In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Carry me up them stairs
Put my white socks on
And my pretty song
You like my blue nail polish?
"What is all this?", you said
"The mess upstairs
Don't be scared"
Daddy dearest, you know
How I like to take trips
Pops, first stop at the K-Mart
Buy me my peach lip gloss
Cigarettes and lollipops
Mad magazines, and white socks
All in your car for
Our trip across the U.S.A.
We going to party
Like it's 1949
We in the Pontiac
From July to July
It's a flower motel nation
Day and night on our last vacation
We going to see it all
Before we say goodbye
Daddy likes Blackpool
Pleasure Beach and road stops
Baby likes some Swiss Apps
Souvenir gift shops
Late night, midnight
Radio show talks
Daddy, baby
Big jail break
Ponytail and lollipops
Dinerettes and soda pops
New blue bathing suit
Ruched tops and Cadillacs
Blue lake car to dunks
Hopscotch, shit talk
Alabama hard knocks
Motel dress locks
We going to party
Like it's 1949
We in the Pontiac
From July to July
It's a motel flower nation
Day and night on our last vacation
We going to see it all
Before he says goodbye
Put my white socks on
And my pretty song
You like my blue nail polish?
"What is all this?", you said
"The mess upstairs
Don't be scared"
Daddy dearest, you know
How I like to take trips
Pops, first stop at the K-Mart
Buy me my peach lip gloss
Cigarettes and lollipops
Mad magazines, and white socks
All in your car for
Our trip across the U.S.A.
We going to party
Like it's 1949
We in the Pontiac
From July to July
It's a flower motel nation
Day and night on our last vacation
We going to see it all
Before we say goodbye
Daddy likes Blackpool
Pleasure Beach and road stops
Baby likes some Swiss Apps
Souvenir gift shops
Late night, midnight
Radio show talks
Daddy, baby
Big jail break
Ponytail and lollipops
Dinerettes and soda pops
New blue bathing suit
Ruched tops and Cadillacs
Blue lake car to dunks
Hopscotch, shit talk
Alabama hard knocks
Motel dress locks
We going to party
Like it's 1949
We in the Pontiac
From July to July
It's a motel flower nation
Day and night on our last vacation
We going to see it all
Before he says goodbye
Lyrics submitted by Mellow_Harsher
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This song is a pretty clear allusion to "Lolita" by Vladimir Nabokov. In the novel, Humbert Humbert takes his 12 year old step-daughter and lover, Lolita, across the United States in his car for a year: "Daddy dearest, you know/ How I like to take trips" "We in the Pontiac / From July to July." They spend every night in a different motel: "It's a flower motel nation/Day and night on our last vacation." The pair make many stops along the way and he buys her a variety of goodies to appease her and keep her entertained: "Buy me my peach lip gloss/ Cigarettes and lollipops/ Mad magazines, and white socks/ All in your car for/ Our trip across the U.S.A." In the second half of the novel, they take yet another trip across the USA except this time Lolita runs away with another man and never returns to Humbert: "Day and night on our last vacation/ We going to see it all/ Before we say goodbye."
Beautiful song and great details that really connect it with the novel!
I couldn't have said it better!