I remember when this song first hit the charts in Sydney in 1989. I really love the guitar in this song and the album Waking Hours is full of top quality songs. This was the main hit tune released for the radio which nicely captures the sentiment that was first captured in the Biblical book Ecclesiates about the seeming meaningless of life’s endless daily cycle.

Like the opening of Ecclesiates, “Nothing ever happens” also has some really great poetry in it. I particularly like these lines from the song:

And bill hoardings advertise products that nobody needs
While “Angry from Manchester” writes to complain about all the repeats on TV
Computer terminals report some gains in the values of copper and tin
While American businessmen snap up Van Goghs for the price of a hospital wing.