This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
Your eyes are long Vermont roads
With a tacky song on the radio
And your eyes are toothless young men
In Tennessee in the rain again
And fireflies never go to sleep
And country songs never help you sleep
After all those trains and all those breakdown lanes
The roads don't love you and they still won't pretend to
After all those days on God-forsaken highways
The roads don't love you and they still won't pretend to
Your eyes are the Mesa Verde
Big and brown and far away
And your eyes are Kansas City
In Kansas and in Missouri
After all those trains and all those breakdown lanes
The roads don't love you and they still won't pretend to
After all those days on God-forsaken highways
The roads don't love you and they still won't pretend to
After all this time and after all your crying
The roads don't love you and they still won't pretend to
The roads are dark and long and all those country songs
Well, they don't love you and they still won't pretend to
With a tacky song on the radio
And your eyes are toothless young men
In Tennessee in the rain again
And fireflies never go to sleep
And country songs never help you sleep
After all those trains and all those breakdown lanes
The roads don't love you and they still won't pretend to
After all those days on God-forsaken highways
The roads don't love you and they still won't pretend to
Your eyes are the Mesa Verde
Big and brown and far away
And your eyes are Kansas City
In Kansas and in Missouri
After all those trains and all those breakdown lanes
The roads don't love you and they still won't pretend to
After all those days on God-forsaken highways
The roads don't love you and they still won't pretend to
After all this time and after all your crying
The roads don't love you and they still won't pretend to
The roads are dark and long and all those country songs
Well, they don't love you and they still won't pretend to
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Fantastic song.
I'd just like to point out that in the line "and your eyes are Kansas City/in Kansis and in Missouri", the last word is altered a bit so it sounds like "misery", thereby making this one of the best written songs of all-time.
beautiful
Mesa Verde / Kansas City verse may be my favorite verse of any song, ever. It's only a shame you have to explain the Missouri/Misery pun if you write it out.
there's an odd character--slightly famous (certainly not for anything he's done), but only in certain circles in the city where I live --who often says with dark humor how he lives at the intersection of Misery and Failing.
my city really does have a Failing St, but of course the other street is named Missouri
(we also have a "Failing Ped Bridge", which of course is how Failing St pedestrians get across the Interstate)
I really love this song, I don't know why. I find it so beautiful, even if I feel like people fail to notice it. Anyway, I'd like to share a few thoughts I have on this.
The instruments used in this song have always seemed soft and loving, but clearly aggressive at points. The grating sound kicks in every now as then, as if representing the cold, dry insults in the lyrics, which flow alongside the beautiful descriptions of how the character/singer (Merritt) admires and loves his lover.
"...But after all this time and after all your crying, The roads don't love you and they still won't pretend to. The roads are dark and long and all those country songs, Well, they don't love you and they still won't pretend to."
This makes me think about someone running away from their problems, thinking that the road will comfort them in their cowardice. But it never does. "They don't love you and they still won't pretend to," has always been such a powerful line, to me. It's a cruel, honest way of telling someone they can't just run away.
"... And the fireflies never go to sleep, And the country songs never help you sleep."
This line is beautiful. It reminds me a lot of 100,000 Fireflies, for obvious reasons. One of the comments on that song pointed out that the fireflies (captured in a jar, reminding the signer of her lover's "starry-eyes") seemed to represent how trapped a person can be in love. How you can be a fool in love. I've always seen that here, too. The fireflies never go to sleep and you'll never stop feeling trapped by your starry-eyes.
"Your eyes are the Mesa Verde, Big and brown and far away. And your eyes are Kansas City, In Kansas and in Missouri..."
This is one of many brilliant lyrics that have made me fall in love with the Magnetic Fields. I don't really have to explain why, but I will anyway. I feel like this whole song is about being in love with someone who's constantly running away because they're depressed and overwhelmed. Merritt is singing about why he loves this person and why their eyes are far away, in Kansas and in "misery". It's perfection...