Classic love story true to his western tx roots. One of my favorites as a story, but I think there are alot of songs that are amazing not even listed on this site. I guess I should figure out how to add them, because I have about 8 REK cd's.
Us and them
And after all we're only ordinary men.
Me and you.
God only knows it's not what we would choose to do.
'Forward' he cried from the rear
And the front rank died.
And the general sat and the lines on the map
Moved from side to side.
Black and blue
And who knows which is which and who is who.
Up and down.
But in the end it's only round and round.
Haven't you heard it's a battle of words
The poster bearer cried.
Listen son, said the man with the gun
There's room for you inside.
"I mean, they're not gunna kill ya, so if you give 'em a quick short,
Sharp, shock, they won't do it again. Dig it? I mean he get off
Lightly, 'cause I would've given him a thrashing - I only hit him once!
It was only a difference of opinion, but really...I mean good manners
Don't cost nothing do they, eh?"
Down and out
It can't be helped but there's a lot of it about.
With, without.
And who'll deny it's what the fighting's all about?
Out of the way, it's a busy day
I've got things on my mind.
For the want of the price of tea and a slice
The old man died.
And after all we're only ordinary men.
Me and you.
God only knows it's not what we would choose to do.
'Forward' he cried from the rear
And the front rank died.
And the general sat and the lines on the map
Moved from side to side.
Black and blue
And who knows which is which and who is who.
Up and down.
But in the end it's only round and round.
Haven't you heard it's a battle of words
The poster bearer cried.
Listen son, said the man with the gun
There's room for you inside.
"I mean, they're not gunna kill ya, so if you give 'em a quick short,
Sharp, shock, they won't do it again. Dig it? I mean he get off
Lightly, 'cause I would've given him a thrashing - I only hit him once!
It was only a difference of opinion, but really...I mean good manners
Don't cost nothing do they, eh?"
Down and out
It can't be helped but there's a lot of it about.
With, without.
And who'll deny it's what the fighting's all about?
Out of the way, it's a busy day
I've got things on my mind.
For the want of the price of tea and a slice
The old man died.
Lyrics submitted by Demau Senae, edited by Mellow_Harsher
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Jesse with the long hair....
Robert Earl Keen, Jr.
Robert Earl Keen, Jr.
Spirit Within
Bertoldi Brothers
Bertoldi Brothers
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.
Corpse I Fell In Love With
Gadjits, The
Gadjits, The
He reuses the verse melody from the previous album's "Dirty Little Religion", the topics of the verses are all over the place, and he packs too many words into one line (goes to show...) and too few in another (it's pretty hard to find), and rhymes "Henley Regatta" with "Persona non grata", but gets away with it all as only he could.
The Spy
Doors, The
Doors, The
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?
Battle Royale
Word Alive, The
Word Alive, The
This song is def a twin to "Unfair" (a song she has been quoted as saying is about falling in love with someone who is already in a relationship) so it is presumably about the same person. Given the references to buying an apartment and not being able to see her love interest "after tonight," it's most likely that she's moving away and she'll "wait a day to break the bad news" (i.e. notifying him that she's leaving once she's already gone).
And, of course, the fact that she sees in him a fellow "idealist" and "dreamer" (terms commonly given to people with the INFP personality on the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)) portends that she'll always be left wondering if they would've been perfect together.
hey man. This last part is about an ex soldier. I like to think this song was about WW1 as a lot of the lyrics fit the bill. Us and them, being ordinary, being ordered to attack from the rear, the front rank dying, they wouldn't want to do it, who is who, which is which (trench systems were constantly fucked etc). They wrote a song 'when the tigers broke free' about WW2 so this being a song about WW1 is within reason. Anyway, I think this is about an ex soldier, he is now an old man brushed aside and forgotten about. The war has left him in misfortune even after everything he went through as described in the song; I think the line is ' listen son, said the man with the gun, there's room for you this side' as opposed to 'inside'. I think this refers to him as a boy being recruited to fight in the great war with someone older, perhaps someone he relies on in the trenches telling him to stand beside him to prepare for an attack. now an old man, brushed aside by a society who never knew about it. He's 'down and out' and he's left on the street. All he wants to ask of people is for change, 'asking the price for tea and a slice' is a metaphor or perhaps literal. He is just trying to get by, but withers and dies with old age without a soul to care for him. 'out of the way, its a busy day, i've got things on my mind'. people believed their seemingly trivial problems are too great to spare time or money for an old man.