NERVOUS IN THE ALLEY
NERVOUS IN THE ALLEY
She's 15 and she's leaving home
Living on the streets where she don't
feel alone
Daddy's always gone and mommy's on
the sauce
Living in a mansion it's easy to get
lost
She's going to a place where they
understand
Baby's on the way her womb's a garbage
can
Who said anything about a good life
This one's bad bad bad bad
Gonzo again - just another entry to
the neverending story
Wasted again - I think you need a
new best friend
Nervous in the alley off the boulevard
Shaking all over and the panic starts
You see she needs to get her prescription
filled
And she knows exactly how she'll be
billed
Nervous in the alley waiting for a
fix
She ain't got no money just a couple
of tricks
Who said anything about a charmed life
This one's sad sad sad sad
Gonzo again - just another entry to
the neverending story
Wasted again - I think you need a
new best friend
Who said anything about a good life
Who said anything about a charmed
life
Who said anything about a fair life
It's mad
Dying in the alley waiting for her
man
Carrying her child and a sleeping
bag
Should have would have could have
never crossed her mind
So she passes on to the other side
Here he comes suit shades car and
a beeper
Sugar daddy pimp pushing f***ing grim
reaper
![[Death]](death.gif)
Who said anything about a fair life
This one's mad mad mad mad
Gonzo again - just another entry to
the neverending story
Wasted again - I think you need a
new friend
Gonzo again - just another entry to
the neverending story
Wasted again - she's got herself a
new best friend
[REALLY NEAT & TRIVIAL FACT: You hear a high-shrieking feedback in the first verse: “She’s going to a place where they understand.” Hmm, I guess everyone was jamming really really loud in that studio...] :)
[REALLY NEAT & HISTORICAL FACT: This was the very first song of Smash Mouth, when "Fush Yu Mang" was but a twinkle in their eyes. It got a lot of airplay in the San Jose area (KOME) due to overwhelming listeners' requests.]
If “The Fonz” is a tragic ballad, then “Nervous In The Alley” is an epic tragic ballad. It is a disturbing tale that deals with a wealthy and misguided 15-year-old unwed mother who finds comfort in the underbelly of the city rather than in her parents’ mansion that’s devoid of love and concern for her.
But does she truly find love as well in this city--this alley? Of course not. It is just the complete extreme opposite of being rich: poverty. In either cases, both extremes have their own set of problems. The other spoiled, the other lacking--but both equally devoid.
SMASH MOUTH doesn’t pull any fairy tale ending as the song ends with a vivid and grim image of death:
Here he comes suit shades car and a beeperMan, I get depressed hearing those final two lines. Incidentally, that chorus normally goes like this:
Sugar daddy pimp pushing f***ing grim reaper
..........
Gonzo again - Just another entry to a neverending story
Wasted again - She’s got herself a new best friend
Gonzo again - Just another entry to a neverending storyAs you can see, the narrator wasn’t referring to a human friend; but a personification of a friend: in this case, death. In my opinion, this song is just being straightforward and honest and it should be respected on those merits. However, it shouldn’t be construed that “death” is the solution to certain problems. True, no one said anything about a “charmed life”--but one must learn to make it so, regardless to any obstacles one might encounter.
Wasted again - I think you need a new best friend
Accentuate the positive, I say! :)
Anyway, this song is dead-tie with "Let's Rock" because it is just a rockin' good tune!!!