Released: August 3, 1979
Songwriter: Tina Weymouth Jerry Harrison Chris Frantz David Byrne
Producer: Brian Eno Talking Heads
[Verse 1]
Heard of a van that is loaded with weapons
Packed up and ready to go
Heard of some gravesites, out by the highway
A place where nobody knows
The sound of gunfire, off in the distance
I'm getting used to it now
Lived in a brownstone, lived in the ghetto
I've lived all over this town
[Chorus 1]
This ain't no party, this ain't no disco
This ain't no fooling around
No time for dancing, or lovey-dovey
I ain't got time for that now
[Verse 2]
Transmit the message, to the receiver
Hope for an answer some day
I got three passports, a couple of visas
You don't even know my real name
High on a hillside, the trucks are loading
Everything's ready to roll
I sleep in the daytime, I work in the nighttime
I might not ever get home
[Chorus 2]
This ain't no party, this ain't no disco
This ain't no fooling around
This ain't no Mudd Club, or C.B.G.B
I ain't got time for that now
[Verse 3]
Heard about Houston? Heard about Detroit?
Heard about Pittsburgh, P. A.?
You oughta know not to stand by the window
Somebody'll see you up there
I got some groceries, some peanut butter
To last a couple of days
But I ain't got no speakers, ain't got no headphones
Ain't got no records to play
[Bridge]
Why stay in college? Why go to night school?
Gonna be different this time
Can't write a letter, can't send no postcard
I ain't got time for that now
[Outro]
Trouble in transit, got through the roadblock
We blended in with the crowd
We got computers, we're tapping phone lines
I know that that ain't allowed
We dress like students, we dress like housewives
Or in a suit and a tie
I changed my hairstyle so many times now
I don't know what I look like
You make me shiver, I feel so tender
We make a pretty good team
Don't get exhausted, I'll do some driving
You ought to get you some sleep
Burned all my notebooks, what good are notebooks?
They won't help me survive
My chest is aching, burns like a furnace
The burning keeps me alive
Get your instructions
Follow directions--
Heard of a van that is loaded with weapons
Packed up and ready to go
Heard of some gravesites, out by the highway
A place where nobody knows
The sound of gunfire, off in the distance
I'm getting used to it now
Lived in a brownstone, lived in the ghetto
I've lived all over this town
[Chorus 1]
This ain't no party, this ain't no disco
This ain't no fooling around
No time for dancing, or lovey-dovey
I ain't got time for that now
[Verse 2]
Transmit the message, to the receiver
Hope for an answer some day
I got three passports, a couple of visas
You don't even know my real name
High on a hillside, the trucks are loading
Everything's ready to roll
I sleep in the daytime, I work in the nighttime
I might not ever get home
[Chorus 2]
This ain't no party, this ain't no disco
This ain't no fooling around
This ain't no Mudd Club, or C.B.G.B
I ain't got time for that now
[Verse 3]
Heard about Houston? Heard about Detroit?
Heard about Pittsburgh, P. A.?
You oughta know not to stand by the window
Somebody'll see you up there
I got some groceries, some peanut butter
To last a couple of days
But I ain't got no speakers, ain't got no headphones
Ain't got no records to play
[Bridge]
Why stay in college? Why go to night school?
Gonna be different this time
Can't write a letter, can't send no postcard
I ain't got time for that now
[Outro]
Trouble in transit, got through the roadblock
We blended in with the crowd
We got computers, we're tapping phone lines
I know that that ain't allowed
We dress like students, we dress like housewives
Or in a suit and a tie
I changed my hairstyle so many times now
I don't know what I look like
You make me shiver, I feel so tender
We make a pretty good team
Don't get exhausted, I'll do some driving
You ought to get you some sleep
Burned all my notebooks, what good are notebooks?
They won't help me survive
My chest is aching, burns like a furnace
The burning keeps me alive
Get your instructions
Follow directions--
more tracks from the album
The Best of Talking Heads
- Once in a Lifetime
- Love → Building on Fire
- Found a Job
- Blind
- Wild Wild Life
- Houses in Motion
- Memories Can’t Wait
- Road to Nowhere
- (Nothing But) Flowers
- Take Me to the River
- And She Was
- Life During Wartime
- Heaven
- This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)
- Girlfriend Is Better
- Psycho Killer
- Uh-Oh, Love Comes to Town
- Burning Down the House
From the albums
- Fear of Music (1979)
- Times Square: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1980)
- Once in a Lifetime: The Best of Talking Heads (1992)
- Sand in the Vaseline: Popular Favorites (1992)
- The Rolling Stone Collection - 25 Years Of Essential Rock (1993)
- Once in a Lifetime (2003)
- The Best of Talking Heads (2004)
- I Wanna Be Sedated: From The Underground- Celebrating 60 Years Of Warner Bros. Re (2018)
Talking Heads popular songs
- Once in a Lifetime
- Psycho Killer
- This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)
- Burning Down the House
- Life During Wartime
- Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)
- Road to Nowhere
- Crosseyed and Painless
- The Great Curve
- Girlfriend Is Better
- Slippery People
- (Nothing But) Flowers
- Heaven
- Take Me to the River
- And She Was
- Listening Wind
- Don’t Worry About the Government
- Seen and Not Seen
- Making Flippy Floppy
- Houses in Motion
- I Zimbra
- The Overload
- Cities
- Wild Wild Life