roof today
All by myself
Not saying nothing
Goodbye
My love go to sleep
We'll wake you tomorrow
My love go to sleep
We'll wake you tomorrow
The song lyrics "Enough of this throat singing already, if you wanna sing two notes at once, why don't you do like everyone else, get a multi-track machine, lay 'em down separately, make a little harmony..." is a commentary on the music industry and how artists sometimes overdo it with trying to be unique and different. It's a sarcastic remark pointing out that just because someone can do something unique (in this case throat-singing) doesn't necessarily mean it's good or even practical. The song suggests that instead of trying to reinvent the wheel, artists should simply use the technology available to them, such as a multi-track machine, to create more enjoyable and accessible music. The line "none of this long lost art, this archaic stuff, go out and make something" is a nod to the times when musicians had fewer resources and had to rely on their raw talent rather than modern technology.
The second verse of the song talks about a company that is investing in a new technology of putting barcodes on fetuses, so they don't get mixed up. The lyric is highlighting the absurdity of such a proposal and points out how some businesses prioritize making money over ethics or morals. The next line that mentions genetically modified square tomatoes and people further reinforces the idea that humans are becoming increasingly objectified and dehumanized in modern society. The chorus repeats the words "my love go to sleep, we'll wake you tomorrow." This can be interpreted to be a lullaby to soothe the listener, but in the context of the song, it could also be seen as a societal sleep, and the promise of "we'll wake you tomorrow" is a reassurance to the person that they will wake up to a new day of the same societal issues that were present before.
Line by Line Meaning
Enough of this throat singing already
Stop with the unconventional music styles and get on with the norm.
If you wanna sing two notes at once
If you want to be unique in your music genre.
Why don't you do like everyone else
Why don't you stick to the common practice?
Get a multi-track machine
Use a device to record multiple sounds at once.
Lay 'em down separately
Record each sound separately and merge them later.
Make a little harmony
Combine sounds to create a pleasant tune.
Maybe a bass track like one from the Rolling Stones
Record a sound similar to that of the Rolling Stones bass track.
None of this long lost art
Avoid the extinct music art styles.
This archaic stuff
Stay away from outdated music styles.
Go out and make something
Create a unique sound that is enjoyable to everyone.
If you wanna make some dough
If you want to make money.
You oughta invest in my company
You should invest in my business enterprise.
We're putting barcodes on the fetuses
We are developing technology to label unborn babies with barcodes.
Using ultrasound and laser technology
Using sound waves and lasers to achieve this.
We used to do babies, but some of them still got mixed up
We used to deliver babies but some got misplaced.
This takes care of that
This technology solves that problem.
My love, go to sleep, We'll wake you tomorrow
Rest my dear, we shall continue in the morning.
There's some tomatoes chemically engineered
There are genetically modified tomatoes.
They come out square to fit in boxes
They are perfectly square for storing purposes.
There's some people chemically engineered
There are humans genetically modified.
They come out square to fit in boxes
They are perfectly square so as to fit in special containers.
I'm sitting on the roof today, all by myself
I'm sitting alone on the rooftop nowadays.
Not saying nothing, to no one
Not talking to anyone, not uttering a word.
Goodbye
Farewell.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind