Secret Fires Lyrics
I want to remember you
They that seek me are behind me
against the moon
Recall how we used to ride
juiced underneath the power lines
in the inferno valley
when your daddy was still alive
I worked with dirt in my eyes
old blood upon my wound
dreaming aloud
of seeing you soon
I came home from day at the mill
I came home and cared for you
the year that we lived
in secret fire
I took my razor blade
I layed old Rubeun in the shade
and I heard the radio moan
I took my place in the hills
jagged with secret fires
I called you through the valley
down along the wires
with dust upon the sands
came the first day of the year
I saw a house where no one lived,
on the black land and under the red sky
you washed my hair and skin
against the firelight
so, touch me through your screen door
I want to remember you
we struggled
the year we lived in secret fire
i agree that there are def. dark undertones to this song (as with most of jeffrey lee pierce's lyrics). i think basically it is about a lost love or about a fading love rather. the "year we lived in secret fire" is a refrence to better days when their love was passionate and burning strong. he is now in a different and miserable place both physically and emotionally without this woman's love. she may not necessarily be "gone" from him but their love is more or less a shadow of what it once was during that first year together. see the lyrics for their song "a house is not a home" it has similar themes.
great song and unbelievably underrated band: thanks for posting!
I cannot hear this song enough. It is simply mesmerizing.
I know the this has a dark message... but can someone let me know more about it's meaning?
whatever their songs are about (which i have no idea), gun club songs are my favorite, based on jeffrey's voice, the instrumentation,and the energy to the songs.
Like a lot of Jeffrey Lee Pierce's lyrics, I'm sure much of this has personal meanings for him that generally can't be literally interpreted. But the vagueness and imagery and metaphor is what makes it become so personal for those it touches. What a beautiful, beautiful song.
I think this song is about committing arson. While beautiful and tantalizing, I think pierce is mimicking watching something burn. It can be vague enough to apply to a lost love, seeing its ashes succumb to the wind. However, literally, I think the dude is talking about burning up the "mill." Hes talking about living in hiding. "You washed my hair and skin against the firelight"... he called his love and she is literally washing the ash and smoke from his body. He knows their time is up and it is only a matter of time before he is indicted.