Album: In Between Dreams (2005)

Charted: 50

License This Song 

Songfacts®:

• Johnson: "It's a little bit about reality TV. A TV show called Boarding House was being done in Hawaii. And the lady who was producing it asked if I wanted to play on the grand finale of the show. I said that I wasn't interested. She came up to me while I was having a conversation at this community gathering, which was a fundraiser for Sunset Elementary School. And then she interrupted me again and said that I didn't understand, that this was for national TV and that it would be a great opportunity for me. So that's where that line, 'You interrupt me from a friendly conversation to tell me how great it's all going to be' comes from. That verse is about how sometimes, even when you're trying not to pay attention to it, television and the entertainment industry and all that still sneaks into your world. It's obviously in jest and just a funny song. But it's about that feeling you get sometimes when you flip through the channels and there isn't one thing on TV that's not sensationalized or just completely about some of the lower parts of humanity. And you just start wondering where all the good people are."

Comments: 7

• John Lofgren from OrlandoThe song rings even more true in the age of Covid, where Almost everyone Followed the TV scientists and didn’t check the research on the damage The vaccine was doing.
• Pdy from UtahHonestly, this song is probably my favorite. It just is so true. I feel sad that it has to be the truth though. Why can’t the bad people of the world just learn, the bad will never win, Light and love is the true answer, and God wins.
• Claude from Blandon, PaMy favorite line is "station to station desensitizing the nation....." so very true.
• Stef from Chicago, IlI like how he says that the "boob tube" controls you in the verse, "I'm in the mood to obey". It's really true. People just sit around and watch tv actually listening to everything it's saying. It's like everyone out there has an agenda and nothing is done for the good of people anymore. It's all for self-gain. Where DID all those good people go? XD
• Will from Auburn, InWe need some good people on tv, or maybe some good musicians on music channels
• Justin from Georgetown, Inthis isn't normally my type of music. but the lyrics ring out so true i can't help but humm it.
• Jayme from Waipio, Hiso where DID they go?

More Songfacts:

MickeyToni Basil

"Mickey" by Toni Basil was originally a song called "Kitty" by a male group. She picked the new name after Micky Dolenz of The Monkees.

DilemmaNelly

Kelly Rowland was the first Destiny's Child member to have a hit away from the group: her Nelly duet "Dilemma."

The A TeamEd Sheeran

Ed Sheeran's first single was "The A Team," a song about a drug-addicted prostitute.

Don't Tell MeMadonna

Madonna's hit "Don't Tell Me" was written by her brother-in-law, Joe Henry, who has produced albums by Hugh Laurie and Bonnie Raitt.

Open ArmsJourney

"Open Arms" was a pioneering power ballad. Stadium rock bands like Journey shied away from slow songs, but when they reluctantly agreed to record the song, it became their biggest chart hit.

Cult of PersonalityLiving Colour

"Cult of Personality" by Living Colour incorporates speeches by John F. Kennedy, Malcolm X and Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Editor's Picks

Gavin Rossdale On Lyric Inspirations and Bush's Album The KingdomSongwriter Interviews

The Bush frontman on where he finds inspiration for lyrics, if his "machine head" is a guitar tuner, and the stories behind songs from the album The Kingdom.

Alan Merrill of The ArrowsSongwriter Interviews

In her days with The Runaways, Joan Jett saw The Arrows perform "I Love Rock And Roll," which Alan Merrill co-wrote - that story and much more from this glam rock pioneer.

George HarrisonFact or Fiction

Did Eric Clapton really steal George's wife? What's the George Harrison-Monty Python connection? Set the record straight with our Fact or Fiction quiz.

Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear: Teddy Bears and Teddy Boys in SongsSong Writing

Elvis, Little Richard and Cheryl Cole have all sung about Teddy Bears, but there is also a terrifying Teddy song from 1932 and a touching trucker Teddy tune from 1976.

Kip WingerSongwriter Interviews

The Winger frontman reveals the Led Zeppelin song he cribbed for "Seventeen," and explains how his passion for orchestra music informs his songwriting.

Ben Kowalewicz of Billy TalentSongwriter Interviews

The frontman for one of Canada's most well-known punk rock bands talks about his Eddie Vedder encounter, Billy Talent's new album, and the importance of rock and roll.