Wasteland (song)

"Tomorrow People"
"****Wasteland****"
"Neuromancer"

"**Wasteland**" is a song performed by Billy Idol. It serves as the second track on Billy's fifth album, Cyberpunk. It was released on January, 1994, as the final promotional single of the album with "Neuromancer".

## Background

The lyric "no religion at all" was later used as the title of Idol's 1993 European tour: the No Religion Tour. The track, "Wasteland", did not receive a music video.

## Music and composition

Mark Frauenfelder on the Cyberpunk floppy disk:

> "The dogma and empty ritual of organized religio in the Western world creates alienation. The spiritual ecstasy experienced by ''Primitive'' people who are in touch with their natural environment strips away dogma, and allows examination of our inner being."
>
>

## Critical reception

2 Loud 2 Old Music opined:

> "The opening track is **“**Wasteland**”** which is a techno-wonder of grooves and beats mixed with Billy’s trademark vocals and growls plus some killer guitar work by Mark Younger-Smith (and there will be a lot of that)."
>
>

The Rolling Stones opined:

> "“A fantasy scene in my machine gave me the secret of life,” Idol declares on “Wasteland.” Synthesizers burble and squeak; a sampled voice intones, “No religion at all.” It’s all very high-tech and foreboding. Soon enough, the inevitable heavy-metal guitars appear on the horizon; long before that, Billy lapses into his trademark rebel yells and party barks. Without a clever chorus to back him up, Idol’s mannered chutzpah turns into a deadly self-parody."
>
>

## Lyrics

[Intro]

(Out into the wasteland)

(Out into the wasteland)

[Chorus]

(No religion) No religion, no religion at all

(No religion) No religion, no religion at all

No religion, no religion at all

(No religion) No religion, no religion at all

(No religion)

(No religion at all)

(No religion)

[Verse 1]

Emissionary man amongst the heathen

Can't you see a modern primitive

I came back, I wanna find

I'm wanna give religion

When there was no religion at all

[Chorus]

I'm outta the wasteland

I'm into this head, man

I'm outta the wasteland

No religion at all

I'm outta the wasteland

I'm into this head, man

I'm outta the wasteland

No religion, no religion at all

[Verse 2]

There's a man in need of resurrection (No religion)

Can't you see a modern primitive (No religion)

But I'm a man, I need my love and freedom (No religion)

When there was no freedom at all

[Chorus]

I'm outta the wasteland

I'm into this head, man

I'm outta the wasteland

No religion at all

I'm outta the wasteland

I'm into this head, man

Yeah, I'm outta the wasteland

No religion, no religion at all

No religion

No religion at all

No religion

No religion at all

[Verse 3]

In VR land, the future of fun

Tell me what to do

In VR law, computer crime

Mmm, so sublime

A fantasy scene in my machine

Give me secret of life

Let me know, yeah, what I am

And you know that I could get

[Chorus]

Outta the wasteland

I'm into this head, man

I'm outta the wasteland

No religion at all

I'm outta the wasteland

I'm into this head, man

I'm outta the wasteland

No religion, no religion at all

I'm outta the wasteland

So far from the the deadland, ow

I'm outta the wasteland

No religion, no religion, yeah

I'm outta the wasteland

So far from the the deadland, mmm

I'm outta the wasteland

No religion, no religion at all, ow

[Outro]

No religion, no religion at all (No religion)

No religion, no religion at all (No religion)

No religion, no religion at all (No religion)

No religion, no religion at all (No religion at all)

(No religion)

(No religion)

(No religion at all)

(No religion)

(No religion)

(Out into the wasteland)

(Out into the wasteland)

## Official versions

* Album version — 04:33
* Wasteland (Album Edit) — 03:58
* Wasteland (No Religion 11) — 03:58
* Wasteland (No Religion Mix) — 02:58

## Credits

**Personnel**

* Billy Idol — songwriting, vocals
* Mark Younger-Smith — songwriting
* Stephen Marcussen — mastering engineering

**Technical**

* Billy's Home Studio, Los Angeles, CA, United States

## References

1. ↑ https://2loud2oldmusic.com/2019/05/08/billy-idol-cyberpunk-album-review-the-billy-idol-series/
2. ↑ https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/cyberpunk-191996/

## Navigation

"****Wasteland****"
"Pre-Shock"
"**Shock To The System**"
"Tomorrow People"
"**Adam In Chains**"
"**Neuromancer**"

"That Which Beareth Thorns"
"Love Labours On"
"**Heroin**"
"Injection"
"Shangrila"
"Concrete Kingdom"

"**Venus**"
"Then The Night Comes"
"Before Dawn"
"Mother Dawn"
"Recap"