The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades
| "The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades" | |
|---|---|
| Single by Timbuk3 | |
| from the album Greetings from Timbuk3 | |
| Released | 1986 |
| Format | 7" |
| Genre | College rock, New Wave |
| Length | 3:21 |
| Label | I.R.S. Records |
| Writer(s) | Pat McDonald |
| Producer | Dennis Herring |
"The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades" is a song by Timbuk3. It is opening track from their debut album, Greetings from Timbuk3. Released as the album's first single in 1986, it was the band's only significant mainstream hit.
Contents |
Background [edit]
The inspiration for the song, and the title specifically, came when Barbara MacDonald said to her husband singer/songwriter Pat MacDonald, "The future is looking so bright, we'll have to wear sunglasses!" But, while Barbara had made the comment in earnest – it was the early '80s, the two had met and married and were starting a family, their first EP was coming, their book was filling up with gigs – Pat heard the comment as an ironic quip and wrote down instead, "The future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades."[1]
From there, the lyrics to the song were born, but not the song as it ended up in the minds of popular culture. While Pat wrote a song of a young nuclear scientist and his rich future,[1] listening audiences heard a graduation theme song.
Pat revealed on VH1's 100 Greatest One-Hit Wonders of the 80s that the meaning of the song was widely misinterpreted as a positive perspective in regard to the near future. Pat somewhat clarified the meaning by stating that it was, contrary to popular belief, a "grim" outlook. While not saying so directly, he hinted at the idea that the bright future was in fact due to impending nuclear holocaust. The "job waiting" after graduation signified the demand for nuclear scientists to facilitate such events. Pat drew upon the multitude of past predictions which transcend several cultures that foreshadow the world ending in the 1980s, along with the nuclear tension at the height of the cold war to compile the song.
The group's EP Looks Like Dark to Me contains a slower version of the song with an additional verse, making clear the dark nature of the song's intent:
Blowin' up the lab,
Blowin' the professor,
Torn between two evils,
I always pick the lesser.
That same EP's title track also refers back to this song:
The future's been bright for so long now, it looks like dark to me
Compilation albums containing the song [edit]
- L.A. Freeway
- The '80s Hit(s) Back!
- Chart Toppers: Modern Rock Hits of the 80's, Vol. 2
- Only Dance: 1985-1989
- Rock of the 80's: Volume 5
- Entertainment Weekly: The Greatest Hits 1986
- Living In Oblivion : The 80's Greatest Hits, Vol. 3
- On the Charts: I.R.S. Records 1979-1994
- Only in the 80s, Vol. 3
- Rock on
- Entertainment Weekly: The Greatest Hits 1985-1989
- I.R.S. Records on the Charts
- Overnight Sensations 1975-1989
- Disney's An Extremely Goofy Movie Dance Party! soundtrack (2000)
- Where Were You? - 1987[2]
Chart performance [edit]
The song was the group's only major pop hit, reaching number 19 on the Billboard Hot 100[3] and number 14 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.[3] Additionally, the song reached number 21 on the UK Singles Chart.[4]
Use on film and TV soundtracks [edit]
The track was used in the 1986 movie Something Wild, 1987 movies Campus Man and My Best Friend Is a Vampire, 1992's Kuffs starring Christian Slater, Dream a Little Dream (1989), Tommy Boy (1995) and TV show soundtracks.
A cast video for the song was also created in 1987 and aired for the TV show Head of the Class.
Rejection of commercial licensing [edit]
The former members of Timbuk 3 have refused to license the song for commercials, including a $900,000 offer from AT&T and offers from Ford, the U.S. Army, and Bausch & Lomb for their Ray-Ban sunglasses.[5]
References [edit]
- ^ a b Margaret Moser (23 Feb 2007). "The Future's So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades - Barbara Kooyman leverages Timbuk 3 for Texamericana.org". Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 9 Mar 2011. "'Oh, the future's so bright, we'll have to wear sunglasses!'" Kooyman teased. "Pat heard me say it, but he heard it with irony so he wrote down, 'The future's so bright I gotta wear shades.'"
- ^ http://www.allmusic.com/album/r1341431
- ^ a b "Allmusic: Timbuk3 - Charts and Awards". Retrieved 20 April 2013.
- ^ "ChartArchive". Retrieved 3 May 2012.
- ^ Langer, Andy (2000-11-24). "The Future's Still Bright". Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 2013-02-01.
