This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
If you want to make the move then you better come in
It's just the ability to reason that wears so thin
Living and dying and the stories that are true
Secrets to a good life is knowing when you're through
Black coat, white shoes, black hat, Cadillac, yeah
The boy's a time bomb
Black coat, white shoes, black hat, Cadillac, yeah
The boy's a time bomb
He's back in the hole where they got him living
Like a rat but he's smarter than that nine lives
Like a cat take him to the youth authority home
First thing you learn is that you got to make it in this world alone
Black coat, white shoes, black hat, Cadillac, yeah
The boy's a time bomb
Black coat, white shoes, black hat, Cadillac, yeah
The boy's a time bomb
Now he's gotten out he's gotten free he's gotta go, gotta car
He's twenty one years old he's runnin' from the bar
His pager's beepin' he's got in deep in
Whatever he can move on in you know that kid's a creepin'
Black coat, white shoes, black hat, Cadillac, yeah
The boy's a time bomb
Black coat, white shoes, black hat, Cadillac
The boy's a time bomb
Yeah, the boy's a time bomb
In tears come from the razor that's been tattooed below
His eye his mother cries she knows that he is strong enough to die
He's rollin' in the Cadillac it's midnight sunroof is down
Three shots rung out the hero's dead the new king is crowned
Black coat, white shoes, black hat, Cadillac, yeah
The boy's a time bomb
Black coat, white shoes, black hat, Cadillac, yeah
The boy's a time bomb
Black coat, white shoes, black hat, Cadillac, yeah
The boy's a time bomb
Black coat, white shoes, black hat, Cadillac, yeah
The boy's a time bomb, oh, time bomb
It's just the ability to reason that wears so thin
Living and dying and the stories that are true
Secrets to a good life is knowing when you're through
Black coat, white shoes, black hat, Cadillac, yeah
The boy's a time bomb
Black coat, white shoes, black hat, Cadillac, yeah
The boy's a time bomb
He's back in the hole where they got him living
Like a rat but he's smarter than that nine lives
Like a cat take him to the youth authority home
First thing you learn is that you got to make it in this world alone
Black coat, white shoes, black hat, Cadillac, yeah
The boy's a time bomb
Black coat, white shoes, black hat, Cadillac, yeah
The boy's a time bomb
Now he's gotten out he's gotten free he's gotta go, gotta car
He's twenty one years old he's runnin' from the bar
His pager's beepin' he's got in deep in
Whatever he can move on in you know that kid's a creepin'
Black coat, white shoes, black hat, Cadillac, yeah
The boy's a time bomb
Black coat, white shoes, black hat, Cadillac
The boy's a time bomb
Yeah, the boy's a time bomb
In tears come from the razor that's been tattooed below
His eye his mother cries she knows that he is strong enough to die
He's rollin' in the Cadillac it's midnight sunroof is down
Three shots rung out the hero's dead the new king is crowned
Black coat, white shoes, black hat, Cadillac, yeah
The boy's a time bomb
Black coat, white shoes, black hat, Cadillac, yeah
The boy's a time bomb
Black coat, white shoes, black hat, Cadillac, yeah
The boy's a time bomb
Black coat, white shoes, black hat, Cadillac, yeah
The boy's a time bomb, oh, time bomb
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i agree with whoever said it's about a guy who got involved in organized crime.
This sounds like the story of a smart boy who grew up in a broken home in a bad neighbourhood surrounded by violence and crime.
"Like a cat take him to the youth authority home" - he gets sent to some juvenile home, or youth jail, but this just hardens him against the world. Teaches him he can't trust anyone and believes he has to make it in the world alone because of the trauma he's been through.
When he get's out, his smarts and determination only get him so far - get him a suit and Cadillac, but it's from dealing or organised crime. So it's not long before he's shot and killed.
Time bomb - growing up alone, not trusting anyone, leads to a hard and short life.
I think this song is talking about spotting kids that will freak out and do something stupid. And the beginning is talking about this kid is has nothing to live for. And the last paragraph right before the chorus talks about he just comitted his first murder. And he will continue down this road until he gets caught by the proper authorities.
i think its about a kid getting involved in organized crime
the first couple of times i heard this song i thought it was about growing up, because it was all about "avoiding the time bomb" and trying to stay young. and the "black coat, white shoes, black hat, caddilac" made me think of getting old, having a job, all that stuff. But now i have been persueded to think otherwise, and i have changed my mind.
this song is about a kid who hustles. from the time hes a kid he gets into trouble, so it seems inevitable that shit won't end well. as he grows up he continues to hustle and make money however he can, until the day he dies.
I bought this and out come the wolves right when it came out. Loved it, but I was consumed by pearl jam and thats all I ever listen to, Pearl Jam that is. But it's weird aside from pearl jam, this is the only cd besides pearl jam that I listen to. Does anyone know if the two bands have any connections, Ive heard rumors?
I read somewhere that it was about the kinda kids who listen to the ska-esque music that this song is played in, particularly a friend of theirs, who I think was murdered.
But i can't remember where I read that.
I wonder if I still own this CD
@kmk_natasha You should! ;) It's fantastic...
er best songggg i love rancid..this just prooves their goodness
this song is about Eric Hogan who used to own American Graffiti Tattoo, Eric was murdered by Hells Angels (oddly enough he was a member also) for sleeping with someones wife, Tim Armstrong and the band were good friends with him.<br /> <br /> this is well known among tattooers and real rancid fans
Yes! ^ He did my dads tattoo