Warren wanted a Beach Boys thing for this one, and Carl Wilson and Billy Hinsche came in, with Carl arranging the vocal parts. The other harmony vocalists (credited as the "Gentlemen Boys") were Jackson Browne, J.D. Souther, Zevon's longtime backers Waddy Wachtel and Jorge Calderon, and Linda Rondstadt/Stone Poneys guitarist Kenny Edwards.
Who
Who am I to be blue
Look at my family and fortune
Look at my friends and my house
Who
Who am I to feel deadened
Who am I to feel spent
Look at my health and my money
And where
Where do I go to feel good
Why do I still look outside me
Clearly I've seen it won't work
Is it my calling to keep on when I'm unable
Is it my job to be selfless extraordinaire
And my generosity has been disabled
By this, my sense of duty to offer
And why
Why do I feel so ungrateful
Me who is far beyond survival
Me who sees life as an oyster
Is it my calling to keep on when I'm unable
Is it my job to be selfless extraordinaire
And my generosity has been disabled
By this, my sense of duty to offer
And how
How dare I rest on my laurels
How dare I ignore an outstretched hand
How dare I ignore a third world country
Is it my calling to keep on when I'm unable
Is it my job to be selfless extraordinaire
And my generosity has been disabled
By this, my sense of duty to offer
Who
Who am I to be blue
Who am I to be blue
Look at my family and fortune
Look at my friends and my house
Who
Who am I to feel deadened
Who am I to feel spent
Look at my health and my money
And where
Where do I go to feel good
Why do I still look outside me
Clearly I've seen it won't work
Is it my calling to keep on when I'm unable
Is it my job to be selfless extraordinaire
And my generosity has been disabled
By this, my sense of duty to offer
And why
Why do I feel so ungrateful
Me who is far beyond survival
Me who sees life as an oyster
Is it my calling to keep on when I'm unable
Is it my job to be selfless extraordinaire
And my generosity has been disabled
By this, my sense of duty to offer
And how
How dare I rest on my laurels
How dare I ignore an outstretched hand
How dare I ignore a third world country
Is it my calling to keep on when I'm unable
Is it my job to be selfless extraordinaire
And my generosity has been disabled
By this, my sense of duty to offer
Who
Who am I to be blue
Lyrics submitted by merchantpierce
Offer Lyrics as written by Alanis Morissette
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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He certainly did earn that reputation.
The Spy
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Like a lot of the other comments are saying, I think this mainly about voyeurism. If the song was about his girlfriend, then why would he use the word spy. If you are a spy it means you shouldn't be caught, that is kind of the whole point, and if you are a voyeur, the whole point of the pleasure you get from it, is the fact that the other people don't know you are watching them. See a bit of a connection there?
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Both as a standalone and as part of the DSOTS album, you can take this lyric as read. As a matter of public record, Jourgensen's drug intake was legendary even in the 1980s. By the late 90s, in his own words, he was grappling with massive addiction issues and had lost almost everything: friends, spouse, money and had nearly died more than once. "Dark Side of the Spoon" is a both funny & sad title for an album made by a musical genius who was losing the plot; and this song is a message to his fans & friends saying he knows it. It's painful to listen to so I'm glad the "Keith Richards of industrial metals" wised up and cleaned up. Well done sir.
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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.
I hear Alanis suffered from Eating Disorders, so I can see that a lot in this song