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This End of the Telescope Lyrics
I was born in the Summer of Sam --
Smaller and sooner than planned --
In the spitting image of a man
Raised by wolves on the fat of the land.
Clear of romance, beauty, and damned
Tomorrow will come if she can.
Just want a woman who can walk on a wire
With a trembling glass in her hand.
Over the hilltops the fire engine rolls,
Down the valley deeper still it goes;
Got my weapons out, I'm laying low
On this end of the telescope.
Alone, you ramble the whole of the world
Through black-water jungles for bliss.
It's feast or famine, you eat what you kill
There's no need to bring God into this.
My heart is heavy and pressed to the bone,
Some people too heavy to hold.
Salutations, take me as I am --
You can have me, or leave me alone.
Sun-kissed lemons in the graveyard below
Here in death you see new adventures grow.
I see you at last but mostly ghost,
On this end of the telescope.
This will not be easy
Word's out the doctor is not coming in
This genie is too angry to go back
Into the bottle again.
Closer than ever, and covered in birds
A bone-colored moon fills the west.
Now, throats will be slashed, and flags will unfurl
As time will divide us in gangs.
Now, years of progress digging the sand
Companions we made didn't last.
Now, lousy lovers do well with their hands
But I'll reach you like nobody can.
Now, slow and easy, you let your paddle go
Down a the bottom there is more hell to row.
I see clear at last: I love, I loathe,
On this end of the telescope.
Smaller and sooner than planned --
In the spitting image of a man
Raised by wolves on the fat of the land.
Clear of romance, beauty, and damned
Tomorrow will come if she can.
Just want a woman who can walk on a wire
With a trembling glass in her hand.
Over the hilltops the fire engine rolls,
Down the valley deeper still it goes;
Got my weapons out, I'm laying low
On this end of the telescope.
Through black-water jungles for bliss.
It's feast or famine, you eat what you kill
There's no need to bring God into this.
My heart is heavy and pressed to the bone,
Some people too heavy to hold.
Salutations, take me as I am --
You can have me, or leave me alone.
Sun-kissed lemons in the graveyard below
Here in death you see new adventures grow.
I see you at last but mostly ghost,
On this end of the telescope.
Word's out the doctor is not coming in
This genie is too angry to go back
Into the bottle again.
A bone-colored moon fills the west.
Now, throats will be slashed, and flags will unfurl
As time will divide us in gangs.
Companions we made didn't last.
But I'll reach you like nobody can.
Down a the bottom there is more hell to row.
On this end of the telescope.
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What a good song. There's so much to it that I wouldn't know where to start and would probably be scrambling to find the meaning in every verse.
It seems to start from the beginning of his life and follows through some of his experiences spanning his life. It's all recognized as significant to him, but at the same time insignifcant in the big picture of things. 'This end of the telescope' is his way of expressing how much we can live and feel but are ultimately just the tiniest little piece of the universe.
This songs speaks of the extremes of life. It descibes the bitter-sweetness of our world and the neverending cycle of pleasure and pain, hope and frustration, progress and destruction. I believe the beginning refers to being born within the US empire in the 70's. The end seems to say that he has had a revelation: life is a ceaseless struggle and he loves and hates this world. This point is significant because the idea of love would not exist without the concept of hate. That is, the one would not exist without the other.