What’s Goin’ On

Song Meaning

The lyrics paint a disorienting picture, opening with a biblical flood giving way to the chaotic revelry of Bourbon Street and Mardi Gras. This jarring transition immediately establishes a sense of unease, as if the narrator is emerging from a profound event only to find the world in a state of bewildering festivity. The refrain, a simple "I wanna know yeah yeah / What's going on?", acts as a constant, almost childlike plea against this backdrop of surreal and unsettling imagery. It's a direct question posed to a world that seems to have lost its bearings. The core tension lies in the juxtaposition of mundane domesticity with escalating absurdity and potential danger. We see "Daddy got a hairdo" and "Mama gonna mow the lawn" – seemingly normal, even quaint, domestic scenes. Yet, these are immediately followed by increasingly bizarre vignettes: Grandpa soaking teeth in kerosene before bed, a mattress full of dynamite, a monkey smoking a "funny cigarette" with the devil. This contrast highlights a deep disconnect, suggesting that beneath a veneer of normalcy, something is profoundly off-kilter. The most striking craft element is the escalating surrealism, which builds with each verse. The narrative progresses from a biblical allusion to a bizarre domestic scene, then to a cautionary tale about greed ("Sold it for a dollar / But a dollar wouldn't do"), and finally to a Faustian bargain with a devil and a monkey. The repeated refrain acts as an anchor, a desperate attempt to find logic or order amidst this unfolding chaos. The imagery becomes increasingly fragmented and strange, particularly in the final verse describing a person with mismatched eyes and a shaking leg, culminating in a "smack dab / In the middle of her head." This lyrical approach is effective because it mirrors a feeling of profound disorientation and anxiety without explicitly stating it. The narrator's repeated question, "What's going on?", resonates because the surrounding details are so bizarre and disconnected, making the listener question reality alongside them. The lyrics don't offer answers; instead, they immerse the listener in a world where the familiar is twisted into the strange, and the only response is a persistent, bewildered inquiry.