Strange
James Murphy Lyrics


Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴  Line by Line Meaning ↴

Why's everybody actin' funny?
Why's everybody look so strange?
Why's everybody look so nasty?
What do I want with all these things?

I went alone down to the drugstore
I went in back and took a Coke
I stood in line and ate my Twinkies
I stood in line, I had to wait

Why's everybody actin' funny?
Why's everybody look so strange?
Why's everybody look so pretty?
What do I want with all these things?

I went alone down to the drugstore
I went in back and took a Coke




I stood in line and ate my Twinkies
I stood in line, I had to wait

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to James Murphy's song "Strange" explore the feeling of disconnect and boredom in a world that seems unfulfilling. The repetition of the opening lines "Why's everybody actin' funny? Why's everybody look so strange?" creates a sense of confusion and unease. The mention of nasty and pretty in the following lines suggests a sense of contradiction and a feeling of being out of place. The singer seems to be searching for meaning within the mundane, as evidenced by the lines "What do I want with all these things?".


The second half of the lyrics focus on the singer's trip to the drugstore. The repetition of the same lines suggest a sense of routine and boredom in everyday life. The mention of waiting in line and the consumption of Twinkies and Coke further emphasize this mundane existence. The repetition of the opening lines at the end of the song suggests that the singer has found no answers or solace in this routine or in the world around them.


Overall, the lyrics to "Strange" convey a feeling of ennui, disconnection, and a search for meaning in a world that seems unfulfilling.


Line by Line Meaning

Why's everybody actin' funny?
James is seeing something unusual or peculiar in the way that everyone around him is behaving.


Why's everybody look so strange?
James feels like everyone he sees has an odd or unusual appearance, as if they are not from the same world or place as him.


Why's everybody look so nasty?
James sees something unpleasant or repulsive about the appearance of the people he sees, possibly hinting at a general feeling of disillusionment or dissatisfaction with the people around him.


What do I want with all these things?
In contrast to the people around him, James seems to be having doubts or questions about why he needs certain possessions or material goods.


I went alone down to the drugstore
James is out and about running errands or tending to his affairs.


I went in back and took a Coke
James went to a drugstore, entered the rear of the store, and helped himself to a bottle of Coca-Cola without paying for it.


I stood in line and ate my Twinkies
James then went to a line of people waiting for something unknown or unmentioned and ate his Twinkies in the meantime.


I stood in line, I had to wait
James was in some sort of line and had to wait for something unspecified.




Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Written by: DAMON KRUKOWSKI, MICHAEL DEAN WAREHAM, NAOMI YANG

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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Most interesting comments from YouTube:

@aelfraed1238

A strange kind of love
A strange kind of feeling
Swims through your eyes
And like the doors
To a wide vast dominion
They open to your prize

This is no terror ground
Or place for the rage
No broken hearts, white wash lies
Just a taste for the truth
Perfect taste, choice and meaning
A look into your eyes

Blind to the gemstone alone
A smile from a frown circles round
Should he stay or should he go?
Let him shout a rage so strong
A rage that knows no right or wrong
And take a little piece of you

There is no middle ground
Or that's how it seems
For us to walk or to take
Instead we tumble down
Either side, left or right
To love or to hate



@leonardsimonis2376

I have to agree with you. I can't stand this allround darkness of most gothic bands but there are some i can recommend for you.


1) DEAD CAN DANCE:
idk if you like Peter's DUST album, but Dead Can Dance makes music like that. The two singers of this band have very great voices, especially the woman, Lisa Gerrard, who wrote the soundtrack for gladiator and is the only woman so far that has won a golden globe award. She almost ever sings in an onwn invented, sometimes latin or arabic-sounding language, and has a voice that i would put in the same class like Whitney Houston. But Lisa is like a cooler, more mystical version of Whitney. In their first albums, she has a really high voice like kate Bush (who is also a great artist i can recommend for you, but veeeery strange: check out Wuthering Heights, Violin, Babooshka, The Wedding List, Kite, The Sensual World, The Dreaming, Hammer Horror, James and the Cold Gun...)but then her voice grew larger, and she also began to sang in almost resonating deep lows. so cool, i love it. the other part, the singer Brendan Perry (btw, He and Peter really can't stand each other: http://www.slicingupeyeballs.com/2010/05/05/peter-murphy-brendan-perry-tour-bauhaus-dead-can-dance/) has a very great voice too. i would compare it to a alternative-goth version of Jim Morrison. He usually sings in english, often mystical and by greek myths influenced poetic texts, but sometimes he sings like lisa in an own invented language. Yes, they have some very dark tunes, like Joy Division, but also some really happy:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJqUbb-WuPQ&list=OLAK5uy_m7uV-GCF_FzmdOf8RdT_oMwwiUXwBkDZI&index=1 (really cool album, listen at least to the first two tracks, then you know what i mean with her language and her low singing, and you can hear a more rocky song by brendan, but the rest of the album ist also great, especially the 4th, 8th and the last track) A bit like Peter's Dust


Anyone who thinks he knows good goth music should know this album. it is veerry dark, but cool, idk if you will like this. the title stands for itself: Within the realm of a dying sun. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pl0vOhdCByA&list=OLAK5uy_kOSn7NV4fEckFaAl9A76iCZks2-n-Ljb0&index=1


Again a Dust-like Album: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AAkq2Vm5wQ&list=OLAK5uy_lmvGSdHjzGF5CAoNjRWTtEAtdbSgZeuv8&index=1 (Its the last album before they parted in 1998, but they've made a reunion in 2011.)


A bit irish-celtic medieval. the first track is outstanding, also the last, but the tracks in between are great too. the first track is used very often in soundtracks like the netflix series how to get away with murder. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iqxzURgQWg&list=OLAK5uy_nJBX6jo0felZ5hbgZw8DzJhR9Vu0RwFyo&index=1


They have a few other albums, i'll link you their first and their actual album. the first was released in 1984 and is a bit joy division like, and their new album in 2018. it is awesome what a difference they made.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STuikZ7yg8Y&list=OLAK5uy_nRzJ8LVXLoiS0ZA46V7e_TvGz1FAODdEU&index=1 (1984)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YsC32xLnkY&list=PLD0HK4hSAhD_aWfqgQbliwQDmn6dLid5G (2018)






2) THE SISERS OF MERCY


Gothrock at its best, no more to say. if the singer was'nt such an ********, they would have released maybe more albums. Well, just listen...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVbl7cWrB5M&list=OLAK5uy_lCnXcRKjslBeWDtuIt8IIOmf91eLbeuBk&index=1


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7N51K7Cz-w&list=OLAK5uy_mPZRUA0DBWhgunX03jvJ5q_zLR19c4y7g&index=1


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evu3I0ZoERc (Non Album track)



The singer and his bandmates did an album before these two, but split up because he was again such an *********. the result is THE MISSION, a band similar to the sisters, but at least still churning out new material. check them out if you have nothing to do with your time like me


3) KATE BUSH. mentioned above, not gothic at all, but very cool though


4) NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS
a completely other direction, but sometimes veery gothic, yet combined with blues and jazz. Nick Cave is like a vampire version of Elvis presley. their first albums are very dark and grungy and full of blues. then they grew more balladic and now they're almost soundtrack like. after the death of his son, nick cave put out two outstanding calm griefful albums. i'll link some of his albums for you.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwlU_wsT20Q (GHOSTEEN 2019)
(very calm and ambient and full of grief and hope. Key tracks: Hollywood, Leviathan, Night Raid, but the album should be experienced as a whole)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iGxoJnygW8&list=OLAK5uy_kQNXGCXRDwRe6zy8Rh-TkBmg1SFU68wZc&index=1 (Skeleton Tree 2016)
(a darker version of GHOSTEEN. key tracks: Jesus Alone, Magneto, Distant Sky)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjF57zEbxpI&list=OLAK5uy_lfuwZP--8I1u77m5R5fVUtRKC3pv8JW0M&index=1 (Push The Sky Away 2013 or so)
(Calm and jazzy, first using techno elements instead of Harmonicas and Blues. Key Tracks: Jubilee Street, We no who U R, Finishing Jubilee Street, Push the sky away)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBDkEMBNlXc&list=OLAK5uy_mDMSm7zXgbGhs314cDlRGYhFqqLbpfikk&index=1 (DIG!!! LAZARUS DIG!!! 2009)
(Garbage rock and jazz, cool and moody. Key tracks: Dig Lazarus Dig, Night of the Lotus Eaters, Midnight Man, More News from Nowhere)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02k-obmDw2Y&list=OLAK5uy_kLHQliubwmYsfg8QzL4KmK2XldOJIv69U&index=1
(The Boatman's Call, 1998 i believe)
(Only piano and a few arrangements. classic and soulful. the first nick cave "ballad" album. Key Tracks: 1, 3, 5, 6, 10)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwNxcNCLnKw&list=OLAK5uy_naAb-4-gM6zXnSVrmxqM3B-v3cAZXNuDc&index=1

(Do You Love Me? 1994)
(One of his best albums. dark ambient blues that makes you feel you sit in a bar and smoke cigars while listening to some drunk guys and their stories. Key Tracks: 1, 3, 5, 6, 10)


Two rocky veeery dark albums:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38rShJc2P-A&list=OLAK5uy_lEWnJQCQtJv6gJciC833ZAJp31lzXTzVo (Henry's Dream, 1992, Key tracks: 1, 5, 7, 8)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXbqD7OdlpQ&list=OLAK5uy_k8hUSyCv44CTlaPF-tEZc8BD_cJqFmcg8 (his second album, The Firstborn Is Dead, 1985, Key tracks: All songs are great!!!)


Hope you'll enjoy



All comments from YouTube:

@jenniferhaar7934

This man DESERVES to be recognized more than he is

@anetteekdahl786

And He Is!!❣️♥️👍

@displaced74

He is

@shelparks988

Imagine you see him at a quaint coffee shop, and just casually tell him thank you your music means so much and walk away. I think he'd appreciate that

@alic9353

I could swore I saw him at Wally World once .. did a dbl take the guy was wearing clothes he'd probably wear .. who the he** is Wally ? I was straighton too .. I live in a area where celebrities are known to visit/live .. do do do do do .. twilight zone ..whoever it was he was really polite .. kind of fit the profile i always read how nice he is to everyone ..I also think I saw Vincent Price once at a Safeway in my hometown when i was a kid he was tall and had that sinister quality to him .. ill never forget how he looked at me it kinda scared the crap out of me I'd seen alot of Vincent Prices movies , Gregory Peck was known to live in a small community up in the hills east of my home town according to historical records he had a home there. La Jolla playhouse was where he performed before becoming famous .. you never know .. kinda messes with the mind... like wtf ?? .. 😮 I would of passed out if it actually him ..PM ..❤😊❤

@itorqueutorque5137

😎

1 More Replies...

@user-hj5je9tx3w

I love his voice. So low yet power in upper rang. Haunting voice.

@fredgiles5768

Probably one of the most beautiful melancholic songs I've ever heard.

@MaryBrooke

Also check out Silent Lucidity from Queensryche.

@GIGI.CABRERAvt1ir

Melancholic...a form of melancholy. Yep. That's the mood.

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