Strange Ritual

(album: David Byrne - 1994)

A man sits in a field contemplating his crops
In his mind he travels all over the world

I see hairstyles, strange rituals
Scenes of beauty, scenes that disgust me
I see, I see me
I felt awe, felt disgust
I felt bliss, I felt lust
It's not unusual

Saw people in a remote village
Proudly wearing their digital watches
Saw a young Indonesian girl
Possessed by the spirit of Mutant Ninja Turtles
Saw palatial estates, with crumbling decorations
And human furniture

I saw hairstyles, meanwhile
There's a strange ritual
Got a strange ritual, it's wearing me down

Saw a skyscraper made out of abandoned car parts
Saw a legislature of women
Courted by corporate lobbyists
Saw body parts made out of precious gems
And rare metals, saw a man on a barstool
Who hadn't moved in 32 hours

He's lost in love
He's lost in love
All hope is gone

A French corporation that doesn't make anything
An ambulance driver wakes up in a Dairy Queen
A town in which even the people who live there
Can't remember it's name

Yeah, I see
Yeah, I see I see what you mean
Yeah, I saw hairstyles
Meanwhile
There's a strange ritual
He's got a strange ritual

He keeps to himself
Mmm got a strange ritual
He keeps to himself
"Excuse me, sir, excuse me, sir
You can't stand there
You can't stand there"
Excuse me, sir (excuse me, sir)
Excuse me, sir (excuse me, sir)
You can't stand there (you can't stand there)
You can't stand there (you can't stand there)

I saw things
Things out in the fields
I saw things
Things out in the fields
And I look at myself
What do I know?

(I saw things come into my room)

I saw things come into my room
It's not unusual
I saw hairstyles
Meanwhile
There's a strange ritual
Got a strange ritual
He keeps to himself
Yeah, we got a strange ritual
We keep to ourselves
He's lost in love
He's lost in love
All hope is gone
All hope is gone
All hands on deck
All hands on deck
He's lost in love
He's lost in love
We're lost in love
We're lost in love
All hope is gone
All hope is gone
We've got a strange ritual
We keep to ourselves
We've got a strange ritual
We keep to ourselves
Keep, keep, keep ...
We've got a strange ritual
We keep to ourselves

We're lost in love
We're lost in love
We're lost in love
We're lost in love ...