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By the time of their debut album, 1980's Crocodiles - a moderate UK hit - the drum machine had been replaced by Pete de Freitas.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.

Fools Like Us
Echo & the Bunnymen Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

It's fools like us
Always fooled
By the bright side of life
Then life on the cool
How does it turn?
How does it turn?
Into the dying embers
From a love that burned

On it's way to your heart somehow
On it's way to your heart somehow
On it's way to your heart somehow

They're falling again
My shining stars
From out of your heaven
Ribbons and chains
Ribbons and chains
Tie us together
And keep us apart

Got to get to your heart somehow
Got to get to your heart somehow
Got to get to your heart somehow

If I could be someone
Someone better than me
I would be that someone
Who's still waiting for me

It's always fools like us
Always burned
On the dying embers
Of a love that's turned

On it's way from your heart somehow
On it's way from your heart somehow
On it's way from your heart somehow
On it's way to your heart somehow

Time is on our side

Overall Meaning

The opening line of Echo & the Bunnymen's song Fools Like Us sets the tone for a bittersweet ballad about how love can burn and fade away. The song is a commentary on how humans can be foolishly optimistic when it comes to love, and how that can lead to heartbreak. The lyrics talk about how people often focus on the bright side of life when entering a new relationship, only to later realize that love can be cold and distant.

Despite the song's somber mood, it's also clear that the singer is still holding onto hope that he can "get to your heart somehow." This adds a note of optimism to the song, as the possibility of rekindling a lost flame is always present. Ultimately, Fools Like Us is a song that strikes a balance between melancholy and hope, capturing the complexity of love and relationships.

Line by Line Meaning

It's fools like us
We are often foolish people

Always fooled
We are easily deceived

By the bright side of life
We are attracted to the positive aspects of life

Then life on the cool
But life can be harsh and cold

How does it turn?
How does life change so quickly?

How does it turn?
We wonder how things can go from good to bad

Into the dying embers
And end up fading away

From a love that burned
Even from a love that was once strong

On it's way to your heart somehow
Love is often on its way to our heart in some form or another

On it's way to your heart somehow
We can sense when love is coming our way

On it's way to your heart somehow
We may not know exactly how love will reach us, but we can feel its presence

They're falling again
Our hopes and dreams are once again falling apart

My shining stars
Our once bright and promising future

From out of your heaven
Is slipping away from us

Ribbons and chains
We are tied to each other for better or for worse

Ribbons and chains
Our love can feel like both a gift and a burden

Tie us together
Our connection is strong and unbreakable

And keep us apart
But it can also keep us from being truly close

Got to get to your heart somehow
We are determined to find our way to each other's hearts

Got to get to your heart somehow
Our desire for a deep emotional connection is strong

Got to get to your heart somehow
We won't stop until we've reached the center of each other's being

If I could be someone
If only I could change myself

Someone better than me
I wish I could be a better version of myself

I would be that someone
I would become the person I aspire to be

Who's still waiting for me
The person who is deserving of love and acceptance

Always burned
We've been hurt before

On the dying embers
The love we once had is slowly dying out

Of a love that's turned
Our love has turned sour

On it's way from your heart somehow
Love can also leave us unexpectedly

On it's way from your heart somehow
We can feel love leaving our hearts as well

On it's way from your heart somehow
Love can disappear just as quickly as it came

On it's way to your heart somehow
Love can come unexpectedly, just like it can leave us unexpectedly

Time is on our side
We have plenty of time to figure things out

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Written by: MARK ADDISON, BILLY MADDOX, MICHELLE SHOCKED

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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