Omaha

"Get right to the heart of matters; It's the heart that matters more": great line in a great song. Seems like another one about change

Cool to see a lot of mine overlaps. Wrote this for a paper just now. Rock on Crows/fans.

This song speaks wonders to me. It indirectly confronts the fear of wasting life on a monotonous, everyday job, as paralleled by the various descriptions of setting up a mill–a factory, essentially a machine–in a town in “Middle America.” Each verse advances these steps of constructing a mill, almost lamenting on the process of carrying out a strenuous task in order to begin the same cycle of production over and over again. The chorus echoes sentiments concerning this fear, with the feeling that the “heart” matters more than the “heart of matters” (the mill and life), showing a lack of connection between the speaker and society–detachment. As evidenced in the chorus, the speaker feels that the spectator (listener) should go somewhere else, because there is nothing of worth to be seen by his accomplishments–“turn your ticket in and get your money back at the door.” As each verse compounds on the previous one with the building of a mill, so is the idiom “turn a new leaf over” expanded to cover various topics. In the first verse the speaker feels that he is doing what others before him have done countless times, as he “tear[s] the old man down” so he can feel that he is on the forefront of his occupation. When he rolls a new leaf over, he is actually not doing anything of the sort, just repeating history; likewise, when he says to “roll a new life over,” he is doing the same. The speaker also feels that he is failing with relationships, when he “turns [his] girl into the ground” and “roll[s] a new love over.” Other themes are present in this song, such as the theme of inferiority and fear of trying. This is exemplified through the repetition of the speaker fearing old and young men “walk[ing] all over [him].” He feels that no matter what he does, he will still be outdone by others that are seemingly “walk[ing] on water.” This also is a reference to God, and the speaker feeling inferior to him. This recurring use of water and rain is transformed in the third verse with the line “come up through the summer rain,” signifying an epiphany, a redemption of sorts that is later finished at the end of the song. There, the speaker concedes his fight with life and his conflicts, and accepts his fate–coming home, accepting his ordeal.

My opinion: i think its about d-day. Support: In the middle of the night, there's an old man treading around in the gathered rain: Eisenhower, before the night of the invasion, decided to put it off for a day because of bad weather.

Well mister, if you're going to walk on water Could you drop a line my way?: Many of the US soldiers could not swim, and as they had not been drilled in amphibious invasions, many sunk and required other soldiers to help them get to shore, or simply drowned. In addition, it could also mean the US high command was expecting a miracle, as Jesus walking on water was.

Run past the heather and down to the old road: a reference to the terrain of Omaha beach, where soldiers had to advance up the road.

Omaha Somewhere in middle America: this line puzzled me for a while, but in the end, I realized that Omaha was the middle beach, and was also American, so could be classified as "Middle America."

I think you better turn your ticket in And get your money back at the door: This is telling how many of the US soldiers did not sign up for what was happening, and many felt as if they would rather go back and get a refund.

Start threading a needle: the many ships going the thin Normandy bay could be described as "threading a needle."

Hey mister, you don't want to walk on water you're only going to walk all over me: the bitterness many Americans felt after the invasion having lost friends and family.

Get right to the heart of the matters It's the heart that matters more : Omaha was the "heart" of the invasion, as it had the most important objectives.

Start running the banner down: the US flag advancing up the beach.

Drop past the color come up through the summer rain: One of the flag holders dying and being replaced.

Start turning the girl into the ground Roll a new love over: a bit confusing at first. However, many of the soldiers found new love in Paris, after the Liberation of Paris: a direct result of D-Day.

In the middle of the day, there 's a young man rolling around in the earth and rain: a bit obvious, a wounded soldier falling to the ground and writhing in pain. The middle of the day was also the worst time for the Allies, as they were fully exposed to German machine guns at this time.

Just my opinions. Tell me your guys' thoughts on this.

I dont know this song is one of my very favorite counting crow's songs and yet i dont know much about the meaning. I guess to me its about growing up moving on and putting yourself out there not listening to what other people think.

To me, it's about how life turns people over just like leaves, just like the seasons change. I agree with you, infidel, the line is powerful. This song makes me feel... sort of sentimental.

Another thing about the "heart that matters" line, is that nebraska is part of the "heartland" of america.

it's about life, a redundant life. I think that Omaha is an arbitrarily picked city (he had a bad experience playing here-in omaha-and refuses to play here again), picked mainly because he doesn't like the city. (we discussed this in english class a couple of years ago, let's see what all I got out of it...)

"well, mister if you're goning to walk on water, could you drop a line my way" is a refernce to Jesus, he's asking for his help because he feels alone

each verse is about a different "season" representing a different stage in life.

"I think you better turn your ticket in And get your money back at the door" is saying that this life isnt worth living...

I think it's about a man who is caught up in the constantly drudgery of habit and doesn't have the desire or ability to break it. The "walk on water" line I think refers to his inability to transcend his current situation. Caught up in the details of life never exploring the real cosmic questions. This is a roundabout way of saying the unexamined life is not worth living.

i think this song is just talking about how you have to move on. there are things that happen in life that are awful, and they are going to break your heart- but you can't dwell on it. you have to get up and keep going because in the end, you can't rely on anyone besides yourself.

i think its about life and how it repeats its self in diffrent stages. like when your a child and adol. and adult. and how everything changes. but for the "i think you better turn your ticket in and get your money back at the door" i really think its like you paid to see your old life again but sweets its not the same. its changed. so whats it worth? you can never get back to the begining thats what i get from this song. that even a quite nice place like omaha changes, even my camp. you know?