All your life you've been searching
Lurching, off the tracks
This line targets people who spend their entire lives chasing power, fame, and wealth, which is not a good way to live.
You're no different than the previous
Egregious, or the next
All of them will follow
Hollow, in the heart
These people are sheep; no different from the other heartless ones who spend their lives like this.
They will bring us down with them
Better than, fall apart
These people are filled with greed, deceit, and toxicity. All of these things make society worse, 'bringing it down.'
(I see the seeds of war are being planted all around)
Plenty of wars are started over money, even if that isn't the only or primary cause.
Money makes the world go down
Money is the source of greed, which causes a lot of suffering in the world. Even so, if there was no money, people would find something else to be greedy about.
(I prefer to block it out than listen to the sound)
'The sound' in this context is any horrible news. It's good to stay informed, but a lot of times I avoid the news because I would simply rather be happy.
Money makes the world go down
(I have no choice but to partake in the breaking of the ground)
I can speak against money all I want, but I still need it to survive, so must engage in business, and sometimes therefore, break ground.
Money makes the world go down
(I have no other way to live,
Please understand)
Once again, I need money to survive. I now plead the reader and/or listener to understand my predicament as I speak against it.
Money makes the world go down
Watch us go to the spoiling point
The boiling point
Darkness falls on the brightest light
Society is declining (See "They will bring us down with them..."), approaching these detrimental points while being enveloped in darkness.
It seems like we were right
'We' refers to a hypothetical group of people, of which I am one, who preach things similar or identical to the message of this song.
You don't like what you're arriving at
Smiling at, crying at
These two lines and the next speak to a person who might have been previously chasing wealth and has come to realize how bad it is to spend one's life like that, or someone who is still chasing wealth and only knows deep down that they shouldn't be nearly so relentless.
Well, what do you expect when you replace God with that?
The people who chase wealth unceasingly have effectively made money their god.
(I see the mugs of vicious business being passed around)
Business is, in fact, vicious, which is a side effect of greed.
Money makes the world go down
(I prefer to gulp it down than listen to the sound)
As I said before (see "I have no choice but to partake in the breaking of the ground"), I would prefer to suck it up and go about my daily business and my job than expose myself to 'the sound' (See "I prefer to block it out than listen to the sound").
Money makes the world go down
(I have no choice but to join I see you are astound)
I understand that some readers/listeners may be astounded that I speak against money and business like this but still go about my own business and am a regular participant in the economy.
Money makes the world go down
(I have no other way to live,
Please understand)
Money makes the world go down
(I see the seeds of war are being planted all around)
Plenty of wars are started over money, even if that isn't the only or primary cause.
Money makes the world go down
Money is the source of greed, which causes a lot of suffering in the world. Even so, if there was no money, people would find something else to be greedy about.
(I prefer to block it out than listen to the sound)
'The sound' in this context is any horrible news. It's good to stay informed, but a lot of times I avoid the news because I would simply rather be happy.
Money makes the world go down
(I have no choice but to partake in the breaking of the ground)
I can speak against money all I want, but I still need it to survive, so must engage in business, and sometimes therefore, break ground.
Money makes the world go down
(I have no other way to live,
Please understand)
Once again, I need money to survive. I now plead the reader and/or listener to understand my predicament as I speak against it.
Money makes the world go down
Money makes the world go down
Money makes the world go down
Money makes the world go down
Money makes the world go down