On the Horse's Mouth, Ian's fan site, he stated the meaning behind the song: "Put it like this – I was one." This is a genuine twist because it sounds like he means society is breaking down and he is writing an analysis of social decay. For example, Ian said on Billboard.com: “The last album [2001’s ‘Rant’] was geared around British politics. This album is more geared around American politics, and it’s a more American sounding record.” However, the key is in the last repeated lines: "Where you're born is the luck of the draw" or our lives would be better depending on where we happen to be placed on the earth and where we are born.
Concrete steps, never sweptIt used to be fear, now they call it respectSad old walls fallin' downOn the shattered skulls in the battlegroundAbsent fathers, weary mumsThe old, the sick, the dyingAnd the isolated onesAncient language turns obsceneBetween the goal posts of a circular dream
Nothin' matters anymoreThe rich get richer, and the poor get sorerThis house is haunted and the streets are deadWe're all at the mercy of shrunken heads
Bells are ringing of a cleaner timeThere ain't no washing hangin' out on the line anymoreSomething died and I don't know whenBut it's funkier now that it ever was then
Nothin' matters anymoreThe rich get richer, and the poor get sorerThe heart of the city is dilapidatedWho's gonna save us from these shrunken heads
On a windy day where no one smilesOn a pleasureless beach on a go-go-golden mileIn a sad cafe eating day old breadAnd I tip the angry actressWith pockets full of shrunken heads
Windows barred, exhausted dullThe smell of decay is miserableDangerous streets where the dealers ruleLie litter strewn around a frozen school
Nothin' matters anymoreThe rich get richer, and the poor get sorerYou took our loyalty and you tore it to shredsWe're all the mercy of shrunken headsNothing matters anymoreThe rich get richer, and the poor stay sorerAnd the heart of the city is red-carpetedFreaks of nature, shrunken headsShrunken heads decide my fateIt used to be 10, now it's 10:08We ain't got the answers, it's complicatedI wouldn't bet any money on shrunken heads
Where you're born is the luck of the draw
Source: LyricFind
Songwriters: Ian Hunter
Shrunken Heads lyrics © BMG Rights Management