Talking Heads - Once In a Lifetime Lyrics

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
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

You may ask yourself, "How do I work this?"
You may ask yourself, "Where is that large automobile?"
You may tell yourself, "This is not my beautiful house"
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 a-a-a-at the bottom of the ocean
Remove the water from the bottom of the ocean
Carry the water from 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, after the money's gone
Once in a lifetime, water flowing underground

Into the blue again, into the silent water
Under the rocks and stones, there is water underground
And as the days go by, into the silent water
Once in a lifetime water flowing underground

You may ask yourself, "What is that beautiful house?"
You may ask yourself, "Where does that highway lead to?"
You may ask yourself, "Am I right? Am I wrong?"
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, after the money's gone
Once in a lifetime, 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, into the silent water
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

Time isn't holding us
Time isn't after us
Time isn't holding up
Time is a pony ride

Time isn't holding us
Time isn't after us
Time isn't holding up
Time is a pony ride

Letting the days go by
Letting the days go by
Letting the days go by
Once in a lifetime

Letting the days go by
Letting the days go by
Letting the days go by
Once in a lifetime

• Anonymous

  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.

• Anonymous

  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

  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!