David Byrne › Lyrics › Social Studies

I thought that if I ate the food of the area I was visiting
That I might assimilate the point of view of the people there
As if the point of view was somehow in the food
So, I would make no choices myself regarding what food I ate

I would simply follow the examples of those around me
I would study menus very carefully
Making note of important differences and similarities
When shopping at the supermarket

I felt a great desire to walk off with someone else's groceries
So, I could study them at length and study their effects on me
As though if I ate their groceries
I would become that person until I finished their groceries

And we might find ourselves going to the same places
Running into one another at the movies or in a shopping mall
Reading the same books, watching the same TV programs
Wearing the same clothes, traveling to the same places
And taking the same pictures, getting sick at the same time

And getting well again simultaneously
Finding ourselves attracted to the same people
Working at the same job and making the same amount of money
Living identical lives as long as the groceries lasted