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The Backseat Lyrics

In the backseats of burned out cars.
In the disenchantment lane.
The (?) angels twist and turn, ask forgiveness for future mistakes.
But you and I we've been through this.
Maybe 100 times before.
Always hitching rides with strangers.
(?)

But you know the summer always brought it.
That wild and reckless breeze.
And in the backseat, we're just trying to find some room for our knees.
And in the backseat, we're just trying to find some room to breathe.

And in the wild desert sun, we drove straight on through the night.
We rode a fever out of Boston.
Dreamed of California nights.
Come July, we'll ride the Ferris Wheel.
Go round and round and round.
And If you never let me go, well I will never let you down.

But you know the summer always brought it.
That wild and reckless breeze.
And in the backseat, we're just trying to find some room for our knees.
And in the backseat, we're just trying to find some room to breathe.

And these cowboys all go crazy in the heat.
Chasing the lights in all the girls along the Santa Anna streets that they're just dying to meet.
It meant nothing to me.

You know the summer always brought it.
That wild and reckless breeze.
And in the backseat we're just trying to find some room for our knees.
Hey!
13 Meanings

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Cover art for The Backseat lyrics by Gaslight Anthem, The

"Cowboys all go crazy in the heat" possibly a reference to Lorrie Morgan's Crazy From The Heat, a country song from the 60s/70s?

The backseats of burnt out cars, the ferris wheel, Santa Ana etc are Springsteen references...

Brilliant song. Anthemic almost

Cover art for The Backseat lyrics by Gaslight Anthem, The

"In the back seats of burned out cars" is likely an homage to Bruce Springsteen's "Thunder Road": "There were ghosts in the eyes of all the boys you sent away They haunt this dusty beach road in the skeleton frames of burned-out Chevrolets They scream your name at night in the street"

Cover art for The Backseat lyrics by Gaslight Anthem, The

the Ideal angels

and

Poppa warned us about before for your

(?) spotts

Cover art for The Backseat lyrics by Gaslight Anthem, The

It might be "try" instead of "tried", but considering the rest of the chorus is in past tense, I went with "tried".

In the backseats of burned out cars in the disenchantment lane The ideal angels twist and turn and ask forgiveness for future mistakes But you and I, we've been through this maybe a hundred times before Always hitching rides with strangers that papa warned us about before

But you know the summer always brought it, that wild and reckless breeze And in the backseat, we just tried to find some room for our knees And in the backseat, we just tried to find some room to breathe

And in the wild desert sun, we drove straight on through the night We rode a fever out of Boston, dreamed of California lights Come July, we'll ride the ferris wheel, go round and round and round And If you never let me go, well, I will never let you down

And you know the summer always brought it, all those wild and reckless breezes And in the backseat, we just tried to find some room for our knees And in the backseat, we just tried to find some room to breathe And now in the backseat, we just try to find some room to breathe

And these cowboys all go crazy in the heat Chasing the lights in all the girls along the Santa Ana streets they're just dying to meet It meant nothing to me

You know the summer always brought it, that wild and reckless breeze And in the backseat we just tried to find some room for our knees

Cover art for The Backseat lyrics by Gaslight Anthem, The

anyone know what hes saying in the outro? i originally thought it was just woahs... but it sounds more and more like words to me now. incredible song, best on the album

Pretty sure he is saying "Hold on hold on hold on" in the outro.

Cover art for The Backseat lyrics by Gaslight Anthem, The

that poppa warned us about before

Cover art for The Backseat lyrics by Gaslight Anthem, The

Reminds me of the time my brother convinced me and my other brother to go out with him and some of his friends to this picnic thing. Eight people in his tiny car, driving on the highway with the windows rolled down, blasting music. Not a lot of knee space, but kind of cool.

Really like this song.

"In the backseats of burned-out cars" is similar to the line "there's far too many diamonds in the backseats of borrowed cars" in their earlier song "Wooderson", just a little interesting thing I noticed...

Cover art for The Backseat lyrics by Gaslight Anthem, The

for some reason i think the line is, "we rode a fever out of AUSTIN;" the song makes me thing of a road trip from texas to cali

Cover art for The Backseat lyrics by Gaslight Anthem, The

I hear so much of backstreets in this. Obviously Fallon loves Springsteen. Hiding on the Backstreets and "In the back seat just trying to find some room for our knees," seem to be about the same thing, trying to find some place to fit, whether it's a car or an alley. Love the GLA

Sad when THIS is the highlight of ones life. Usually 'love' is, but apparenltly not this time. Not ever :-(

 
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