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.
Trying to hold
Hold out for now
With these ice caps
Melting down
With the transistor sound
And my Chevrolet Terra plane
Going round, round, round
Come a little gamma ray
Standing in a hurricane
Your brains are bored
Like a refugee
From the houses burning
And the heat waves
Calling your name
She's got
On a cactus crown
With a dot, dot, dot
On her brow
And she speaks
Inside crowd
With the cavalry
Turning around
Hit me like a gamma ray
Standing in a hurricane
And I'm pulling
Out thorns
Smokestack lightning
Out my window
I want to know
What I've lost today
Come a little gamma ray
Standing in a hurricane
When your body's bored
Like a refugee
From the houses burning
And the backbiters
Calling your name
Hold out for now
With these ice caps
Melting down
With the transistor sound
And my Chevrolet Terra plane
Going round, round, round
Come a little gamma ray
Standing in a hurricane
Your brains are bored
Like a refugee
From the houses burning
And the heat waves
Calling your name
She's got
On a cactus crown
With a dot, dot, dot
On her brow
And she speaks
Inside crowd
With the cavalry
Turning around
Hit me like a gamma ray
Standing in a hurricane
And I'm pulling
Out thorns
Smokestack lightning
Out my window
I want to know
What I've lost today
Come a little gamma ray
Standing in a hurricane
When your body's bored
Like a refugee
From the houses burning
And the backbiters
Calling your name
Lyrics submitted by chickenflicker
Gamma Ray Lyrics as written by Beck Hansen
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
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Bee Gees
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@[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.
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
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This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
Page
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There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
This song is about Mother Nature kicking humanity's @$$.
Out of control storms, melting ice caps, wildfires, heat waves -- altogether an environmental Armageddon.
The woman with the cactus crown could be a version of Mother Nature. The dot on the brow could indicate a Hindu deity, likely Shiva, the Destroyer/Benefactor.
Gamma rays are the most dangerous form of radiation emitted by a nuclear explosion because of the difficulty in shielding them. This is because gamma rays have the shortest wavelength of all waves in the electromagnetic spectrum, and therefore have the most ability to penetrate through any gap, even a subatomic one, in what might otherwise be an effective shield.
To be hit by a gamma ray is a death sentence. Fitting since the arcing theme of the album is Death.
BTW, a terraplane is a 1930s automobile.