The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
I was in the air when the towers came down
In a bar on the 84th floor
I bought Philippe Petit a round
And asked what his high wire was for
He said, 'I put one foot on the wire,
One foot straight into heaven'
As the prophets entered boldly into the bar
On the Boeing 737, Lord, on the Boeing 737
Hey little bird, would you be the one
To nest beneath my Gatling gun?
There's nothing left I call my own
Come down and build me a home.
I was in a bar when they rigged the towers
Trying to leave all my sins
The barmaid asked my order
And where my mind had been
I tried to recall the high wire
Philippe and his foot in heaven
As the prophets entered boldly into the bar
On the Boeing 737, Lord, on the Boeing 737
Hey little bird, would you be the one
To nest beneath my Gatling gun?
There's nothing left I call my own
Come down and build me a home.
In a bar on the 84th floor
I bought Philippe Petit a round
And asked what his high wire was for
He said, 'I put one foot on the wire,
One foot straight into heaven'
As the prophets entered boldly into the bar
On the Boeing 737, Lord, on the Boeing 737
Hey little bird, would you be the one
To nest beneath my Gatling gun?
There's nothing left I call my own
Come down and build me a home.
I was in a bar when they rigged the towers
Trying to leave all my sins
The barmaid asked my order
And where my mind had been
I tried to recall the high wire
Philippe and his foot in heaven
As the prophets entered boldly into the bar
On the Boeing 737, Lord, on the Boeing 737
Hey little bird, would you be the one
To nest beneath my Gatling gun?
There's nothing left I call my own
Come down and build me a home.
Lyrics submitted by dreamsofpavement
Boeing 737 Lyrics as written by Jeffrey Carl Prystowsky Benjamin Knox Miller
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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So... Philippe Petit is famous for doing a tightrope walk between the Twin Towers in the 70's. Prophets = believers of Muhammed I guess. And Boeing 737 is a plane. I won't bother spelling it out. But I think he does a lot of interesting things with the line about the bird and the Gatling gun. If that bird is a hawk, it's a war thing. But thinking about the Low Anthem in general, I'm guess it's a peace bird and if it's nesting underneath a big gun, it either means the gun is non-operational, or if you use it the bird nest would be disturbed. So, if you're a warmonger and your means of destruction is subverted by a bird, you'd have to find a new line of work, a new way to live. Maybe build yourself a new home. It's funny because on the day I submitted these lyrics, my class had a lecture on Baudrillard's essay about 9/11, the hegemon, and the Other. It seems oddly synchronic and fitting to still be thinking of all this.
I think the song is contrasting two methods to find "heaven" and inspire others. The tightrope walker does something peaceful and wonderful to achieve heaven and inspire (see above comment about Petit's tightrope walk); whereas the "prophets" (terrorists) do something violent and awful. The narrator seems to be in the bar trying to figure out his own way to achieve heaven ("I was in a bar when they rigged the towers/Trying to leave all my sins"). He seems to want to emulate the tightrope walker, but his thoughts are interrupted by the bold entrance of the prophets. That is, often our attempts to better ourselves are interrupted or stymied by the violent actions of others. This is corroborated by the fact that most people will have to google Philippe Petit's name to get the reference to his tightrope walk between the twin towers, but almost everyone probably thought of 9/11 right away. Violence and evil imprint on our minds erasing good memories. The chorus shows favor to the peaceful way to "build a home" (which I take as a synonym for finding heaven).
there's this and there's "trains to brazil" by guillemots and both are full of racist bullshit but i think maybe they're all the better for being honest about it.
But why Boeing 737? Neither of the aircraft that hit the Twin Towers was a Boeing 737. Both were Boeing 767s. Since the word "767" fits into the song's meter exactly the same as "737", why was "737" chosen?
Though having the same number of syllables, "thirty" is far more mellifluousness in this context than "sixty":<br /> <br /> The sounds involved in singing "six-ty" would be far more clumsy here than "thir-ty". First in 767 you have the repeating "S" sounds of "SSSeven SSSixty SSSeven" with a clumsy thudding tripping "ixDee" right in the middle and they you have to try and get right back up to another "S"<br /> <br /> The "thirty" sound can be vocally tapdanced over without requiring any awkward stressing of the sounds, and the "seven"s can be nice solid stressed downbeats with a clean space between them.<br /> <br /> Never let facts get in the way of good songwriting.
It's for my buddy flying Eagles over DC in the aftermath of 9-11 and later Iraq, now flies for Southwest. Eagle's gattling gun and Southwest's 737s. Time comes around - how did they know? I guess it's just a poetry thing that just happened to work out. Not BS, serendipity poetry. Sometimes songs have meaings the artist give us, sometime the meanings we give them. Anyhow, it's a cool song. Now I know why.