Famed for his unintelligible diction, it took listeners years to figure out what in the world James Reyne was signing in this song. The band of course is Australian Crawl and this song was released in 1980. Finally, the lyrics are below. It’s a jab in the ribs to rich yuppies who did everything for appearances sake. Despite the throwaway pop sound of the song, the lyrics really are excellent. Read on…

Beautiful People

Australian Crawl

I said beautiful people
They’ve got a Robert Palmer t-shirt in their travel bag
Beautiful people
They’ve got a price upon their head
I said beautiful people
Have got some friends
Who just flew in from L.A yeah
Beautiful people
They haven’t really much to say

I said people, they just want to take you
People, they just want to make you
People, they just want to break you down
They just want to take you down

I said beautiful people
They ride two hundred dollar pushbikes in the park
Beautiful people
They won’t admit it
But they make love in the dark
Beautiful people
Snap frozen potted palms
In the corner of the living room
Beautiful people
The art-decor sonic boom

I said people, they just want to take you
People, they just want to make you
People, they just want to break you down
Wanna take you down, yes they do, ah huh
They’re gonna get to you…

Beautiful people
You know they’re going out tonight
To get their Bombay Rocks off
Beautiful people
They’ve got a Kerouac condition, got a cocaine cough
Beautiful people
Studio 54 is the only place to dance
Beautiful people
You know the garden’s full of furniture, the house is full of plants

I said people, they just want to take you
People, they just want to make you
People, they just want to break you down
They just want to take you down