You remember that opening guitar riff. It’s crisp, slightly melancholic, and sounds exactly like a sunset over a dusty Australian coastline. When Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore dropped "We Are the People" back in late 2008, nobody really knew if this flamboyant, "Walking on a Dream" duo was a flash in the pan or a legitimate shift in the synth-pop landscape. But the Empire of the Sun lyrics We Are the People became a literal anthem for a generation trying to find a sense of belonging in an increasingly digital, fragmented world.
It’s a weirdly haunting track.
Most pop songs from that era were busy shouting about "tonight's gonna be a good night," but Empire of the Sun went the other way. They went inward. They went cosmic.
The Surreal Meaning Behind the Lyrics
Honestly, trying to decode Luke Steele’s brain is a full-time job. He’s always been more of a visual artist who happens to breathe music. When you look at the lines "Walking on a dream / How can I explain," you get the vibe, but "We Are the People" is grittier. It’s about the friction between who we are and who we’re expected to be.
The opening lines—"We can remember swimming in September"—immediately anchor the listener in a specific kind of nostalgia. In Australia, September is the start of spring. It’s a time of renewal, but also that weird, shaky uncertainty that comes with change. The lyrics talk about "Don't help me down / I'm not the new boy in town." There is this defiant streak running through the song. It's about claiming your space.
People often mistake this song for a simple party track because of the upbeat tempo. It isn't.
There’s a deep sense of loss in the verse "I can't remember when I was a child." It suggests a disconnect. It’s that feeling you get when you realize your youth is a series of blurry Polaroids rather than a continuous movie. We are the people that rule the world? Maybe. Or maybe we're just the people trying to survive it without losing our minds.
Why the Production Matters More Than You Think
You can’t talk about the lyrics without talking about the soundscape. Peter Mayes and Donnie Sloan worked on the production, and they gave the words room to breathe. The acoustic guitar isn’t just an instrument here; it’s a heartbeat. It grounds the space-age synth pads.
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If you strip away the drums, the Empire of the Sun lyrics We Are the People read like a poem by someone who spent too much time staring at the horizon. The repetition of "Rejoice, rejoice" isn't necessarily happy. It’s a command. It’s a plea to find something worth celebrating even when "the desks are all empty."
The song captures a very specific 2000s anxiety. We were right on the edge of the social media explosion. We were starting to feel "seen" but also incredibly lonely. When Steele sings about "fading like a flower," he’s touching on the temporary nature of fame, youth, and even connection.
The Cultural Impact of the 2008 Indie-Sleaze Era
The music video was shot in Mexico—specifically in Garcia and Real de Catorce. It looked like a psychedelic fever dream. This wasn't just a music video; it was a manifesto. It helped define the "Indie Sleaze" aesthetic long before that was a buzzword on TikTok.
Empire of the Sun wasn't just a band; they were characters. The costumes, the headdresses, the face paint—it all served to elevate the lyrics. If a guy in a t-shirt sang "We are the people that rule the world," you’d roll your eyes. But when a guy dressed like a neo-tribal emperor from the year 3000 sings it? You believe him.
Misconceptions About the Hook
A lot of people think the "People" referred to in the song are the elite. The "one percent."
That's probably wrong.
Based on interviews Steele gave around the release of Walking on a Dream, the "People" are the outcasts. The dreamers. The ones who don't fit into the standard corporate box. It’s an inclusive "we." It’s about the collective energy of a crowd at a festival, losing their identity to become part of something larger. It’s about the power of the subculture.
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A Closer Look at the Verse Structure
Let’s get into the weeds of the actual writing.
"I can't remember when I was a child / I was a world-wide-web."
That line is fascinating. In 2008, referencing the "world wide web" felt a bit retro already, but in the context of the song, it’s about being spread too thin. It’s about being connected to everything and grounded to nothing. It’s a feeling that has only become more relevant as the years have passed.
The bridge is where things get really interesting: "Now it's over, I'm a rocket man." It’s a clear nod to Elton John, but it’s also about isolation. A rocket man is alone in the dark. He’s high above the world, ruling it from a distance, but he can’t touch anyone.
The contrast between "ruling the world" and "swimming in September" is the core of the song’s tension. It’s the struggle between our grand ambitions and our simple, human memories.
How to Interpret the Song Today
If you listen to "We Are the People" in 2026, it hits differently than it did nearly two decades ago. Back then, it was a cool new sound. Now, it’s a time capsule.
It reminds us of a time when "alternative" music could still break into the mainstream without being softened by corporate algorithms. The song is unapologetically weird. It’s structurally strange, skipping a traditional verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus flow in favor of something that feels more like a circular chant.
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The enduring popularity of the track—and its frequent use in everything from car commercials to "coming of age" movie trailers—proves that the sentiment is universal. Everyone wants to feel like they are part of "the people."
Digging Deeper into the Visuals
The iconography used by Empire of the Sun is heavily influenced by Alejandro Jodorowsky’s film The Holy Mountain. If you look at the lyrics through that lens, they become much more spiritual. They are about a quest for enlightenment.
When they sing about "the hills of gold," they aren't talking about money. They're talking about a state of mind. It’s about finding the "sun" within yourself. It sounds cheesy when you say it out loud, but within the shimmering production of the track, it feels profound.
Practical Ways to Experience the Song Again
To really appreciate the Empire of the Sun lyrics We Are the People, you need to stop listening to it as background noise.
- Listen to the 2008 original master on high-quality headphones. Skip the low-bitrate YouTube rips. You need to hear the layering of the synthesizers to understand how the "cosmic" vibe is built.
- Read the lyrics as poetry first. Forget the melody for a second. Look at the imagery of "fading like a flower" and "the desks are all empty." It’s a very lonely set of words for such a "big" sounding song.
- Watch the Mexico-shot music video again. Notice the use of the desert. The desert in the video represents the emptiness the lyrics are trying to fill. It's a visual metaphor for the "world-wide-web" line—vast, beautiful, but ultimately dry.
- Compare it to "Walking on a Dream." While their other big hit is about the thrill of the chase, "We Are the People" is about the reality of the arrival. It’s the morning after the dream.
The beauty of Empire of the Sun is that they never explained too much. They let the mystery sit there. They gave us the lyrics and the costumes and then stepped back into the shadows for years at a time. This song remains their crowning achievement because it captures the exact moment when you realize that ruling the world isn't about power—it's about finding your tribe.
Next time you hear it, don't just dance. Listen to the way Steele's voice almost cracks on the high notes. It’s the sound of someone trying to hold onto a memory that’s already slipping through their fingers. That is what being "the people" is actually about.