4 Meanings
Add Yours
Follow
Share
Q&A
Insurance Fraud #2 Lyrics
bag full of oily rags, fifty cent lighter
dreams of retirement in Cancun burning ever brighter
there's a lot of ways to make money in this world
but i can't recommend insurance fraud.
burned out shell of a Volkswagen,
blood stains on the driveway,
torn up Mercedes, by the side of the highway
big plans, big plans
let me tell you something sister,
you will never get away with it.
you were sitting in the recliner with the TV on,
when you said something evil and then you were gone,
explosives in the water main,
a blown fuse
college graduation photograph
splashed all over the six o'clock news
i won't be cashing in your policy,
'til i find out what it is you're trying to do to me.
dreams of retirement in Cancun burning ever brighter
there's a lot of ways to make money in this world
but i can't recommend insurance fraud.
blood stains on the driveway,
torn up Mercedes, by the side of the highway
big plans, big plans
let me tell you something sister,
you will never get away with it.
when you said something evil and then you were gone,
explosives in the water main,
a blown fuse
college graduation photograph
splashed all over the six o'clock news
i won't be cashing in your policy,
'til i find out what it is you're trying to do to me.
Song Info
Submitted by
shewouldnt On May 09, 2006
More The Mountain Goats
No Children
This Year
Dance Music
Dilaudid
The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
I don't think he means "sister" literally.
This is a song about denial.
The guy and his wife used to joke about burning down their house and retiring to Cancun with the money.
One night they have a fight, she leaves, and wrecks the car. Instead of mourning her, he gets angry, insisting she faked her death.
I don't think so, 'bag full of oily rags' and 'fifty cent lighter' would suggest that this person is stuffing their fuel-tank with flammable cloth, and lighting it, thus destroying the car, so that they can collect on the insurance. The 'dreams of retirement in Cancun burning ever brighter' line is a fairly obvious metaphor for this person's rekindled dreams, as well as literally referring to the burning car. I assume that this person dies in the incident, i.e. 'college graduation photograph/ splashed all over the six o'clock news'.
I don't think so, 'bag full of oily rags' and 'fifty cent lighter' would suggest that this person is stuffing their fuel-tank with flammable cloth, and lighting it, thus destroying the car, so that they can collect on the insurance. The 'dreams of retirement in Cancun burning ever brighter' line is a fairly obvious metaphor for this person's rekindled dreams, as well as literally referring to the burning car. I assume that this person dies in the incident, i.e. 'college graduation photograph/ splashed all over the six o'clock news'.
Huh. His sister's trying to use him to cheat the insurance company, but he's not going to be used, no sir.
i won't be cashing in your policy, 'til i find out what it is you're trying to do to me. I love how he almost...brays, for lack of a better word, the last bit. God, this man is gold.
this song made my heart drop, such a sad song
i think this song is a about the narrator's denial and confusion upon seeing his sister's death/suicide reported on the news. His denial of the reality of the situation is such that he thinks that she must have just been faking her death wanting him to claim her life insurance money. it's the only other way he can makes sense out of what he's seeing on the screen. The song, functioning as him telling this story, is told through the perspective of his denial. He is telling us(or himself) that she must have had 'dreams of Cancun' and 'big plan, big plans' because at this point he still has yet to accept the truth and for me there is such a powerful sadness in his optimism. As he sees it they were just watching TV together in his living room, she leaves, and then a report of her death comes on the news.
If this is Insurance Fraud #2, then I want to hear Insurance Fraud #1. But I can't find it anywhere
Never mind. It says on the Mountain Goats wikipedia that the reason there is a #2 in the title is because there were 2 takes of this song, not 2 different Insurance Fraud songs.
Never mind. It says on the Mountain Goats wikipedia that the reason there is a #2 in the title is because there were 2 takes of this song, not 2 different Insurance Fraud songs.