Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
This is the place where all
The junkies go
Where time gets fast
But everything gets slow
Can I get some Vaseline?
Step into a modern scene
Take a chance on that
Which seems to be the making of a dream
I don't want to do it
Like my daddy did
I don't want to give it
To my baby's kid
"This is my calling", I said, my darling
Shocking, appalling, all I can do to you
"Hammers are falling", I said, my darling
Shocking, appalling, all I can do to you
This is the place where all, the devils plead
Their case to take from you what they need
Can I isolate your gene? Can I kiss your dopamine?
In a way I wonder if she's living in a magazine
I don't want to say it
If it isn't so
I don't want to weigh it
But I've got to know
"This is my calling", I said, my darling
Shocking, appalling, all I can do to you
"Hammers are falling", I said my darling
Shocking, appalling, all I can do to you
I saw you out there yesterday, what did you want to say?
A perfect piece of DNA caught in a flashing ray
I caught you out there in the fray, what did you want to say?
A master piece of DNA caught in a flashing ray
Can I smell your gasoline?
Can I pet your wolverine?
On the day my best friend died
I could not get my copper clean
I don't want to take it up
With little Joe
I don't want to fake it
But I've gotta know
"This is my calling", I said, my darling
Shocking, appalling, all I can do to you
"Hammers are falling", I said, my darling
Shocking, appalling, all I can do to you
I am a misfit
I'm born with all of it
The fucking ultimate
Of love inside the atom split
I'm in a flash ray, a mash of DNA
Another poppin' Jay, who thinks
He's got something to say
The junkies go
Where time gets fast
But everything gets slow
Can I get some Vaseline?
Step into a modern scene
Take a chance on that
Which seems to be the making of a dream
I don't want to do it
Like my daddy did
I don't want to give it
To my baby's kid
"This is my calling", I said, my darling
Shocking, appalling, all I can do to you
"Hammers are falling", I said, my darling
Shocking, appalling, all I can do to you
This is the place where all, the devils plead
Their case to take from you what they need
Can I isolate your gene? Can I kiss your dopamine?
In a way I wonder if she's living in a magazine
I don't want to say it
If it isn't so
I don't want to weigh it
But I've got to know
"This is my calling", I said, my darling
Shocking, appalling, all I can do to you
"Hammers are falling", I said my darling
Shocking, appalling, all I can do to you
I saw you out there yesterday, what did you want to say?
A perfect piece of DNA caught in a flashing ray
I caught you out there in the fray, what did you want to say?
A master piece of DNA caught in a flashing ray
Can I smell your gasoline?
Can I pet your wolverine?
On the day my best friend died
I could not get my copper clean
I don't want to take it up
With little Joe
I don't want to fake it
But I've gotta know
"This is my calling", I said, my darling
Shocking, appalling, all I can do to you
"Hammers are falling", I said, my darling
Shocking, appalling, all I can do to you
I am a misfit
I'm born with all of it
The fucking ultimate
Of love inside the atom split
I'm in a flash ray, a mash of DNA
Another poppin' Jay, who thinks
He's got something to say
Lyrics submitted by Hump De Bump
Joe Lyrics as written by John Anthony Frusciante Michael Balzary
Lyrics © Hipgnosis Songs Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Great version of a great song,
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reggae b-side from Desecration smile. I loved it.
this sucks itunes wont let me buy it b/c i don't live in the UK
I am almost sure that this is about Joe Walters, one of AK's best friends when he was a teenager. He talks about him in Scar Tissue.
thia is about Joe from "the Clash" if anyone watched the CHilis on more4 on "live at abbey road", Flea was talking about how much of an influence he is on the band. "Swing low and now I know It's hard to let a brother go, Joe"
I think this could be a brief reference to Hillel Slovak, and a grief the band and Joe share.
Surely, the first line ("Burning up your hometown streets could set a fire for the world to catch") must be a tribute to Bob Marley & the Wailers. Their album "Catch a Fire" was their international breakthrough, after all.
I don't know about Joe Strummer from the Clash, but given this song's reggae style, I'd say all of it is a tribute to Bob Marley & the Wailers. Strummer passed away in late 2002, though—after the Peppers had already recorded By the Way—so I'm thinking this song could be a tribute both to him and to Bob Marley & The Wailers.
No matter what, it's an awesome tune! :)
I would say its about Joe Strummer. Reggae heavily influenced The Clash, anyways. It sounds like a tribute to his passing. Even if By The Way came out after Joe's death this could of been written about that time, but Anthony didn't think it was right for the album.
"Come and see me, I'm your west end perfect stranger, in America"
It sounds like a reference that Joe is from England while Anthony, America. (England being West of America of course.)
"The many boots that you have laced could tell a story, comin' night and day (?) No one said that you would need a crowd"
That entire segment alone reminds me of the whole "Punk" style of life Joe lived.