Beautiful World

It's a beautiful world we live in
A sweet romantic place
Beautiful people everywhere
The way they show they care
Makes me want to say
It's a beautiful world
It's a beautiful world
It's a beautiful world
For you
For you

An old writeup on this classic Devo song said that "Beautiful World" is what happens when a plastic band tries to make a pop song. Sure, it sounds poppy. It sounds upbeat, positive, and exciting. Yet, there's a dark undertone to "Beautiful World"'s lyrics. An undertone that can only be sensed when listening to the song. To truely understand "Beautiful World", one has to see the video...

It's a wonderful time to be here
It's nice to be alive
Wonderful people everywhere
The way they comb their hair
Makes me want to say
It's a beautiful world
It's a beautiful world
It's a beautiful world
For you
For you
Hey! Tell me what I say

As the second verse kicks in, the film clips Booji Boy flips through, originally of rather light and fluffy images - clouds, budding flowers, and dancing girls. give way to dark images. A man in a trench throws a grenade, a bridge collapses, soldiers fight each other hand to hand, and the KKK burns a cross. Booji Boy, poor Booji Boy, frightened by these images tries to send them away, but more come in their stead.

Boy and girl with the new clothes on
You can shake it to me all night long, hey, hey

It's not for me.

Then, during the bridge, we're given a brief respute from the images of war and violence. It doesn't last, as we quickly switch back to dark images: race riots, fighting in the streets, and mushroom clouds. The song's climax, over Gerald V. Casale's cries of "It's not for me," intersperces nuclear explosions with cartoon images from Cold War-era nuclear saftey films illustrating radation sickness, and fading out to a scene of marching soldiers, and a pretty woman saluting an American Flag.

"One man's doughnut is another man's death." - Gerald Casale