High life
Well, I used to drive a cab, you know
I heard a siren scream
Pulled over to the corner
And I fell into a dream
There were two men eating pennies
And three young girls who cried
The west coast is falling
I see rocks in the sky
The preacher took his bible
And laid it on the stool
He said with the congregation running
Why should I play the fool?
Well, I used to be a woman, you know
I took you for a ride
I let you fly my airplane
It looked good for your pride
'Cause you're the kind of man, you know
Who likes what he says
I wonder what's it's like
To be so far over my head
Well, the lady made the wedding
And she brought along the ring
She got down on her knees
And said, "let's get on with this thing"
Well, I used to be a folk singer
Keeping managers alive
When you saw me on a corner
And told me I was jive
So I unlocked your mind, you know
To see what I could see
If you guarantee the postage
I'll mail you back the key
Well, I woke up in the morning
With an arrow through my nose
There was an Indian in the corner
Trying on my clothes
Well, I used to be asleep, you know
With blankets on my bed
I stayed there for a while
'Til they discovered I was dead
The coroner was friendly
I liked him quite a lot
If I hadn't've been a woman
I guess I'd never have been caught
They gave me back my house and car
And nothing more was said
Well, I was driving down the freeway
When my car ran out of gas
Pulled over to the station
But I was afraid to ask
The servicemen were yellow
And the gasoline was green
Although I knew I couldn't
I thought that I was gonna scream
That was on my last trip to Tulsa
Just before the snow
If you ever need a ride there
Be sure to let me know
I was chopping down a palm tree
When a friend dropped by to ask
If I would feel less lonely
If he helped me swing the axe
I said, "no, it's not a case of being lonely
We have here
I've been working on this palm tree
For eighty seven years"
I said, no, it's not a case of being lonely
We have here
I've been working on this palm tree
For eighty seven years"
He said, "go get lost"
And walked towards his Cadillac
I chopped down the palm tree
And it landed on his back
I heard a siren scream
Pulled over to the corner
And I fell into a dream
There were two men eating pennies
And three young girls who cried
The west coast is falling
I see rocks in the sky
The preacher took his bible
And laid it on the stool
He said with the congregation running
Why should I play the fool?
Well, I used to be a woman, you know
I took you for a ride
I let you fly my airplane
It looked good for your pride
'Cause you're the kind of man, you know
Who likes what he says
I wonder what's it's like
To be so far over my head
Well, the lady made the wedding
And she brought along the ring
She got down on her knees
And said, "let's get on with this thing"
Well, I used to be a folk singer
Keeping managers alive
When you saw me on a corner
And told me I was jive
So I unlocked your mind, you know
To see what I could see
If you guarantee the postage
I'll mail you back the key
Well, I woke up in the morning
With an arrow through my nose
There was an Indian in the corner
Trying on my clothes
Well, I used to be asleep, you know
With blankets on my bed
I stayed there for a while
'Til they discovered I was dead
The coroner was friendly
I liked him quite a lot
If I hadn't've been a woman
I guess I'd never have been caught
They gave me back my house and car
And nothing more was said
Well, I was driving down the freeway
When my car ran out of gas
Pulled over to the station
But I was afraid to ask
The servicemen were yellow
And the gasoline was green
Although I knew I couldn't
I thought that I was gonna scream
That was on my last trip to Tulsa
Just before the snow
If you ever need a ride there
Be sure to let me know
I was chopping down a palm tree
When a friend dropped by to ask
If I would feel less lonely
If he helped me swing the axe
I said, "no, it's not a case of being lonely
We have here
I've been working on this palm tree
For eighty seven years"
I said, no, it's not a case of being lonely
We have here
I've been working on this palm tree
For eighty seven years"
He said, "go get lost"
And walked towards his Cadillac
I chopped down the palm tree
And it landed on his back
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This song is def a twin to "Unfair" (a song she has been quoted as saying is about falling in love with someone who is already in a relationship) so it is presumably about the same person. Given the references to buying an apartment and not being able to see her love interest "after tonight," it's most likely that she's moving away and she'll "wait a day to break the bad news" (i.e. notifying him that she's leaving once she's already gone).
And, of course, the fact that she sees in him a fellow "idealist" and "dreamer" (terms commonly given to people with the INFP personality on the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)) portends that she'll always be left wondering if they would've been perfect together.
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Both as a standalone and as part of the DSOTS album, you can take this lyric as read. As a matter of public record, Jourgensen's drug intake was legendary even in the 1980s. By the late 90s, in his own words, he was grappling with massive addiction issues and had lost almost everything: friends, spouse, money and had nearly died more than once. "Dark Side of the Spoon" is a both funny & sad title for an album made by a musical genius who was losing the plot; and this song is a message to his fans & friends saying he knows it. It's painful to listen to so I'm glad the "Keith Richards of industrial metals" wised up and cleaned up. Well done sir.
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This is one of my fav Neil Young songs. It makes me think of past lives/ reincarnation, like the whole song is stories/memories of past lives he has lives.
This Song Is Insanely Subjective, I'm Amazed Nobody Has Commented On It Yet This Is One Of My Favorite Neil Young Songs. I Think It Has To Do With The End Of The World.
The End Of The World Will Come When People Start Every Word With A Capital Letter.
I decided I wanted to become a writer after hearing "The Last Trip To Tulsa" in high school. The lyrics are extremely clever, but they made absolutely no sense to me. I thought, "I could do something like this."
The more I listen to it, the more I think it's about either LSD trips or dreams that Neil experienced, but I'm not really sure.
I'm inclined to go along with 'zenful' as it seems pretty intense and dreamy. The sort of intensity and abberational visualization that occurs with dropping acid, or perhaps doing peyote. As it happens my hometown was Tulsa and we seldom got very much snow, nor did we have palm trees to chop down.<br /> It is interesting to compare this song to "After The Gold Rush" which I also saw as a trippy dream set of lyrics. However, in that song the visualizations were relatively easy to relate to concerns about the environment, troubled personal relationships, and drugs, a still present dark side of his life at that time. Interestingly, all the other songs on the title album were more direct in their meaning such as the acerbic anti discrimination themed "Southern Man" or the drug related "Don't Let It Bring You Down", a direct reference to a band member caught in the spell of heroin and who later died, which in turn prompted Young's "The Needle And The Damage Done" on a later album. <br /> Any way you view it you have to admire how rich Neil Young's lyrics are and how he wields the lyrics the way a painter wields a brush...to evoke images that amuse and dismay us, or simply make us feel a little discomfort. Like TheThornBirds posted above, "The Last Trip To Tulsa" is one of my favorite Neil Young songs, perhaps because of (instead of in-spite-of) the elusiveness of any apparent rationale. The lyrics therefore being unreachable to most,, are at least accompanied by Neil Young's use of intonation, delay, and draw out, and a very powerful yet almost monosyllabic chord play set to change ups in rythm and intensity that gives the whole song a feel of impending doom.
This is one of my fav Neil Young songs. It makes me think of past lives/ reincarnation, like the whole song is stories/memories of past lives he has lives.
reminds me of being strung out on heroin and acid while smoking a cigarette on valium
Well, I used to drive a cab, you know I heard a siren scream Pulled over to the corner And I fell into a dream = Came down There were two men eating pennies = 2 men stuck in the system, living off miners And three young girls who cried = On a trip The West coast is falling, I see rocks in the sky. Stoners coming down The preacher took his bible And laid it on the stool. = The stand of the presentation He said: with the congregation running, = Their gig is up. Why should I play the fool? = The Pied Piper
Well, I used to be a woman, = Able to give Love. you know I took you for a ride, = Was in the state of flight with a passenger I let you fly my airplane It looked good for your pride. 'Cause you're the kind of man you know Who likes what he says. = A copy band I wonder what's it's like To be so far over my head. = Wishing for a ride. Well, the lady made the wedding = A calling back into the system And she brought along the ring. = a circle world She got down on her knees And said: Let's get on with this thing. = suicide
Well, I used to be a folk singer Keeping managers alive, When you saw me on a corner And told me I was jive. = One that caught the attraction So I unlocked your mind, you know To see what I could see. If you guarantee the postage, I'll mail you back the key. = The key to Light Well I woke up in the morning With an arrow through my nose = Lost his scent There was an Indian in the corner Tryin' on my clothes. = Looking for the way out.
Well, I used to be asleep you know With blankets on my bed. = Security blanket I stayed there for a while 'Til they discovered I was dead. = Came down, Loss of light The coroner was friendly And I liked him quite a lot. If I hadn't 've been a woman I guess I'd never have been caught. = Only those who escape as a giver of love, fall to be caught back into the circle They gave me back my house and car And nothing more was said. = Back to square one.
Well, I was driving down the freeway When my car ran out of gas. = The trip was over Pulled over to the station = Place where to catch a ride out of the system But I was afraid to ask. The servicemen were yellow = Afraid to take a chance. Like Bowie said; We can be Hero's just for a day. And the gasoline was green. = What you need to go. Although I knew I couldn't = Burnt out I thought that I was gonna scream. = Upset That was on my last trip to Tulsa = Where it's at Just before the snow. = Back in the cold world If you ever need a ride there, Be sure to let me know. = He's a giver of light
I was chopping down a palm tree = The system When a friend dropped by to ask If I would feel less lonely If he helped me swing the axe. = For gain I said: No, it's not a case of being lonely We have here, I've been working on this palm tree For eighty seven years I said: No, it's not a case of being lonely We have here, I've been working on this palm tree For eighty seven years He said: Go get lost! And walked towards his Cadillac. I chopped down the palm tree And it landed on his back. = We all carry this load.
its about articles in the newspaper he was reading while on his way to tulsa oklahoma for a show, pennies were 1 tenth of a dime bag(a joint) the cab driver got pulled over and the 2 guys in the cab were eating there stashes. the guys were wanted for raping some young girls. an earthquake in california(subject of other songs of his) a woman who was mistaked for dead woke up when the coroner was preeparing to do an autopsy. during the vietnam war the south vietnamese soldiers got caught stealing and selling american gasoline so they put diye in the gas so they knew if they found some that was green somewhere that it was stolen. i aways thought the song should have ended with the line ,that was on my last trip to tulsa just before the snow(could have meant coke ,too) if you ever need a ride there be sure to let me know! but it went on with the article about an 87 year old man who was killed while chopping down a tree. and neil thought someone should have stopped to help the old dude! so it got switched up! this from the man himself!
Life, death, reincarnation, rebirth. In the inimitable style of Neil Young.