DJ Allyn – The Soundtrack for my Life

All You Zombies ~ The Hooters  

The Hooters were formed in 1980 and played their first show on July 4 of that year. They took their name from a nickname for the melodica, a type of keyboard harmonica which is German in origin and made by Hohner. Two of the members, Eric Bazilian and Rob Hyman, originally played in a band in the late 1970s called Baby Grand and released two albums on Arista Records.

During the 1980s, The Hooters played on the Philadelphia club scene, boosted by airplay on WMMR, the major rock radio station in Philadelphia at the time. They soon became a huge success along their native East Coast, playing everything from clubs to high schools, while appearing on local television shows.

In 1982, Bazilian and Hyman were asked to write, arrange and play on the debut album of a relatively unknown singer named Cyndi Lauper, She’s So Unusual, who was being produced by their former bandmate from Baby Grand, Rick Chertoff. Hyman co-wrote the song “Time After Time,” which would go on to hit Number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart and was subsequently nominated for a Grammy Award for Song of the Year.

In 1983, The Hooters released their first independent album, Amore, which sold over 100,000 copies and introduced the original versions of songs like “All You Zombies,” “Hanging On A Heartbeat,” “Fightin’ On The Same Side” and “Blood From A Stone,” all of which would reappear in different versions on later albums. Although a studio album, Amore captured the same spirit that made The Hooters admired for their live performances.

The Hooters presence, as performers and as songwriters, was recognized when, on July 26, 1984 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Philadelphia, Columbia Records signed them to their first major recording contract.

All You Zombies

The song stems from the stories of Moses receiving the Ten Commandments and Noah’s Ark in the Old Testament of the Bible, and the fact that in both stories the people had rejected higher guidance. Some suggest that the song is a religious allegory on the unenlightened, warning them of what is to come if they do not accept the word of God, while others believe that the tune was written first and the lyrics only added because they fit. The song was written in one night by bandmembers Rob Hyman and Eric Bazilian.

The song has the same title as a science fiction story by Robert A. Heinlein. Although a member of the group had read the story as a teenager, the connection appears to be essentially a coincidence.

Holy Moses met the Pharaoh
Yeah, he tried to set him straight
Looked him in the eye
“Let my people go”

Holy Moses on the mountain
High above the golden calf
Went to get the Ten Commandments
Yeah, he’s just gonna break them in half!

{Chorus}
All you zombies hide your faces
All you people in the street
All you sittin’ in high places
The pieces gonna fall on you

No one ever spoke to Noah
They all laughed at him instead
Working on his ark
Working all by himself

Only Noah saw it coming
Forty days and forty nights
Took his sons and daughters with him
Yeah, they were the Israelites

All you zombies hide your faces
All you people in the street
All you sittin’ in high places
The rain’s gonna fall on you

Holy Father, what’s the matter
Where have all your children gone
Sitting in the dark
Living all by themselves
You don’t have to hide any more

All you zombies show your faces…
…The pieces gonna fall on you

All you zombies show your faces
(I know you’re out there)
All you people in the street
(Let’s see you)
All you sittin’ in high places
It’s all gonna fall on you