Warren wanted a Beach Boys thing for this one, and Carl Wilson and Billy Hinsche came in, with Carl arranging the vocal parts. The other harmony vocalists (credited as the "Gentlemen Boys") were Jackson Browne, J.D. Souther, Zevon's longtime backers Waddy Wachtel and Jorge Calderon, and Linda Rondstadt/Stone Poneys guitarist Kenny Edwards.
I remember the days when we talked for hours
And we were young, we thought we had superpowers
We kissed the sky, expanded our minds, thought we could fly
We were dreamers and we'd never die
We were young punks but we showed potential
Was us against the world, we weren't sentimental
We weren't our problems, our age or our paychecks
And we weren't taking anybody's shit
If I know now what I knew then
I'd back up do it all again
I'd take a bow, take it real slow
Take a ride down that yellow brick road
Know now what I knew then
I'd back up do it all again
I'd take a bow, take it real slow
Take a ? take a ride down that yellow brick road
Come on, come on rise up
Come on, come on rise up
Come on, come on rise
The winters were cold but we had your parents basement
This underground was for sinners and we embraced it
Magic pills, fairy tales, Syd Barrett's ghost
Oh, we'd all get on that spaceship
We measured our lives in coffee spoons
And those Friday nights quickly turned into Sunday afternoons
We weren't our money, our muscles or our regrets
We were having a mere life experience
If I know now what I knew then
I'd back up do it all again
I'd take a bow, take it real slow
Take a ride down that yellow brick road
Know now what I knew then
I'd back up do it all again
I'd take a bow, take it real slow
Take a ride down that yellow brick road
I remember the days when we talked for hours
And we were young, we thought we had superpowers
We weren't our problems, our age or our paychecks
And we weren't taking anybody's shit
If I know now what I knew then
I'd back up do it all again
I'd take a bow, take it real slow
Take a ride down that yellow brick road
Know now what I knew then
I'd back up do it all again
I'd take a bow, take it real slow
Take a ride down that yellow brick road
Take a bow, take it real slow
Take a ride down that yellow brick road
Come on, come on rise up
Come on, come on rise up
Come on, come on rise
And we were young, we thought we had superpowers
We kissed the sky, expanded our minds, thought we could fly
We were dreamers and we'd never die
We were young punks but we showed potential
Was us against the world, we weren't sentimental
We weren't our problems, our age or our paychecks
And we weren't taking anybody's shit
If I know now what I knew then
I'd back up do it all again
I'd take a bow, take it real slow
Take a ride down that yellow brick road
Know now what I knew then
I'd back up do it all again
I'd take a bow, take it real slow
Take a ? take a ride down that yellow brick road
Come on, come on rise up
Come on, come on rise up
Come on, come on rise
The winters were cold but we had your parents basement
This underground was for sinners and we embraced it
Magic pills, fairy tales, Syd Barrett's ghost
Oh, we'd all get on that spaceship
We measured our lives in coffee spoons
And those Friday nights quickly turned into Sunday afternoons
We weren't our money, our muscles or our regrets
We were having a mere life experience
If I know now what I knew then
I'd back up do it all again
I'd take a bow, take it real slow
Take a ride down that yellow brick road
Know now what I knew then
I'd back up do it all again
I'd take a bow, take it real slow
Take a ride down that yellow brick road
I remember the days when we talked for hours
And we were young, we thought we had superpowers
We weren't our problems, our age or our paychecks
And we weren't taking anybody's shit
If I know now what I knew then
I'd back up do it all again
I'd take a bow, take it real slow
Take a ride down that yellow brick road
Know now what I knew then
I'd back up do it all again
I'd take a bow, take it real slow
Take a ride down that yellow brick road
Take a bow, take it real slow
Take a ride down that yellow brick road
Come on, come on rise up
Come on, come on rise up
Come on, come on rise
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Spirit Within
Bertoldi Brothers
Bertoldi Brothers
Battle Royale
Word Alive, The
Word Alive, The
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.
Step
Ministry
Ministry
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.
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
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”
I think it says: We weren't our problems, our age or our paycheques.