Time, measured in dotted yellow lines has passed you by
and I never said an honest thing to you in all my life
Hard times go slowly and the good times never come
The world is a motor inn in the Iowa highway slum
when the open road is closing in
and you can't say where it ends and you begin
when every truckstop dive's you another five years off your life
when the open road is closing in
and the dotted yellow lines begin to spin
when the sky begins to fall on everything you like at all
you won't be coming home again
Ciao, you keep on drowning in the roads between the towns
now I have been closing all the shutters in the house
well, I know you'll be back when every tree is turning brown
you'll find the house is empty and the swingset's fallen down


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When The Open Road Is Closing In song meanings
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  • 0
    General Comment

    It just annoys me that hardly anybody comments or has ever heard of Magnetic fields while every bright eyes song has about a hundred comments next to it. Stephin Merritt has been writing incredible pop songs like this for 15 years. How old is Conor Oburst anyway 12 or something. Uuurgh! Its cos he looks like an emo diva thats the thing.

    This song is about being away from home and on the road for some reason or another. The way the melody moves up and down reminds me of car sickness a little.

    Mattzillamanon July 25, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    i actually really like bright eyes. and i think conor oberst is a really great song-writer. but i doubt you still feel that way as you made that post almost 2 years ago.

    stephin, of course, is my favorite person in the whole wide world.

    two tone beaton June 26, 2008   Link

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