Another Travelin' Song

I first thought he was saying "an old man in a fast food crown," which made me think of Burger King. Unless he was thinking of some particular image, the line can be taken as a general picture of how corporate America cheapens people of all ages.

Now I'm hunched over a typewriter I guess you'd call that painting in a cave And there's a word I can't remember And a feeling I cannot escape

And now my ashtray's overflowing I'm still staring at a clean white page Oh, and morning's at my window And she is sending me to bed again

If you are a songwriter, i dont understand how you could not love this song.

i think this song is sarcastic almost. like it sounds very happy and catchy. but when you listen its a really negative song. like it makes it sound like he is singing about everything great about traveling, but he actually observes everything that is wrong with the country, himself included.

SnwBorder52, I completely agree on that verse, I never listened hard to that song until one day those lines caught me and I loved it. As to the "prostituted child touching an old man in a fast food crown" line, I have one thought that just popped into my head now, I never thought about it too much before. Since the song is about the fabric of America, I think "an old man in a fast food crown" could represent the corporate power structure, and "a prostituted child" is the innocence of the American people being raped by it.

I've always thought this song is about Writers Block. Maybe I didn't care to analyze it. (Yet.)

I've heard this song dozens of times. I just realized that he's saying:

My thoughts they come in pairs I will, I won't. I DOUBT, I don't.

Which adds a whole new spin to the verse which up until now I had missed. I thought it was worth reporting. With the will/wont, of course it's the indecisiveness about a certain topic.. but it's vague. The whole "I doubt, I don't" line as I interpret it to be much more specific, it seems to relate to his faith. One of the relatively rare references in his songs, particularly his personal struggles in believing or calling it all bullshit.

Reminds me of "If I sold my soul for a bag of gold to you, which one of us would be the fool"

Sorry this was so long. Any thoughts?

what on earth does he mean by "prostituted child touching...etc" I know of the whole "america cheapening everyone of all ages" But does anyone think theres another meaning?

this song is that feeling you get when too many things are going on at once and you dont know how you are going to get everything to work out in the end

I think the line about the "prostituted child touching an old man" is a veiled put-down of teenage girls usually dating older men and trying to be something they're not. I suspect Conor was standing in a line to order and saw this and it stuck with him. I could be wrong however.

I always felt the lines "I dreamed a ship was sinking [. . .] it was a pop song and it was playing loud" is meant to separate Bright Eyes' music from what normally gets heard on the radio (or the media or whatever). Basically, he won't sing what people expect just to be on the top 40/Clear Channel/mass market radio stations.

This is my all time favorite Bright Eyes song due to the fantastic line at the end. "I will kick and scream I will kneel and plead I'll fight like hell, to hide that I'm giving up"