57 CHANNELS (AND NOTHIN' ON)^©

Live 17 Nov 1990 version

I bought a Hollywood house in the bourgeois hills
With a dump truck of hundred thousand dollar bills
Man came by to hook up my cable TV
Settled in for the night my baby and me
We switched 'round and 'round until a-half-past dawn
But there were fifty-seven channels man and nothin' on

Well now home entertainment was my baby's wish
So I hopped into town for a satellite dish
Home, tied it to the roof of my Japanese car
Came home and I pointed it up into the stars
Well a message came back from the great beyond
Said there was fifty-seven channels son and nothin' on

Whoa!

Hey well like a wheel of fortune we kept spinnin' that*
Wishing home night to the morning with our eyes gone fishing
We sat there on that couch 'till just about dawn
Fifty-seven channel and nothin' on

Whoa!
Whoa!
Whoa!
Yeah!
Whoa!

Well we might'a made some friends with some billionaires
We might'a got all hot and horny if we'd made it upstairs
All I got was a note that said "Good-bye John
Our love is fifty-seven channels and nothin' on"

So I went down to the porn shop next to the Pussycat Theater on Santa Monica
I bought a .44 magnum, it was solid steel cast
In the blessed name of Elvis well I let it blast
'Til my TV was in pieces there at my feet
And they busted me for disturbin' the almighty peace
Judge said "What you got in your defense son?"
I shouted "Fifty-seven channels
Judge, there's fifty-seven channel
There's fifty-seven channels and there's nothin' on"

I keep switchin'
Mmm, my mind is twitchin'
My finger trigger's itchin'

Mmm-hmm
Friend, I can see by your eyes, well you're just about gone
You're fifty-seven channels and nothin' on

The above lyrics refer to the 17 Nov 1990 performance at the Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, CA, during the second night of the two benefits shows for Christic Institute. This acoustic performance of 57 CHANNELS (AND NOTHIN' ON) is the second known live performance of the song. Check out from the first night, the live 16 Nov 1990 version. Check also the album's version (more details), the MTV UnPlugged version, the live 05 Jun 1992 version, and live 10 Jul 1992 version, and Teddy Zig Zag's version.

* Note that the third verse, "Hey well like a wheel of fortune...", was not included on the album's version.

Song intro on 17 Nov 1990 at the Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, CA:

Oh yeah, it is true. I was uh, was reading the papers the other day and I came across a Bob Dylan interview where a woman is asking him about this movie that he just put out. And it was funny because she says "Bob, this could be the worst movie, you know, Rock 'N' Roll movie ever made", and Bob was very nonplussed, he says "yeah, could be." And then he said "???," he says "yeah, I was trying to, I asked the director what I should do, and he said 'just be yourself.'" And uh, he says "I was wondering, which one?" I knew just what he meant. So this song, this next song is the real me, so (chuckles), wrote about my actual life time (chuckles). ???, alright, ???, it's alright. Just in case you were wondering.