Like many other tracks (most notably their cover of “Satisfaction”) off their debut album, this song attacks commercialism and consumer capitalism through satire and specific, snappy references to products and parenting. Devo detail the paranoia that results from living in the contemporary world.
[Verse 1]
Think I got your dial tone
Think I got Billy Baxter's bone
Think I got a bubble-sac
I think I got a Big Mac attack
[Pre-Chorus]
Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce
Special orders, don't upset us
All we ask is that you let us
Serve it your way
[Chorus]
There's too much paranoias
There's too much paranoias
My momma's afraid to tell me
The things she's afraid of
[Verse 2]
I been dipped in double meaning
I been stuck with static cling
Think I got a rupto-pac
I think I got a Big Mac attack
[Pre-Chorus]
Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce
Special orders, don't upset us
All we ask is that you let us
Serve it your way
[Chorus]
There's too much paranoias
There's too much paranoias
My momma's afraid to tell me
The things she's afraid of
Too Much Paranoias was written by Mark Mothersbaugh.
Too Much Paranoias was produced by Brian Eno.
Devo released Too Much Paranoias on Fri Sep 15 1978.