@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
Sleepy town ain't got the guts to budge
Baby, this emptiness has already been judged
I want to go out tonight, I want to find out what I got
You're a strange part of me, you're a preacher's girl
And I don't want no piece of this mechanical world
Got my arms open wide and my blood is running hot
We'll take the midnight road right to the devil's door
And even the white angels of Eden with their flamin' swords
Won't be able to stop us from hitting town in this dirty old Ford
Well it don't take no nerve when you got nothing to guard
I got tombstones in my eyes and I'm running real hard
My baby was a lover and the world just blew her away
Once they tried to steal my heart, beat it right outta my head
But baby they didn't know that I was born dead
I am the iceman, fighting for the right to live
I say better than the glory roads of heaven better off riding
Hellbound in the dirt, better than the bright lines of the freeway
Better than the shadows of your daddy's church
Better than the waiting, baby better off is the search
Baby, this emptiness has already been judged
I want to go out tonight, I want to find out what I got
You're a strange part of me, you're a preacher's girl
And I don't want no piece of this mechanical world
Got my arms open wide and my blood is running hot
We'll take the midnight road right to the devil's door
And even the white angels of Eden with their flamin' swords
Won't be able to stop us from hitting town in this dirty old Ford
Well it don't take no nerve when you got nothing to guard
I got tombstones in my eyes and I'm running real hard
My baby was a lover and the world just blew her away
Once they tried to steal my heart, beat it right outta my head
But baby they didn't know that I was born dead
I am the iceman, fighting for the right to live
I say better than the glory roads of heaven better off riding
Hellbound in the dirt, better than the bright lines of the freeway
Better than the shadows of your daddy's church
Better than the waiting, baby better off is the search
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More Featured Meanings
Holiday
Bee Gees
Bee Gees
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
I think this is a reflection from the point of view of a man who has just lost everything in his life that meant something to him. (possibly all these things were invested in a single person who was lost) and he's looking for something, anything to give him a desire to feel again. Now he feels nothing. His heart is cold. He is the Iceman.
Such a beautiful song
This is my favorite Bruce Springsteen song. I fist heard it on the movie "In The Land Of Women", and I downloaded it as soon as the movie ended. I'm not quite sure what it means though... some of the lyrics conflict with eachother in a really artistic way.
Exactly the same as what i did!
This is when Bruce began writing about adult worries; no longer young people's worries. The world awaits us all. The world takes it's toll. But, the answer here lies in the first stanza: "I wanna go out tonight, I wanna find out what I got" (which found it's way into Badlands, a song with the same theme as Iceman), and the final stanza: "Better than the waiting, baby, better off is the search".
When a person gets robbed of his/her dignity, there's nothing more that can be taken away. It doesn't take nerve or bravery to fight back and carve out your own humble existence in this world. It's basic survival. It's human nature to fight for survival when all is lost.
Some are more vulnerable, have less resilience, and are not cut out for the hardness of this world. The writer saw what it did for his wife/girlfriend: "My baby was a lover and the world just blew her away".
The writer isn't as soft as his girl. He's looking life straight in the eye and telling it that he was "born dead" and there's nothing more that can be taken away from him that already hasn't.
In the end, he reminds himself and us, it is better to search and strive for everything attained in this world than it is for it to be handed to you. And if you lose, you lose fighting for it. It's much better to lose fighting than it is to win without having earned it.
This theme is imbedded in most of Bruce's lyrics up through the recording of "Trouble In Paradise" which was the first song he recorded after he disassembled the band (the first was actually Viva Las Vegas, but that was a cover song).
Angels and devils, Heaven and hell, a preachers daughter...and an iceman. Resurrected for Tracks. A song Springsteen never plays live. Probably for the same reason it was discarded from Born to Run. I have a hard time believing that Iceman was even finished. This is a mess.