Gasoline Lyrics
I just want to go for a ride
Out and on
Before I set this room alight
Left alone forever and for crimes unclear
With my patience gone
Someone take me far from here
House is honest
Clearly more than I can bear
Drag me off
Before I set my world on fire
Out and gone
The sun will never set tonight
Of red says danger on it
I have found another way
Burning that gasoline
The lyrics in the inlay of the album actually say, "House is haunted, I just want to go for a ride Out and on Before i set this room alight"
To me this song is about escaping from reality - 'burning that gasoline' to get as far away from it as he can in his car... Chris Cornell is deep isnt he?
I agree with heavens_mistake. This song is about escaping from the drudgery of everday life and it's problems. As to the idea about Chris' car, I wouldn't take his lyrics literally. Cornell is reknowned for his use of similes and abstract ideas. See his work with Soundgarden. Gasoline could mean anything.
Like drugs?
Like drugs?
some of you seem a little ill-informed about the context in which this song is written for.
it relates directly to Chris Cornell's childhood.
He suffered from a severe case of depression during his teenage years, leaving the house rarely. At one point, he spent a whole year without leaving his house, during which time he would play drums and guitar.
this song is saying about how he grew to hate his depression and hated the house which it trapped it inside of - therefore it became a haunted house for him. he grew impatient of his depression and insecurity, and just wanted to get the hell out of there, basically.
"New day yawning Another day in solitaire Houses honest Clearly more than i can bare Drag me off Before i set my world on fire Out and gone The sun will never set tonight Yeah"
Cornell appears to have written other songs about this time in his life as well, such as "Rusty Cage" and "Doesn't Remind Me".
but this song totally rocks out!
A song of retribution. Unjustly imprisoned either physically or mentally. A song of escape but not before he cleanses the old world of the wrong it has brought on him. Burning the past away literally.
I agree with both the above comments. Its like breaking away from melancoly everyday life. I really like the line "house is haunted", i feel like that sometimes when i am stuck at home with nothing to do. I guess this song can be analysed on a few different levels though. Cornell is a deep bloke, it could mean just about anything.
wow yeah thats a great way of looking at it ppl, I always agreed with your thoughts of escaping drudgery of everyday life, but I thought it was by committing arson (!), he talks about setting "the room" and "my world" alight. But I think when he says, "I have found another way", and talks about being taken "far from here" I think you're right, he is giong to use the gasoline to drive himself away from this.
I especially love the line "the sun will never set tonight"... as if he is going to chase the sunset and never let the day end, presumably by changing his monotonous existence.
Chris Cornell's life = monotonous?
hmmm
Burning things is a very common metaphor (symbolism? not sure about the proper term here) for leaving something behind. Completely not only leaving it physically, but destroying any connection to it as well. I would guess most likely from the ideas of "burning" bridges and "burning" photographs, which are both used to refer to the idea of leaving something behind; bridges usually being used in reference to people and photographs in reference to older memories.
Burning things is a very common metaphor (symbolism? not sure about the proper term here) for leaving something behind. Completely not only leaving it physically, but destroying any connection to it as well. I would guess most likely from the ideas of "burning" bridges and "burning" photographs, which are both used to refer to the idea of leaving something behind; bridges usually being used in reference to people and photographs in reference to older memories.
The meaning of this song has already been mentioned above but I just wanted to give my props up to this song. My fave song on the album! Geez Chris Cornells voice is amazing!!
My take on it, might not be right, but it sounds like a person who has not done much in their life, and all their resent and anger and energy are building up inside. When the person finally breaks, they feel like they need someone to take them away because they just want to electrify their life and everything around them. Like burning gasoline.
lol to the poster who said chris cornell has an awesome voice, hes good, but he sounds pretty bad live, cant hit those notes like he does on the cd :) this song could mean different things to different ppl, but it is definitely about getting away from something, which is why he uses burning that gasoline...right now i can relate this song to my gf cause shes having major issues at home and yesterday she just had to leave her house and said she had to just "drive" , wasn't sure where to, but just had to drive to get away from the house cause she didnt want to be in it...my 2 cents ;)
CC is amazing. I gotta agree with what everyone's getting at. To me, I always saw it as he wants to get away from where ever he is...he wanted to burn this place to get rid of it, but instead used the gasoline to drive far away. I also like what nykspree8 said. Sometimes driving without a destination releases a lot of anger, I dunno why. Great guitar throughout.