Outside there's a box car waiting
Outside the family stew
Out by the fire breathing
Outside we wait 'til face turns blue
I know the nervous walking
I know the dirty beard hangs
Out by the box car waiting
Take me away to nowhere plains
There is a wait so long (so long, so long)
You'll never wait so long
Here comes your man
Here comes your man
Here comes your man
Big shake on the box car moving
Big shake to the land that's falling down
Is a wind makes a palm stop blowing
A big, big stone fall and break my crown
There is a wait so long (so long, so long)
You'll never wait so long
Here comes your man
Here comes your man
Here comes your man
Here comes your man
There is a wait so long (so long, so long)
You'll never wait so long
Here comes your man
Here comes your man
Here comes your man
Here comes your man
Here comes your man
Here comes your man
Here comes your man
Here comes your man
Here comes your man
Here comes your man
Here comes your man
Here comes your man
Here comes your man
Outside the family stew
Out by the fire breathing
Outside we wait 'til face turns blue
I know the nervous walking
I know the dirty beard hangs
Out by the box car waiting
Take me away to nowhere plains
There is a wait so long (so long, so long)
You'll never wait so long
Here comes your man
Here comes your man
Here comes your man
Big shake on the box car moving
Big shake to the land that's falling down
Is a wind makes a palm stop blowing
A big, big stone fall and break my crown
There is a wait so long (so long, so long)
You'll never wait so long
Here comes your man
Here comes your man
Here comes your man
Here comes your man
There is a wait so long (so long, so long)
You'll never wait so long
Here comes your man
Here comes your man
Here comes your man
Here comes your man
Here comes your man
Here comes your man
Here comes your man
Here comes your man
Here comes your man
Here comes your man
Here comes your man
Here comes your man
Here comes your man
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In an interview with NME, Francis commented on the meaning of the song:
“It's about winos and hobos traveling on the trains, who die in the California Earthquake. Before earthquakes, everything gets very calm–animals stop talking and birds stop chirping and there's no wind. It's very ominous.
I've been through a few earthquakes, actually, 'cause I grew up in California. I was only in one big one, in 1971. I was very young and I slept through it. I've been awake through lots of small ones at school and at home. It's very exciting actually–a very comical thing. It's like the earth is shaking, and what can you do? Nothing.”
The word "boxcar" was apparently a starting point for the song's lyrics, and Francis has suggested that this was in part inspired by the song "Carnival of Sorts (Box Car)" by R.E.M.: "I probably liked the word 'boxcar' because I heard it on the R.E.M. song, from their first record."
Let's analyze it line by line:
Outside there's a box car waiting - hobos travel by train in boxcars
Outside the family stew - hobos eat at soup kitchens
Out by the fire breathing - hobos stand out by burning trashcans to warm themselves
Outside we wait 'til face turns blue - hobos are homeless, they are outside by the fire freezing and when you're freezing, your face turns blue
There is a wait so long You'll never wait so long - hobos' entire lives could be seen as "waiting"... you're waiting for something, anything, whatever just to survive until finally you're just waiting for death
Here comes your man - a reference to the Velvet Underground song about waiting for your man to give you your fix. The earthquake is "the man" these people who've been waiting their whole lives for (death).
I know the nervous walking - hobos are nervous
I know the dirty beard hangs - hobos have dirty long beards
Out by the box car waiting - just waiting for death
Take me away to nowhere plains - death
There is a wait so long You'll never wait so long Here comes your man Here comes your man Here comes your man Here comes your man ...
(makes perfect sense now, doesn't it?)
All my dreams pass before my eyes, a curiosity
Dust in the wind, all they are is dust in the wind
Same old song, just a drop of water in an endless sea
All we do crumbles to the ground, though we refuse to see
Dust in the wind, all we are is dust in the wind
Now, don't hang on, nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky
It slips away, and all your money won't another minute buy
Dust in the wind, all we are is dust in the wind
Dust in the wind
everything is dust in the wind youtube.com/… )
'You may tell yourself: this is not my beautiful house, this is not my beautiful wife - same as it ever was'
"This is a pre-Pixies song that I wrote when I was about 15. It's about winos and hobos travelling on the trains who die in the California Earthquake. Before earthquakes everything gets very calm, animals stop talking and birds stop chirping and there's no wind. It's very ominous.
I've been through a few earthquakes actually cos I grew up in California. I was only in one big one in 1971. I was very young and I slept through it. I've been awake through lots of small ones at school and at home. It's very exciting actually, a very comical thing. It's like the earth is shaking, and what can you do? Nothing."
That would explain why the lyric is "there's a box car waiting" instead of "there's a bockscar waiting".
"There is a wait so long,
you 'll never wait so long"
is probably put in there because of when Kim repeats it after FB, it sounds like she's saying "so long" in a goodbye-type of way. Like, "So long everybody", because the hobo's are dying from the earthquake.
Look at the lyrics with the hobo idea instead of the atomic bomb thing and everything makes more sense. They're all waiting outside of their boxcars and probably hovering over a fire, hence "out by the fire breathing, outside we wait 'til face turns blue".
i always thought it was about hobos going to california during the winter (CA being "the land thats falling down") and they are waiting outside the family *store*. he always knew the homeless people (dirty beards) hung out by the trains but he never tried to spot one..