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.
I've been drivin' all night, my hand's wet on the wheel
There's a voice in my head that drives my heel
It's my baby callin', says I need you here
And it's a half past four and I'm shiftin' gear
When she is lonely and the longing gets too much
She sends a cable comin' in from above
Don't need no phone at all
We've got a thing that's called radar love
We've got a wave in the air, radar love
The radio is playing some forgotten song
Brenda Lee's comin' on strong
The road has got me hypnotized
And I'm speedin' into a new sunrise
When I get lonely and I'm sure I've had enough
She sends her comfort comin' in from above
We don't need no letter at all
We've got a thing that's called radar love
We've got a light in the sky, radar love
No more speed, I'm almost there
Gotta keep cool now, gotta take care
Last car to pass, here I go
And the line of cars drove down real slow
And the radio played that forgotten song
Brenda Lee's comin' on strong
And the newsman sang his same song
Oh one more radar lover gone
When I get lonely and I'm sure I've had enough
She sends her comfort comin' in from above
We don't need no letter at all
We've got a thing that's called radar love
We've got a light in the sky
We've got a thing that's called radar love
We've got a thing that's called radar love
There's a voice in my head that drives my heel
It's my baby callin', says I need you here
And it's a half past four and I'm shiftin' gear
When she is lonely and the longing gets too much
She sends a cable comin' in from above
Don't need no phone at all
We've got a thing that's called radar love
We've got a wave in the air, radar love
The radio is playing some forgotten song
Brenda Lee's comin' on strong
The road has got me hypnotized
And I'm speedin' into a new sunrise
When I get lonely and I'm sure I've had enough
She sends her comfort comin' in from above
We don't need no letter at all
We've got a thing that's called radar love
We've got a light in the sky, radar love
No more speed, I'm almost there
Gotta keep cool now, gotta take care
Last car to pass, here I go
And the line of cars drove down real slow
And the radio played that forgotten song
Brenda Lee's comin' on strong
And the newsman sang his same song
Oh one more radar lover gone
When I get lonely and I'm sure I've had enough
She sends her comfort comin' in from above
We don't need no letter at all
We've got a thing that's called radar love
We've got a light in the sky
We've got a thing that's called radar love
We've got a thing that's called radar love
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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"
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
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Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
When We Were Young
Blink-182
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This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
So basically, the singer is driving to be with his baby; they have an almost psychic connection and he knows she misses him too.
This knowledge is making him reckless - "there's a voice in my head that drives my heel" (on the accelerator) - and he's been driving all night, so anxious that the wheel is covered in sweat.
He passes a long line of cars (presumably on a two-lane highway, from what comes next) and the last line we hear that's in the first-person voice is "Last car to pass, here I go!"
Then we go into an ending that twists earlier lines: "And the line of cars drove down real slow" - a funeral procession "And the newsman sang his same old song One more Radar love has gone" - the singer has died in a car crash that was aired on the news, all before he got to see the lover he was driving towards.
It's a more subtle dead lover song than most, and it does have a great tune.
I like your analysis. In keeping with your thought, "all before he got to see the lover he was driving towards" I suspect that the, "line of cars drove down real slow" were people slowing down to look at the accident scene rather than an actual funeral procession.
@Dubious Merit I think I agree with you mostly and the other reply about the cars going down real slow. <br /> I read an interview with lead singer I think it was a long time ago. He was telling a radio jockey. I forget who now, what this song was about. the usual thought is telepathy and cb radios. he debunked that and I forget what he said it was really about but it may just be as you noted. Damn my bad memory. <br /> Im an old truck driver and this sounds spot on to me.