2 Meanings
Add Yours
Follow
Share
Q&A
Stranded in a Limousine Lyrics
He was a mean individual
He had a heart like a bone
He was a naturally crazy man
And better off left alone
Well he stopped one night
At a traffic light
And when that light turned green
He was a mean individual
Stranded in a limousine
Hey hey hey hey
All the children on the street
They come running out their front doors
Running out their back doors
Flying on their feet
They said mama, oh! Papa, oh!
See what I have seen
There's a mean individual stranded in a limousine
Then everybody came running
Everybody said Lord, Lord!
Everybody was gunning
They're gonna divvy up the reward
And then a wah wah wah wah wah wah wah
A siren, a flashing light
But the mean individual
Had vanished in the black of night
Hey hey hey hey
They wondered where to begin
‘Cause he left that neighborhood
Just like the rattlesnake sheds its skin
Well they searched the roofs
And they checked out the groups
And they photographed the scene
For the mean individual
Stranded in a limousine
Then everybody came running
Everybody said Lord, Lord!
Everybody was gunning
They're gonna divvy up the reward
And then a wah wah wah wah wah wah wah
A siren, a flashing light
But the mean individual
Had vanished in the black of night
The mean individual had vanished in the black of night
The mean individual had vanished in the black of night!
He had a heart like a bone
He was a naturally crazy man
And better off left alone
At a traffic light
And when that light turned green
He was a mean individual
Stranded in a limousine
All the children on the street
They come running out their front doors
Running out their back doors
Flying on their feet
They said mama, oh! Papa, oh!
See what I have seen
There's a mean individual stranded in a limousine
Everybody said Lord, Lord!
Everybody was gunning
They're gonna divvy up the reward
And then a wah wah wah wah wah wah wah
A siren, a flashing light
But the mean individual
Had vanished in the black of night
They wondered where to begin
‘Cause he left that neighborhood
Just like the rattlesnake sheds its skin
And they checked out the groups
And they photographed the scene
For the mean individual
Stranded in a limousine
Everybody said Lord, Lord!
Everybody was gunning
They're gonna divvy up the reward
And then a wah wah wah wah wah wah wah
A siren, a flashing light
But the mean individual
Had vanished in the black of night
The mean individual had vanished in the black of night
The mean individual had vanished in the black of night!
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
This song is just a reflection on the meaning of 'the mean individual'. That concept is some kind of political artefact meaning 'Joe Average'. But who is Joe Average? Not you. Not me. Not anyone we know. Nevertheless politicians focus on Joe Average to project their beliefs and ideas on. So he is probably someone very important, very valuable. If Joe Average, or the Mean Individual would ever get found, there would be a prize on his head. So suppose he got stranded in some kind of neighbourhood where the kids wouldn't hesitate to bring him in (into the police station) for a reward, we all would finally get to know Joe, that Mean Individual, a shining sample of us all (however untrue).
This song was one of two new songs to be included on the Greatest hits, etc. album by Paul Simon. The other one was Slip sliding’ away-it was not a well-promoted album and its sales were lack-luster compared to his others. At that time Columbia Records turned over leadership from Clive Davis to Walter Yetnikoff-Yetnikoff and Simon did not get along at all and Simon left Columbia after Yetnikoff took the helm. Yetnikoff had a reputation for bullying artists and everyone generally-he truly was “a mean individual”-I believe that the song is about him. And the line about the “children went running-out the front door out the back door, crying on the streets” is about the artists who either left Columbia because of him as Simon did or issued warnings about him to others who considered or did work for him. -this is just my opinion-but the time frame and the people involved seem to fit pretty well here.