In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
The big three killed my baby
No money in my hand again
The big three killed my baby
Nobody's comin' home again
Their ideas made me want to spit
A hundred dollars goes down the pit
Thirty thousand wheels are rollin'
And my stick shift hands are swollen
Everything involved is shady
The big three killed my baby
Yeah yeah yeah
The big three killed my baby
No money in my hand again
The big three killed my baby
Nobody's comin' home again
Why don't you take the day off and try to repair
A billion others don't seem to care
Better ideas are stuck in the mud
The motors runnin' on tuckers blood
Don't let em tell you the futures electric
Cause gasoline's no measured in metric
Thirty thousand wheels are spinnin'
And oil company faces are grinnin'
Now my hands are turnin' red
And I found out my baby is dead
Yeah yeah yeah
The big three killed my baby
No money in my hand again
The big three killed my baby
Nobody's comin' home again
Well I've said it now
Nothing's changed
People are burnin' for pocket change
And creative minds are lazy
The big three killed your baby
The big three killed my baby
No money in my hand again
The big three killed my baby
Nobody's comin' home again
And my baby's my common sense
So don't feed me planned obsolescence
Yeah my baby's my common sense
So don't feed me planned obsolescence
I'm about to have another blowout
I'm about to have another blowout
No money in my hand again
The big three killed my baby
Nobody's comin' home again
Their ideas made me want to spit
A hundred dollars goes down the pit
Thirty thousand wheels are rollin'
And my stick shift hands are swollen
Everything involved is shady
The big three killed my baby
Yeah yeah yeah
The big three killed my baby
No money in my hand again
The big three killed my baby
Nobody's comin' home again
Why don't you take the day off and try to repair
A billion others don't seem to care
Better ideas are stuck in the mud
The motors runnin' on tuckers blood
Don't let em tell you the futures electric
Cause gasoline's no measured in metric
Thirty thousand wheels are spinnin'
And oil company faces are grinnin'
Now my hands are turnin' red
And I found out my baby is dead
Yeah yeah yeah
The big three killed my baby
No money in my hand again
The big three killed my baby
Nobody's comin' home again
Well I've said it now
Nothing's changed
People are burnin' for pocket change
And creative minds are lazy
The big three killed your baby
The big three killed my baby
No money in my hand again
The big three killed my baby
Nobody's comin' home again
And my baby's my common sense
So don't feed me planned obsolescence
Yeah my baby's my common sense
So don't feed me planned obsolescence
I'm about to have another blowout
I'm about to have another blowout
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This song is absolutely about the big three (GM Ford Chrysler), and it's planned obscalecense in the 60's and 70's. It also has a deeper meaning to me, something only understood by someone who grew up in the Detroit autoworker culture could understand.
That is the utter frustration and boredom of working in an auto manufacturing plant, or any of their feeder plants, which I work in. Your pay isn't nearly what it should be compared to the massive amount of work you do, and it's nothing compared to what the guys in the big three plants make (no money in my hand again).
You end up hating the big three because they have gutted your city for so long, and you feel as if you live on an island, because you are surrounded by people entranced by the auto industry (better ideas are stuck in the mud), who are convinced it is still a viable business, so it's extremely frustrating (I'm about to have another blowout)
This song is not about the WWII big three, because you have to think about where Jack and Meg grew up, and the culture they grew up in. No doubt someone in their family worked for either GM Ford or Chrysler at some point, and Jack must have seen them go through the same terrible things that autoworkers and workers in the feeder plants go through everyday. ie, the boredom, the repetative nature of the job, the utter dependance on a faceless corperation for your paycheck, etc.
It's akin to a coal miner back in the 19th century... think of it that way... Living across from Detroit you have this feeling that it could all be over at any minute, thats where I think this song comes from.