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(Looking For) The Heart of Saturday Night Lyrics
Well you gassed her up
Behind the wheel
With your arm around your sweet one
In your Oldsmobile
Barrelin' down the boulevard
You're looking for the heart of Saturday night
And you got paid on Friday
And your pockets are jinglin'
And you see the lights
You get all tinglin' cause you're cruisin' with a 6
And you're looking for the heart of Saturday night
Then you comb your hair
Shave your face
Tryin' to wipe out ev'ry trace
All the other days
In the week you know that this'll be the Saturday
You're reachin' your peak
Stoppin' on the red
You're goin' on the green
'Cause tonight'll be like nothin'
You've ever seen
And you're barrelin' down the boulevard
Lookin' for the heart of Saturday night
Tell me is the crack of the poolballs, neon buzzin?
Telephone's ringin'; it's your second cousin
Is it the barmaid that's smilin' from the corner of her eye?
Magic of the melancholy tear in your eye.
Makes it kind of quiver down in the core
'Cause you're dreamin' of them Saturdays that came before
And now you're stumblin'
You're stumblin' onto the heart of Saturday night
Well you gassed her up
And you're behind the wheel
With your arm around your sweet one
In your Oldsmobile
Barrellin' down the boulevard,
You're lookin' for the heart of Saturday night
Is the crack of the poolballs, neon buzzin?
Telephone's ringin'; it's your second cousin
And the barmaid is smilin' from the corner of her eye
Magic of the melancholy tear in your eye.
Makes it kind of special down in the core
And you're dreamin' of them Saturdays that came before
It's found you stumblin'
Stumblin' onto the heart of Saturday night
And you're stumblin'
Stumblin onto the heart of Saturday night
Behind the wheel
With your arm around your sweet one
In your Oldsmobile
Barrelin' down the boulevard
You're looking for the heart of Saturday night
And your pockets are jinglin'
And you see the lights
You get all tinglin' cause you're cruisin' with a 6
And you're looking for the heart of Saturday night
Shave your face
Tryin' to wipe out ev'ry trace
All the other days
In the week you know that this'll be the Saturday
You're reachin' your peak
You're goin' on the green
'Cause tonight'll be like nothin'
You've ever seen
And you're barrelin' down the boulevard
Lookin' for the heart of Saturday night
Telephone's ringin'; it's your second cousin
Is it the barmaid that's smilin' from the corner of her eye?
Magic of the melancholy tear in your eye.
'Cause you're dreamin' of them Saturdays that came before
And now you're stumblin'
You're stumblin' onto the heart of Saturday night
And you're behind the wheel
With your arm around your sweet one
In your Oldsmobile
Barrellin' down the boulevard,
You're lookin' for the heart of Saturday night
Telephone's ringin'; it's your second cousin
And the barmaid is smilin' from the corner of her eye
Magic of the melancholy tear in your eye.
And you're dreamin' of them Saturdays that came before
It's found you stumblin'
Stumblin' onto the heart of Saturday night
And you're stumblin'
Stumblin onto the heart of Saturday night
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It could be about being trapped in a dead end way of life and thinking there must be something more. You drive around, you seemingly have everything; girlfriend, money, car, gas. You spend all week at your 9to5 job and the only thing you have to look forward to is maybe this time, this Saturday night will be the one that changes your life. What you really get is drunk enough to forget that you have know idea how to find real happiness. "stumblin on to the heart of saturday night".
Good interpretation jacksun, there is that subtext of sadness there, despite the focus being on all things exciting and stimulating. The melancholy tear in the eye.
Good interpretation jacksun, there is that subtext of sadness there, despite the focus being on all things exciting and stimulating. The melancholy tear in the eye.
@jacksun nailed it
@jacksun nailed it
yeh I agree not about hookers. you dont comb your hair or shave your face for hookers. ( so I hear).
this song is a balladcultclassiclegendaryemotionalhittingthespotnailiingtheheadweepingitforyou
I disagree with you regb because in the very first verse Tom talks about having your arm around the sweet one and he's clearly not talking about the car.
When i first heard this song i could really relate to this song. Maybe it is a guy thing but yes crusing on a Saturday night use to give me a tingling feeling as well and i firmly believe this is just about a guy and his car cruising on a Saturday night. The line "your arm around your sweet one" is definitely a reference to his car. Cruising with one arm on the steering wheel and the other with his arm draped around the empty passenger seat - cruising wit "attitude" so to speak. Cars and ships are always personified as female. This is a short song about brining into focus the events of a typical Saturday night for an average guy - perhaps looking for love or just a lover. I even believe the line ".... cruisin with a 6" is a reference to the size of the car's engine - say 6 cylinder engine ..
The best rendition of this song i have is from Holly Cole from the album - Temptation - highly recommend it
@jrisles , no, in the first recordings of this, he dedicates the song to Jack Kerouac and he sings, "Crusin' with a six-pack". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qt5Ecm78hj8
@jrisles , no, in the first recordings of this, he dedicates the song to Jack Kerouac and he sings, "Crusin' with a six-pack". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qt5Ecm78hj8
this is probably one of the best songs i've ever heard.
i kinda just think it's about cruisin around, trying to make the best of saturday night. "sweet one" could easily be his girl... or yeah maybe a whore
I don't see a hooker here at all. Have you ever heard Jerry Jeff Walker's cover? This is a song about small-town Saturday night. You work all week (pocket's are jinglin'), car/truck's gassed up, cruisin', combed your hair...really, looking for a good time, wondering maybe what it is you're looking for. You are young, single (though you've got your arm around your sweet one) - it's wistful - you are looking for the heart of Saturday night! Nothing to do with hookers!
Magic of the melancholy tear in your eye...yep thats it. This is a winner!
The 4 cd pack of a Female Tribute to Tom Waits just has a hard time staying out iof the cd player. Just check out the Diana Crall version. I'm sure Tom woukd say:
I'm so goddamn horny, the crack of dawn better be careful around me!
I just came onto this thread and really can't believe that there are comments about hookers!!? This song is a wonderful riff on what Saturday night means to guys in any small town, big city or just about anywhere in the world .frankly. Saturday night is an escape from the daily grind - "With your arm around your sweet one, in your Oldsmobile". That is most definitely a reference to his girl, not the car. The reference to the "cruising with a 6" is surely the six cylinder engine though, agreed. But back to the girl on his arm, this is the important theme, because later when he says "Is it the barmaid that's smilin' from the corner of her eye? Magic of the melancholy tear in your eye", come on. Every guy knows that feeling when you're clearly with a girl but another girl gives you a sly look from the corner of her eye, that look that says, "Hey, I like you, why are you with her? Take a chance on me". It's a GREAT feeling, who doesn't love a stroke of the ego like that? Even if you don't intend acting on it (because you love your "sweet one") it still feels good, but the fact that you will have to let it pass does create a (magic) melancholy tear in your eye. The next line does seems to confirm this, "Makes it kind of special, down in the core". That is, yes, I'm the man, I've got a girl on my arm and another one wanting me! However, the line after that casts some doubt on this scenario, "And you're dreamin' of them Saturdays that came before". This suggests that actually he already had the barmaid before (the song feels small-town so that wouldn't be a surprise) and in that case the "melancholy tear" might be because he still has feelings for her and wishes it had worked out between them. On the other hand, the "Saturdays that came before" might not have been with this particular barmaid at all, they may have been with any number of other girls. Ultimately it doesn't matter which story it is, he's feeling great (if occasionally reflective) and hell, either way this is his night off, his night to go wild! For sure in a small town there will always be "might have been" girls and "could be" girls but he's got a sweet one right now and he's feeling pretty damn good! and therefore he's "stumbled onto the heart of Saturday night". Of course, besides all this relationship stuff the REAL melancholy undercurrent is undeniable, that like any guy who lives week to week and paycheck to paycheck, the only enjoyable night of the week IS Saturday and every other night is just very VERY hard going. All in all it's a great song, a really great song.