Guess you're old enough to know
The kids out on the east coast
Roughly twenty years old
They got coaxed out by a certain perfect ratio

Warm beer to the summer smoke
And the Meat Loaf to the Billy Joel
Certain songs they get so scratched into our souls

She goes low on the seats when she gets high in her car
She looks shallow
But she's neck deep in the steamy dreams of the guys along the harbor bars
She's pulling out her shirttails and she's jacking up her socks
Stern and stoned and confident, coming up towards the jukebox
Born into the only songs that everybody finally sings along

B-1 is for the good girls and it's "Only The Good Die Young"
C-9 is for the making eyes, it's "Paradise By The Dashboard Light"
B-12 is for the speeders and D-4 is for the lovers
And the hard drugs are for the bartenders
And the kitchen workers and the bartender's friends
And they're playing it again
And Ellen Foley gives 'em hope
And certain songs they get scratched into our souls

Guess you're old enough to know
Kids out on the west coast are taking off their clothes
Screwing in the surf and going out to shows
They get high and they ride around in GTOs

Certain songs they get so scratched into our souls
Certain songs they get so scratched into our souls


Lyrics submitted by leonperkin

Certain Songs Lyrics as written by Craig Finn

Lyrics © Reservoir Media Management, Inc.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Certain Songs song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

3 Comments

sort form View by:
  • 0
    General Comment

    craig finn, our saint of the weary and the beaten. the kerouac comparisons are impossible to deny, especially in songs like this.

    thomas doyleon February 22, 2007   Link

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

Album art
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
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"
Album art
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Album art
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
Album art
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
Album art
American Town
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.