He certainly did earn that reputation.
Ooh baby I hear you spend night time
Wrapped like candy in a blue blue neon glow
Fade away and radiate
Fade away and radiate
Ooh baby watchful lines vibrate soft in brainwave time
Silver pictures move so slow
Golden tubes faintly glow
Electric faces seem to merge
Hidden voices mock your words
Fade away and radiate
Fade away and radiate
The beams become my dream
My dream is on the screen
The beams become my dream
My dream is on the screen
Dusty frames that still arrive die in 1955
Fade away and radiate
Fade away and radiate
The beams become my dream
My dream is on the screen
Fade away and radiate
Fade away and radiate
Fade away and radiate
Fade away and radiate
Wrapped like candy in a blue blue neon glow
Fade away and radiate
Fade away and radiate
Ooh baby watchful lines vibrate soft in brainwave time
Silver pictures move so slow
Golden tubes faintly glow
Electric faces seem to merge
Hidden voices mock your words
Fade away and radiate
Fade away and radiate
The beams become my dream
My dream is on the screen
The beams become my dream
My dream is on the screen
Dusty frames that still arrive die in 1955
Fade away and radiate
Fade away and radiate
The beams become my dream
My dream is on the screen
Fade away and radiate
Fade away and radiate
Fade away and radiate
Fade away and radiate
Lyrics submitted by spliphstar
Fade Away and Radiate Lyrics as written by Chris Stein
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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they werent on drugs
the song is about falling asleep in front of the tv. take the lines "Ooh baby I hear you spend night time: Wrapped like candy in a blue blue neon glow" this talks about someone falling asleep in front of something that is glowing, in this case a tv. Other lines include "Silver pictures move so slow Golden tubes faintly glow Electric faces seem to merge Hidden voices mock your words" this obviously talks about a tv paticularly a black and white tv that seems to be slowing down and/or mocking someone as they fall asleep. Finally "The beams become my dream My dream is on the screen Fade away and radiate" this means whoever fell asleep in front of the tv is dreaming about the characters on the screen and the song title fade away and radiate simply suggests falling asleep in front of an old tv that gives off radiation. i love this song but think its stupid that anyone would think punk rock is about drugs or that all punk bands are on drugs. dont ever categorize something that is against categorizing things.
@gummomohawk. Agreed, completely in fact, but there's a specific too - James Dean, who died in '55. ("Dusty Frames that still arrive. Die in 1955"). & he starred in Rebel Without A Cause and was mocked offscreen in it. So circa mid '70s Chris & Debbie had certainly seen old Dean films on tv, long after he died- Fade Away And Radiate.
@gummomohawk Definitely. I remember reading an interview back when it came out, maybe in Creem or Trouser Press or something, where Chris said explicitly that it was about Debbie falling asleep watching tv with him.
And your point being? So they may have been on drugs who cares? Most punk band are. Doesnt stop it being an amazing song.
they were on drugs...
I think both interpretations are correct - the obvious TV meaning, and also perhaps a drug theme - since "fading" means getting stoned, and if the faces and voices were part of the daze. I always thought she was singing as if she was holding back a lot of anger, to somebody who was addicted, maybe herself.
Not to mention the song itself is rather dreamy and trippy.
James Dean. Period. "Hidden voices, mock your words"- rebel without a cause, his most iconic film. "Dusty frames that still arrive - die in 1955." He died, age 24, in 1955. Sure it's about watching old films on tv, and is a trippy song, but it is about watching old Dean movies, long AFTER he's gone: "Fade Away And Radiate." It like most good music is poetry. I've done plenty of drugs, yet I know that. and recognize it's subject to boot.
The song is about living on after death, through the medium of the movie screen and television, its specifically about James Dean who died in 1955, she\'s in love with the young actor, who became a legend when he died 24 years old in a car crash.