Supertramp – The Logical Song lyrics

Supertramp – The Logical Song lyrics

When I was young, it seemed that life was so wonderful, a miracle, it was beautiful, magical
And all the birds in the trees, well they'd be singing so happily, joyfully, playfully, watching me
But then they send me away to teach me how to be sensible, logical, responsible, practical
And they showed me a world where I could be so dependable, clinical, intellectual, cynical
There are times when all the world's asleep
The questions run too deep for such a simple man
Won't you please, please tell me what we've learned
I know it sounds absurd but please tell me who I am

I said now, watch what you say, now we're calling you a radical, a liberal, fanatical, criminal
Won't you sign up your name, we'd like to feel you're acceptable, respectable, presentable, a vegetable

But at night, when all the world's asleep
The questions run so deep for such a simple man
Won't you please (Won't you tell me), (You can tell me what) please tell me what we've learned (Can you hear me?)
I know it sounds absurd, (Won't you help me) please tell me who I am, who I am, who I am, who I am

But I'm thinking so logical

Did you call, one two three four

It's getting unbelievable

Lyrics taken from /lyrics/s/supertramp/the_logical_song.html

Songwriters: Richard Davies, Roger Hodgson

The Logical Song lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Corrected by BoneMachine

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Sempie 2008-07-11 07:13:07

It is about the strain society puts upon us to fit seamlessly into the machinery. It is about the destruction of individuality, of free thought.
It is about conformity.
It is about people being brainwashed into thinking succes equals a big house and a fancy car. It is about the pressure to erase our personal dreams for the replacement dreams society brainwashes into our brains, in school, but also in advertisements, newspapers, or even Cosmopolitan and Playboy, where we can read who we should be, what we should wear, how to be 'cool', and what our opinions should be.
It is about a society that needs people to be cattle, vegetables, because it is easier to exploit those who ave been conditioned not to question things any more, out of fear what others might think of them.
It is about most gouvernments wish their people to be - easy to manipulate, not questioning the propaganda - mindless producers/consumers that keep the machinery going.
It is essentially about society trying to erase personality and free independend thought in childhood.
Because society usually thinks that those who ask critical quations, those who dare to be different, are a nuisance, or even dangerous.
With something like Mccarthy-ism as an extreme example of what this can leas to.

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+ 4
Rissa Ciociola 2012-12-29 23:52:58

"Please tell me who I am". Deep lyrics with a soul-searching meaning, I can't get enough of this song. It's hard to believe Roger Hodgson wrote it even before his days in Supertramp. He wrote the majority of their hits like Give a Little Bit, Dreamer, Take the Long Way Home, Breakfast in America & many others. His voice is still pristine, exact if not better than my Supertramp vinyls. It's a treat to hear this one live! I'm seeing him twice on his upcoming tour, you can see dates for yourself on Roger Hodgson Official Facebook Page.

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+ 4
Unregistered 2012-07-22 05:27:50

Sempie has it right on. I would only add that, the angst that the performer feels "please tell me who i am? " is the very feeling of becoming "un-plugged" from the conformity that has been thrust on him/her. It is very appropriate in these days of growing state surveillance and "security" measures, where the state even tells us what we should be eating, how much we should exercise, how to be good "citizens". It is the persistent questioning "who am i? " that confounds the statists, and for the wonderful souls who ask the questions, who "un-plug" from the conformity, the reality that is exposed may not be pleasant, and in fact reveals the elitists that wish to control us for the ugly and dreadful power-hungry creatures they are, indeed they are almost demon-like in their need to control and exploit.

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+ 3
Unregistered 2021-06-03 06:24:34

While it is easy to read a lot of different things into this song, I think the lyrics as written are fairly direct. The first part is about our innocence in youth. The world is wonderful and magical. But then we are "sent away" (unsure if he's talking about first grade or college, it works either way but I'm leaning more towards college) to learn things. He says the things we learn change us, they teach us to analyze and question. Our world becomes less wonderful and magical as we become more informed, more cynical. He began with happiness but was forced to trade it away for wisdom. So the third part is taking that wisdom into the world only to be met with a hostile reception. It is dangerous to speak truth. You will condemned with harsh judgments and labels (liberal, radical, criminal). Is this the price of becoming logical? Responsible? All along he just wants to fit in. A simple man, he doesn't seek to challenge the status quo. He's willing to be whatever he's "supposed" to be ("tell me who I am"). But if being logical results in being criminal, how logical can that society be?

"The Logical Song" might just be the perfect example of Jean Jacque Rousseau's argument that we are born good but corrupted by society. What good is society's wisdom if it leads to confusion and misery?

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+ 3
pluggedin70 2014-12-15 11:25:09

I feel this song is about how a person can feel. Happy or sad whatever relationship you might be involved in.
It contains so many messages about the world and everything going on in it during it's time. I grew up in the 60's and 70's and this song to me is about what was going on in the late 70's.
It is so very sad that this song was a friends favorite who listened to it a lot and passed away that very summer of 1980.

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+ 2
Unregistered 2013-10-25 10:28:24

I never listen to the words to this song logical song before. I just liked the beat until I seen the guy in the vocals sing it on a video on the world wide web yesterday. I listen to it and I could not stand to think all these years of knowing this song to find out I did not know it at all. I do think it was written before its time and fits our world that is today. Love the song.

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