its amazing how far music can come.. 24 years after it released and its one of the most heartfelt songs ive heard
Well, the songs you sung spiraled
And hung round like echoes
Or ripples on a pond
So you circled the globe
Spent a year on the road
Without ever going home
More than a couple of days
Then you leave right away
Run to a girl you barely know
But you like how she sings
And you can't help but think
That there's something that she knows
And could teach you
Well you're sleeping in that southern state
Where the bars are filled
With people you can't hate
But try as you try
You still can't relate to them
You drink that whiskey down
As they ask you:
Are you who you say you are?
The fact that we can't tell
Makes us like you even more
So now you're trying again
Or just visiting friends
One had just had his heart broke
For the first time in his life
He realized there are times
When you can't make it alone
So now you are giving advice
As if you had the right
To use a word like love
It's a negotiable term
What gets said's not what is heard
So it's different then for everyone
But you've been hanging
Around that college town
With your new life
Your new lover you found
And you are keeping her up at night
Bringing her down
She'll watch you drink yourself to death
But won't ask you
Is this really what you want?
Or are you just sticking with it now
Cause it's all you got?
And hung round like echoes
Or ripples on a pond
So you circled the globe
Spent a year on the road
Without ever going home
More than a couple of days
Then you leave right away
Run to a girl you barely know
But you like how she sings
And you can't help but think
That there's something that she knows
And could teach you
Well you're sleeping in that southern state
Where the bars are filled
With people you can't hate
But try as you try
You still can't relate to them
You drink that whiskey down
As they ask you:
Are you who you say you are?
The fact that we can't tell
Makes us like you even more
So now you're trying again
Or just visiting friends
One had just had his heart broke
For the first time in his life
He realized there are times
When you can't make it alone
So now you are giving advice
As if you had the right
To use a word like love
It's a negotiable term
What gets said's not what is heard
So it's different then for everyone
But you've been hanging
Around that college town
With your new life
Your new lover you found
And you are keeping her up at night
Bringing her down
She'll watch you drink yourself to death
But won't ask you
Is this really what you want?
Or are you just sticking with it now
Cause it's all you got?
Lyrics submitted by PLANES, edited by Mellow_Harsher
Southern State Lyrics as written by Conor Oberst
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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
Siberian Kiss
Glassjaw
Glassjaw
Show Me a Little Shame
Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals
Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals
He certainly did earn that reputation.
Techno Ted
Audioslave
Audioslave
Techno Ted may be a person who caused Chris incredible emotional pain & trepidation as well as moments of peace & happiness but now is removed and awaiting his fate. Darling may be a different person who is also free of him and can live her life free of Ted's tyranny. "In between all the laughing, and daydreams ... lies: a desert of truth" Lies are like a desert or the omission of Truth: Where there were Lies then Truth was absent. The song, "Techno Ted", may be a cathartic celebration of the downfall of this person.
Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
Van Halen
The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
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."
I've been to 5 concerts over the last few months and he's never mentioned anything about anyone. He introduces it the same every single time. I like that he played a country western song for his mother when he was playing in IU Bloomington a couple months ago.
I don't have the slightest clue about the song right now. Or at least I'm not going to state what I think/feel right now. Listen to the trumpet, you'll die inside.