Lyrics by janesaddiction.org
Lyrics
Hey, Hey! Hey, hey hey! Hey hey, yeah yeah!
And you don’t know me!
You don’t know me
But you just keep on looking at me down low
Oh no!
Your digging something up…
Your digging something up…
Always digging something up…
Oh no!
Hey, Hey! Hey, hey hey! Hey yeah, yeah, You!
And I don’t know you
I don’t even want to,
But you just keep looking at me down low
Oh no!
Your digging something up…
Digging something up…
Always digging something up…
Oh no!
And you make it so…
And you make it…
And you make it so…
Obvious…
Hey, Hey! Hey, hey hey! Hey yeah, yeah, You!
Now fools don’t fit in
The boots that I tread in,
But you just keep on looking at me down low
Oh no!
Digging something up…
Digging something up…
Always digging something up…
Oh no!
And you make it so….
And you do it…
And you make it so….
Yeah all right
And you know that you got to owe me something before you know what is joke and what is up
And you know that you got to show me something before you know what is joke and what is up
‘Cause I worked my fingers to the bone and I won’t let you stop me going up
Why do you have to make it so!-so!-so!-so!-so! OBVIOUS!?
Oh no!
Oh no…
Oh no…
Oh no…
Oh no… (hey!!!!!!!!!)
***
So what to make of this one… [cracks knuckles.]
1. This one’s relatively obvious, i.e., straightforward, but there are still a number of important ideas at work here. If tracks 2 and 3 introduced the importance of appearance to the Alternative Lifestyle, this a simple reaction to the phenomenon of being stared at for being different; still it raises a few issues which are important and worth noting.
2. First, is that you don’t know me, and you don’t want to, and I probably don’t want to know you; so again, this is about prejudice based on appearance. So here, the experience say of African Americans is being paralleled with that of the Alternative person, who wears dreadlocks, and combat boots (note the reference to boots, which were very in at the time as a symbol of the Alternative Movement).
3. It’s also about perceived social hierarchy: you are looking at me down low, i.e., you are looking down at me, as the establishment person (who is being addressed here again, the subject of ”you” like so much of Farrell’s music at this time), and so once again, it is about breaking out of these perceived social hierarchies; and the injustice of being placed into one based on appearance; but again, the Alternative Person chooses to look different, if he is white like Farrell is; and so he is voluntarily joining a visible minority, a counterculture, and then he is reacting negatively when people stare at him.
So is he being disingenuous? Well, the idea is that he is choosing solidarity with the outcast, with the counterculture, and attempting to break down the prejudices of the bourgeoisie (i.e., the establishment people); and so, he has already adopted this appearance; and then yes, he expects to be looked down at, in some ways, but he also hopes and expects, and creates a political programme, in which people who look different will not be treated differently. In this way, the A Movement was in line with feminism, affirmative action, LGBT, pro-disabilities groups, veterans’ groups, even unions – anyone who is looked down upon by the mainstream, who is traditionally identified as being sympathetic for/by the liberal ethos as it existed at the time.
3.5. The clothing/uniform/lifestyle. We should remember that Alternative People deeply felt their alienation, and their uniform was deeply held, until it seemed inevitable that they could wear anything else. Many were poor, and shopped at army surplus stores and thrift stores not entirely because it was a uniform, but because it was seen as a necessity; combat boots even were cheap, and held up a long time, and so this is why they became preferred gear. Torn shirts, torn shoes, etc., were all part of the uniform, because the AP genuinely felt alienated from brand name clothing, and very often could not afford brand name jeans, polo shirts, etc. So there was a definite economic class thing going on.
4. The association of the experience of the Alternative Male with feminism is also important here, since the theory of the “Gaze” is evoked. While feminist theorists were talking about the commodification of the female body through the male gaze, Farrell is pointing out the importance of the ‘Establishment Gaze,” so this is really a new political theory of the gaze. Black theorists talk about the white gaze, the hetero gaze is invoked by gay theorsts, etc; well, the establishment gaze is one that poor and countercultural people have to endure all of the time, and is indeed a strong form of prejudice, which should not be tolerated in an ideal and well-running society. The value judgments, etc., of the establishment gaze are often very facile, and make people feel bad, but they are, as Farrell points out, often misplaced.
5. Once more, Farrell points out that he is on his way up, and so this asserts that not all who seem to be ‘beneath’ you, should be taken as such. So he shows here his artistic pride and hubris as well; he knows he is ‘better’ than most people, and uses that as a counterargument to the habitual stare that alternative people got used to getting. Once again Farrell uses his work ethic as a defense against ‘conservative’ arguments which would castigate him as a hippie. So he is distancing himself from the ‘lazy hippie’ stereotype which might easily be cast on his alternative appearance and drug habits: since he was not that sort of person, the injustice he feels is palpable.
6. Does the main lyric ‘digging something up’ mean anything? It is perhaps a reference to journalists, who are always looking to find dirt on the emerging rock star; but other than that; it’s simply a reference to the prejudices that the gazer has regarding the countercultural appearance of the narrator.
Epilogue: the relative simplicity of this lyric, with a relatively straightforward subject matter of a simple gaze on the street, belies some important connections with contemporary work on “the Gaze,” and connections of the Alternative Male with black and feminist experience.
Trivial Alternatives 