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Fiery Crash Lyrics
Turnstiles on mezzanine
Jetways and Dramamine fiends and x-ray machines
You were hurling through space
G-forces twisting your face
Breeding superstition
A fatal premonition
You know you got to envision
The fiery crash
Oh, close your eyes and you wake up
Face stuck to a vinyl settee
Oh, the line was starting to break up
Just as you were starting to say
Something apropos, I don't know
Beige tiles and magazines
Lou Dobbs and the CNN team on every monitor screen
You were caught in the crossfire
Where every human face has you
Reaching for your mace, so it's
Kind of an imposition
A fatal premonition
To save our lives you have got to envision
To save all our lives you have to envision
And to save all our lives you've got to envision the fiery crash
It's just a formality
What must I explain?
Just a nod to mortality
Before you get on
Before you get on a plane
Oh, close your eyes and you wake up
Face stuck to a vinyl settee
Oh, the line was starting to break up
..what was that you were going to say?
Jetways and Dramamine fiends and x-ray machines
You were hurling through space
G-forces twisting your face
Breeding superstition
A fatal premonition
You know you got to envision
The fiery crash
Face stuck to a vinyl settee
Oh, the line was starting to break up
Just as you were starting to say
Lou Dobbs and the CNN team on every monitor screen
You were caught in the crossfire
Where every human face has you
Reaching for your mace, so it's
Kind of an imposition
A fatal premonition
To save all our lives you have to envision
And to save all our lives you've got to envision the fiery crash
What must I explain?
Just a nod to mortality
Before you get on
Before you get on a plane
Face stuck to a vinyl settee
Oh, the line was starting to break up
..what was that you were going to say?
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Geez, folks... especially you, elsey- you people are reaching...
The song's about fear of flying and the superstitious compulsion that we have to play out the worst case in our minds to keep it from happening.
Lou Dobbs, CNN etc.- this just airport imagery...
"Breeding superstition A fatal premonition You know you got to envision The fiery crash
..It's just a formality Why must I explain? Just a nod to mortality Before you get on... a plane."
Beautiful stuff, though...
This is most obviously about being in an airport. I think it's kind of about two things though. First and foremost it's about being superstitious or wary about flying in general and second it's about worrying about the little things in life without taking into account your mortality, the fact that you aren't here forever and you should probably enjoy what time you have on the Earth, Lou Dobbs on every monitor screen getting you angry or not.
for me, i always interpreted this song as 'the tragedy is what sells', 'the bad news is what makes good news', or in this case a fiery crash...the media loves to blast us with the terrible news. it reminds me of walking through an airport and CNN reporting on an airplane crash...i thought it was interesting that i always have that fear of the plane going down in the back of my head at all times because those are the only ones we hear about on the news-- not the thousands of normal flights that occur every day.
This section, “Lou Dobbs and the CNN team, On every monitor screen, You were caught in the crossfire, Where every human face, Has you reaching for your mace” reminded my of Jon Stewart’s appearance on the show Crossfire. They manufacture a sort of ridiculous hatred toward each other as they argue their points. IE, it makes you just want to mace everyone on the show. Not sure how this might fit in with the rest of the song. Maybe that we are not understanding the possible impact of our actions whether we are angry enough to mace people or getting on a plane. Either way, there could be a fiery crash.
'...a sort of ridiculous hatred toward each other..." Exactly. We become fearful and suspicious of one another based on the theater we call the news. It's played out most dramatically at the airports. But if you knew you were going to die in a fiery crash and the strangers stuck in that tin can in the sky with you were the last people you'd ever see on earth, would you feel kinder toward them? Be nicer to them? Think more of them?
'...a sort of ridiculous hatred toward each other..." Exactly. We become fearful and suspicious of one another based on the theater we call the news. It's played out most dramatically at the airports. But if you knew you were going to die in a fiery crash and the strangers stuck in that tin can in the sky with you were the last people you'd ever see on earth, would you feel kinder toward them? Be nicer to them? Think more of them?
Getting ready to fly, you see some people pounding dramamine (for motion sickness- Wikipedia) with irrational fervor. You don't feel like that anymore, but still have jitters come and go throughout the trip. You get on the plane, and a little folding card stares at you a few feet away in your cramped seat. It has little pictures of the worst possible disasters you can experience. Landing in the water, windows shattering in midair, an airliner on fire. "Jesus, I don't need this" Then comes the flight attendant, reciting your obligations in case of emergency. This never really happens, don't worry. It's just a formality. Just make sure you mask yourself quickly or you and your kid will die. But if you sit near the emergency exit, you have it even worse. You have to be the one to open it in time or everyone burns alive. If you can't handle it, switch seats. If we crash, it's all up to you. Make sure you have all the moves down. It's a tough job, but save our lives, you have to envision the fiery crash. But seriously, it's no big deal. Just trying to be safe. Then you take off and cruise- it's really not bad at all. In fact you doze off till just before landing. A voice comes over the speakers, you don't hear everything, but it hardly matters. You made it. You're gonna be fine. I think this is very existential in it's meaning, and needs little interpretation. Bird expertly shows us the intensity of our emotions, and the frailty we can feel, by describing one airline trip. Our fears, our imagination, our superstitions, are a powerful force in our everyday lives, even when we don't see it.
@sevenslimysnails Fantastic comment. Enjoyed the first person view run-through of the song. A couple of nice insights that made one or two of the more vague references clear to me. Thanks for sharing
@sevenslimysnails Fantastic comment. Enjoyed the first person view run-through of the song. A couple of nice insights that made one or two of the more vague references clear to me. Thanks for sharing
FINAL DESTINATION! :D
I'm about 95% sure this about post 9/11 travel paranoia. I don't think the other answers are wrong, but the reference about every face having you reaching for your mace feels very Flight 93 to me. Thoughts?
amazing.
Andrew's imagery is some of the most vivid i have ever come across and this song is no exception.
god he's brilliant. the ending gives me the shivers.