Warren wanted a Beach Boys thing for this one, and Carl Wilson and Billy Hinsche came in, with Carl arranging the vocal parts. The other harmony vocalists (credited as the "Gentlemen Boys") were Jackson Browne, J.D. Souther, Zevon's longtime backers Waddy Wachtel and Jorge Calderon, and Linda Rondstadt/Stone Poneys guitarist Kenny Edwards.
Inspiration, move me brightly
Light the song with sense and color
Hold away despair
More than this I will not ask
Faced with mysteries dark and vast
Statements just seem vain at last
Some rise
Some fall
Some climb
To get to terrapin
Counting stars by candlelight
All are dim but one is bright
The spiral light of Venus
Rising first and shining best
On, from the northwest corner
Of a brand new crescent moon
While crickets and cicadas sing
A rare and different tune
Terrapin station
In the shadow of the moon, terrapin station
And I know we'll be there soon, terrapin
I can't figure out, terrapin
If it's the end or beginning, terrapin
But the train's put it's brakes on, terrapin
And the whistle is screaming, terrapin
Light the song with sense and color
Hold away despair
More than this I will not ask
Faced with mysteries dark and vast
Statements just seem vain at last
Some rise
Some fall
Some climb
To get to terrapin
Counting stars by candlelight
All are dim but one is bright
The spiral light of Venus
Rising first and shining best
On, from the northwest corner
Of a brand new crescent moon
While crickets and cicadas sing
A rare and different tune
Terrapin station
In the shadow of the moon, terrapin station
And I know we'll be there soon, terrapin
I can't figure out, terrapin
If it's the end or beginning, terrapin
But the train's put it's brakes on, terrapin
And the whistle is screaming, terrapin
Lyrics submitted by itsmyownmind, edited by motifxf8
Terrapin Station Lyrics as written by Robert C. Hunter Jerome J. Garcia
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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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.”
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I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
I could never describe this song's meaning, in this comment box. It must be understood by one's own self, this is what the song's meaning necessitates.