Echo & the Bunnymen is a British Post-punk band formed in Liverpool in 1978… Read Full Bio ↴Echo & the Bunnymen is a British Post-punk band formed in Liverpool in 1978. The original line-up consisted of Ian McCulloch (of The Crucial Three), Will Sergeant and Les Pattinson. There are many stories, probably apocryphal, that the quartet was completed by a drum machine known as "Echo".

By the time of their debut album, 1980's Crocodiles - a moderate UK hit - the drum machine had been replaced by Pete de Freitas. Their next, the critically-acclaimed Heaven Up Here, reached the Top Ten in 1981, as did 1983's Porcupine and '84's Ocean Rain. Singles like "The Killing Moon" (later used in the soundtrack to Donnie Darko, a film whose imagery owed much to the artwork of the band's early records.), "Silver," "Bring on the Dancing Horses," and "The Cutter" helped keep the group in the public eye as they took a brief hiatus in the late 1980s. Their 1987 self-titled LP was a small American hit, their only LP to have significant sales there.

McCulloch quit the band in 1988. De Freitas was killed in a motorcycle accident one year later. The others decided to continue, recruiting Noel Burke to replace McCulloch on vocals in Reverberation (1990), which did not generate much excitement among fans or critics. Burke, Sargeant and Pattinson split after that, but the surviving three fourths of the original band reformed in 1997 and released Evergreen (1997), What are You Going to Do with Your Life? (1999), Flowers (2001) , Siberia (2005), and the latest addition, The Fountain (2009). The group's old audience liked the return to their classic sound, and they also managed to gain a number of new, younger listeners.

Echo and the Bunnymen were managed early on by Bill Drummond, who went on to be a founder member of The KLF.

Baseball Bill
Echo & the Bunnymen Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Here I go
It must be four in a row
I gotta get my head down tonight
But you know I know
When the streets are aglow
I'll be heading for the city of light

You talkin' to me?

'cause I don't want to know-no-no-no
You can't even see
What's already on show-oh-oh-oh

I'm hitting my prime
And you're wasting my time
You're denominator commonest low
My head's burning up
And I'm down on my luck
See you in the 48th row

With a matchbox full
And a sulphurous skull
Trying to set my mind to rights
I'm gonna burn, burn, burn,
As the universe turns
Out of mind and out of sight

You talkin' to me?
'cause I don't want to know-no-no-no
You can't even see
What's already on show-oh-oh-oh

Baseball bill went in for the kill
He blew it when he found his soul
Lost his will to live
When he saw someone give
'cause giving always takes its toll

You talkin' to me?
'cause I don't want to know-no-no-no
You can't even see
What's already on show-oh-oh-oh

You talkin' to me?
'cause I don't want to know-no-no-no
You can't even see
What's already on show-oh-oh-oh

Ooh baseball bill
Ooh baseball bill
Ooh baseball bill
Ooh baseball bill
Ooh baseball bill
Ooh baseball bill

Ooh baseball bill
Ooh baseball bill

Overall Meaning

The song "Baseball Bill" by Echo & the Bunnymen is a dream-like, stream-of-consciousness exploration of youth, freedom, and hedonism. The lyrics convey a sense of reckless abandon and a desire to escape the mundane, with lines like "when the streets are aglow/I'll be heading for the city of light." The singer is consumed with the idea of living life to the fullest, even if it means burning out: "I'm gonna burn, burn, burn/as the universe turns/out of mind and out of sight."

Line by Line Meaning

Here I go
I'm embarking on a journey or adventure

It must be four in a row
I've probably done this four times before

I gotta get my head down tonight
I need to focus and work hard tonight

But you know I know
You and I both understand

When the streets are aglow
When the city lights up at night

I'll be heading for the city of light
I'm going to Paris, the city of light

You talkin' to me?
Are you addressing me?

'cause I don't want to know-no-no-no
I'm not interested in what you're saying

You can't even see
You're not perceptive enough to understand

What's already on show-oh-oh-oh
What you need to know is already obvious

I'm hitting my prime
I'm at the peak of my abilities

And you're wasting my time
You're not worth my attention

You're denominator commonest low
You have the lowest common denominator

My head's burning up
I'm feeling intense emotions

And I'm down on my luck
I'm having a string of unfortunate events happening to me

See you in the 48th row
I'll see you later, but far away from the front

With a matchbox full
With a box of matches

And a sulphurous skull
With a head full of dark thoughts

Trying to set my mind to rights
Trying to clear my head and think straight

I'm gonna burn, burn, burn,
I'm going to self-destruct or lose control

As the universe turns
As time passes

Out of mind and out of sight
Not in a good mental state and physically far away

Baseball bill went in for the kill
Baseball Bill made an aggressive move

He blew it when he found his soul
He made a mistake when he started to care about things

Lost his will to live
Lost his motivation to continue living

When he saw someone give
When he saw someone being generous or giving

'cause giving always takes its toll
Giving can be difficult or costly

Ooh baseball bill
An emotional exclamation or call out to Baseball Bill

Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., BMG Rights Management
Written by: IAN STEPHEN MCCULLOCH, LESLIE THOMAS PATTINSON, WILLIAM SERGEANT

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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