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."
True Revolutionaries
Dan Bern Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
She said, "The nice guy who's on the cover of all those magazines?
Why would they want to do a thing like that?"
I said, "'Cause he killed all those people
In oklahoma city."
She said, "Nonsense.
People don't kill people
I said, "Well yeah mom, but they gotta do something with him."
She said, "Why don't they just get Mike Tyson
To bite off both his ears."
And I say
True revolutionaries never bomb buildings
True revolutionaries never bomb buildings
It attracts too much attention
They never bomb buildings
A little girl down my block was born
with silicone in her breasts
It turned out her grandma and her mother
both had the implants done well
Evolution took care of it this time around
And I wondered what it is about
So many women with big breasts
Make it look so sad and I thought well
Maybe it has something to do with the weight
The burden there is to carry in the world
To have to feed it
To be the object of its desires and
I wondered what burdens the rest of us
Are carrying all the time
I couldn't help thinking
True revolutionaries never bomb buildings
It attracts too much attention
They never bomb buildings
I decided to go for a walk
And not do nothing except look everyone I see in the eyes
And not be the first to avert my eyes, no matter what
And I was planning to be gone for 10 minutes
But things started happening and I didn't return for two years
By which time I was the heavyweight champion of the world
And the expectant father of 16 children
By 13 different women
I was in a fishing village in the coast of Spain
It was Our Lady of Abortions sunday afternoon
all the pregnant women in their first trimester
were filing before the priest
To receive their blessing of
Try again sometime, try again.
The old barber had died his hair green for the occasion
And pierced his nipples and was riding his skateboard to the statue
Of Conan O'Brien
Where he was doing backflips for the kids
Who threw coins given to them by their parents
The visiting lecturer, achingly handsome
Had just finished giving a
how to build bombs in your basement seminar in the park
All the young girls put away their notebooks dreamily
The chimpanzee who had managed to type out hamlet three years before
Was sitting in the third floor office of a drivers license building
Typing out zoning ordinances
Typing out learners permits
Bored and lonely
Pee Wee Herman was sitting in the central square on the grass
Naked and masturbating
While all the townspeople moved to him
Slowly and kissed him softly and
Sung him lullabyes in the grass
And in Berkeley and in greenwhich village
And in paris and scottsbluff nebraska
No one sits around in funky little coffee shops
anymore talking about revolution
Nah, they get a starbucks to go
And they go back to their basketball games
Where they see who can jump higher
Who can jam
Who can take it to the rack
And they all wear baseball caps
'Cept they don't say yankees or dodgers
They say nike, reebok, adidas
'Cause the pro players don't play for teams anymore
They play for shoe companies
And the kids aren't fooled
Nah, they're just biding their time
Waiting for the millenium to come
When all the computers will crash
'Cause the best scientists of the world
Forgot to make them read zeros
True revolutionaries never bomb buildings
True revolutionaries never bomb buildings
It attracts too much attention
They never bomb buildings
Now sitting there with a head full of dark thoughts
Like I sometimes get
Suddenly everything cleared
And I realized that the only purpose for revolution
Is to be able to love who you want
How you want, when you want and where you want
So I took off all my clothes
Stole a boat and road out to the middle of the lake
And jumped in
And I looked back at you
And said come on! Get wet!
True revolutionaries never bomb buildings
True revolutionaries never bomb buildings
It attracts too much attention
They never bomb buildings
They never bomb buildings
They never bomb buildings
The lyrics of "True Revolutionaries" by Dan Bern explore different themes, including the Oklahoma City bombing, women's bodies, and the concept of revolution itself. In the beginning, he has a conversation with his mother about the death sentence given to Timothy McVeigh, the man responsible for the bombing, and she questions why he should be executed. Bern explains that he killed people in Oklahoma City, to which his mother replies that carbombs kill people, not people themselves. The catchy chorus, "True revolutionaries never bomb buildings," is repeated throughout the song and serves as a commentary on how true revolutionaries do not resort to violence in effecting change in society.
As the song progresses, Dan Bern describes different situations and characters, ranging from a young girl with silicone breast implants to a fishing trip turned long-term disappearance. In these instances, he reflects on the human condition and how people often carry burdens that are not visible to others. The lyrics ponder whether these individual struggles and experiences can be part of a larger revolution, one that leads to a society where people can love who they want, how they want, and where they want.
Overall, "True Revolutionaries" is a thought-provoking song that encourages listeners to question what revolution truly means and how it can be achieved. The lyrics remind us that true progress cannot be achieved through violent means but rather through love and understanding.
Line by Line Meaning
Look ma, they're gonna fry Tim McVay
Dan's mother brings up the news that the Oklahoma City bomber, Tim McVay, will receive the death penalty.
She said, "The nice guy who's on the cover of all those magazines?
Why would they want to do a thing like that?"
Dan's mother clearly doesn't comprehend why someone like Tim McVay would be put to death.
I said, "'Cause he killed all those people
In oklahoma city."
Dan explains to his mother why McVay is being charged with the maximum penalty.
She said, "Nonsense.
People don't kill people
Carbombs kill people."
Dan's mother jokingly suggests that McVay wasn't the one who killed all those people during the Oklahoma City bombing, rather the carbomb used did all the killing.
I said, "Well yeah mom, but they gotta do something with him."
She said, "Why don't they just get Mike Tyson
To bite off both his ears."
Dan explains to his mother that McVay has to face the consequences of his actions, and she suggests that Mike Tyson be the one to carry it out.
And I say
True revolutionaries never bomb buildings
It attracts too much attention
They never bomb buildings
Dan starts the chorus with the idea that real revolutionaries never use bombings and destruction as their primary method of protesting as the attention it receives can lead to negative outcomes.
A little girl down my block was born
with silicone in her breasts
It turned out her grandma and her mother
both had the implants done well
Evolution took care of it this time around
And I wondered what it is about
So many women with big breasts
Make it look so sad and I thought well
Maybe it has something to do with the weight
The burden there is to carry in the world
To have to feed it
To be the object of its desires and
I wondered what burdens the rest of us
Are carrying all the time
I couldn't help thinking
Dan observes the prevalence of large breast implants and it saddens him. He hypothesizes that the weight and constant attention that big-breasted women carry is unpleasant and questions what other burdens people carry with them.
I decided to go for a walk
And not do nothing except look everyone I see in the eyes
And not be the first to avert my eyes, no matter what
And I was planning to be gone for 10 minutes
But things started happening and I didn't return for two years
By which time I was the heavyweight champion of the world
And the expectant father of 16 children
Dan goes for a walk with the intent of being respectful to everyone he meets and to avoid looking away first. However, his walk ends up taking two years leading to a ridiculous scenario where he becomes a world heavyweight boxing champion and has 16 children on the way from different women.
I was in a fishing village in the coast of Spain
It was Our Lady of Abortions sunday afternoon
all the pregnant women in their first trimester
were filing before the priest
To receive their blessing of
Try again sometime, try again.
The old barber had died his hair green for the occasion
Dan relates an anecdote about seeing a group of pregnant women getting blessed by a priest in a small Spanish village. He also notes that a local barber dyed his hair green for the occasion.
And pierced his nipples and was riding his skateboard to the statue
Of Conan O'Brien
Where he was doing backflips for the kids
Who threw coins given to them by their parents
The same barber that dyed his hair green is now pierced his nipples and skateboarding to a statue of Conan O'Brien where he performs backflips for children who throw coins at him.
The visiting lecturer, achingly handsome
Had just finished giving a
how to build bombs in your basement seminar in the park
All the young girls put away their notebooks dreamily
Dan describes a visiting lecturer who has given a seminar on building bombs in one's basement which excited all the young female attendees.
The chimpanzee who had managed to type out hamlet three years before
Was sitting in the third floor office of a drivers license building
Typing out zoning ordinances
Typing out learners permits
Bored and lonely
Dan mentions a chimpanzee who was able to type out Shakespeare's Hamlet but now finds himself typing out mundane zoning and permit forms. The animal is bored and lonely.
Pee Wee Herman was sitting in the central square on the grass
Naked and masturbating
While all the townspeople moved to him
Slowly and kissed him softly and
Sung him lullabyes in the grass
Dan mentions Pee Wee Herman, naked and masturbating in the central square of a town where its citizens surround him and sing lullabies while softly kissing him.
And in Berkeley and in greenwhich village
And in paris and scottsbluff nebraska
No one sits around in funky little coffee shops
anymore talking about revolution
Nah, they get a starbucks to go
And they go back to their basketball games
Where they see who can jump higher
Who can jam
Who can take it to the rack
And they all wear baseball caps
'Cept they don't say yankees or dodgers
They say nike, reebok, adidas
'Cause the pro players don't play for teams anymore
They play for shoe companies
And the kids aren't fooled
Nah, they're just biding their time
Waiting for the millenium to come
When all the computers will crash
'Cause the best scientists of the world
Forgot to make them read zeros
Dan points out that the coffee shops in many towns are not doing what they used to do, that is discussing political revolutions. Many people have embraced consumer culture and can be found at Starbucks, watching basketball games, and wearing branded baseball caps instead. However, they aren't completely deceived and are aware of the system's flaws, so they wait for the day computers crash and revolution will truly manifest itself.
Now sitting there with a head full of dark thoughts
Like I sometimes get
Suddenly everything cleared
And I realized that the only purpose for revolution
Is to be able to love who you want
Dan notes that he was feeling down earlier before having a realization: the only real reason to fight for a revolution is to be with the person you love.
How you want, when you want and where you want
So I took off all my clothes
Stole a boat and road out to the middle of the lake
And jumped in
And I looked back at you
And said come on! Get wet!
Dan acts on his realization by stripping down, swimming out to the middle of a lake, and beckoning the listener to join him.
Contributed by Blake S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.