Talking Heads – Once in a Lifetime Lyrics

Talking Heads · Remain in Light

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You may find yourself
Living in a shotgun shack
You may find yourself
In another part of the world
You may find yourself
Behind the wheel of a large automobile
You may find yourself
In a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife
And you may ask yourself
Well, how did I get here?

Letting the days go by
Let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by
Water flowing underground
Into the blue again
After the money's gone
Once in a lifetime
Water flowing underground

And you may ask yourself
How do I work this?
And you may ask yourself
Where is that large automobile?
And you may tell yourself
This is not my beautiful house
And you may tell yourself
This is not my beautiful wife

Letting the days go by
Let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by
Water flowing underground
Into the blue again
After the money's gone
Once in a lifetime
Water flowing underground

Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was

Water dissolving and water removing
There is water at the bottom of the ocean
Under the water, carry the water at the bottom of the ocean
Remove the water at the bottom of the ocean

Letting the days go by
Let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by
Water flowing underground
Into the blue again
Into the silent water
Under the rocks and stones
There is water underground

Letting the days go by
Let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by
Water flowing underground
Into the blue again
After the money's gone
Once in a lifetime
Water flowing underground

And you may ask yourself
What is that beautiful house?
And you may ask yourself
Where does that highway go to?
And you may ask yourself
Am I right? Am I wrong?
And you may say to yourself
My God, what have I done?

Letting the days go by
Let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by
Water flowing underground
Into the blue again
Into the silent water
Under the rocks and stones
There is water underground

Letting the days go by
Let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by
Water flowing underground
Into the blue again
After the money's gone
Once in a lifetime
Water flowing underground

Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Look where my hand was
Time isn't holding up
Time is an asterisk
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Same as it ever was
Yeah, the twister comes
Here comes the twister
Same as it ever was

Comments (3)

Anonymous 2008-10-22 22:50:00

This song is a mind-blowing indictment of living in a dream world, simply reacting to events around us in the way we were programmed by our parents and peers. Most humans are robots, completely unaware of themselves, unable to fully communicate with others. Look at the world around you.MY GOD WHAT HAVE WE DONE!
Anonymous 2008-10-25 21:33:00

A searing indicment of the way most of us live our lives...in a fog. Programmed by parents and peers, we stumble through our days wondering how we got here. We are completely unaware of what motivates us, unconsciously walking through time. At the end, we get a glimmer of the cosmic joke/tragedy.
Anonymous 2010-10-13 14:02:00

It's about the American Dream, as sold to us by Madison Avenue. We all want the beautiful wife in the beautiful house, and the best car out in the driveway. That's what we are taught will bring happiness -- economic prosperity. But capitalism has a way of catching us all up in a euphoric ride at the crest of its wave, only to eventually dump us on our asses on the hard beach where we stop, look around and say, "What have we done?" or "Where is that large automobile" or "This is not my beautiful wife." All an illusion. You had it (proseperity-therefore-happiness) and lost it when the wave fell. What a life! I like the part about carrying water from the bottom of the ocean. That's what we all do -- busy ourselves with busy-ness because if we don't then we may pause for a split second and see what a big illusion it all is. So we carry water from water to replace the water, replenish the water, not knowing there is water everywhere already if we just stop and look.