Me And Sarah Jane

You would have thought that after all that expensive Charterhouse education Tony would have known it was 'Sarah Jane and I', not 'Me and Sarah Jane'.

:-)

I've loved this song since I first heard it, but recent listenings have brought an interesting (and quite dark) interpretation to my mind.

This song describes a man's descent into insanity, thickly concealed with metaphor.

Fires burning, don't start counting–the onset of whatever ailment this man has, distantly affecting him at this point, and he tries to ignore it.

Ice moving closer, getting one down–more symptoms of the man's mental illness, depression, what have you.

Going round and round, down the same old track–he can't escape it. He invents a fictional companion who lives inside his mind. Randomly, to cope with it. But then things get worse.

Searching for a clue, traces on the sand–doctors, family, psychologists can't crack the case here. They can't get into his head.

First flying, then sliding–sounds pretty manic-depressive/bipolar to me. Where I start I always end up, crawling through the same old crowded rooms–he still can't escape it, he's trapped inside his own head.

Walking down the streets and finding nothing is the same–he can't even recognize his own mind. His family can't relate to him any longer.

Now the city lights are dimming one by one, it costs too much money to keep them all on–heavy stuff...his mind is going, and the care and studies to try to help cost too much. His family has to give up on him and stop trying.

The last verse, then, is the man fading full into insanity and/or dying. He runs away into the sea with his made-up girlfriend, and that's the last of him.

"Me and Sarah Jane" is about a man who's so lonely that he fabricates a relationship with an imaginary woman. This woman is Sarah Jane. The narrator becomes obsessed with his fantasy until it ultimately leads to his suicide by drowning.

I agree with Trbnado. Though I've never heard anyone from the band say anything about it. Think it is a Banks lyric, think he wrote the music too!

I absolutely think Doctor Who too.

"Me and Sarah Jane, We had a special thing going" She was the Doctor's best friend after all.

It's such a great song

I agree with Screegee and Ivmuzic.

I have things to add. I do believe this was about a homeless mans soulmate or imaginary soulmate due to being lonely. I think this a direct connection from "Lonely Man on the Corner". These songs are connected. Even down to the simailar musical motif at the beginning of the song, Lonely Man and Sarah Jane are almost identical.

Anyway, i beieve the man was the lonely homeless person, and lived his life in his own reality and invented an imaginary soulmate "Sarah Jane" . I also thing they were trying to say that he was manic depressive possible in this lyric

"Searching for a clue. Traces on the sand. First I'm flying, going round round round, Then I'm sliding going down down down, Doesn't matter where I start I always end up Falling through those same old crowded rooms"

Many schizophrenics and manics look for things that aren't really there until they find something that was created in there own head. Almost like, thinking too much.

It does make sense, that he invented his soulmate so he could die happy.

It's obviously about a guy who's gone special forces and realized he can't keep the relationship going... So now he's MI-6 and he's chosen career over what he's been close to. But he's torn by it... Like every James Bond movie.

Okay, it's about a British SAS soldier's girlfriend who may or may not exist. The important thing is... Is that he's going through selection at Hereford and that is not something people normally talk about, but this is abstract enough to be an understanding of what gets him through selection... Boom...

this is a song about finding that certain someone who can make your life meaningful. I really like it.

I'm going to say this at the risk of much flaming. Doctor Who.

Sarah Jane Smith was the companion of the 4th Doctor (Tom Baker). Since both Genesis and Doctor Who are British, it all falls into place.

"The fires are burning in another land, And it gets me down. Going round and round and down the same old track." Ok, so he's in a different world. He is getting depressed and lonely.

"I invent a name, Me and Sarah Jane," The Doctor's not his real name. He can't pronounce his real name, as it's a mathematical equation. Thus, he introduces himself as The Doctor.

"First I'm flying, going round round round, Then I'm sliding going down down down, Doesn't matter where I start I always end up Falling through those same old crowded rooms." The first 2 lines refer to the TARDIS (Time and relative dimensions in space). It would fly and spin (round and round) through the Time Vortex and land (down) onto a new world in a different time. The BBC gave the show a tiny budget, so they shot a lot of the interior scenes inside the corridors of the BBC building itself, putting up some aluminium foil on the walls and glitter on the floor.

"Me and Sarah Jane, In silence walk along the shore," This obviously refers to the endless gravel quarries and beaches that they would land in, pretending it's a whole different world because of the small budget of the BBC.

I dunno, maybe it's the beer talking, but this all makes sense to me...