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.
Oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh
Where do we go from here?
The words are coming out all weird
Where are you now?
When I need you
Alone on an airplane
Falling asleep against the windowpane
My blood will thicken
I need to wash myself again
To hide all the dirt and pain
'Cause I'd be scared
That there's nothing underneath
And who are my real friends
Have they all got the bends?
Am I really sinking
This slow
My baby's got the bends
Oh, no
We don't have any real friends
No, no, no
Just lying in a bar with my drip feed on
Talking to my girlfriend, waiting for something to happen
And I wish it was the sixties, I wish I could be happy
I wish, I wish, I wish that something would happen
Where do we go from here?
The planet is a gunboat in a sea of fear
And where are you?
They brought in the C.I.A
The tanks and the whole marines to blow me away
To blow me sky-high
Baby's got the bends
We don't have any real friends
Just lying in a bar with my drip feed on
Talking to my girlfriend, waiting for something to happen
I wish it was the sixties, I wish I could be happy
I wish, I wish, I wish that something would
I want to live, breathe
I want to be part of the human race
I want to live, breathe
I want to be part of the human race, race, race?
Where do we go from here?
The words are coming out all weird, where are you now?
When I need you
Oh, oh, oh
Where do we go from here?
The words are coming out all weird
Where are you now?
When I need you
Alone on an airplane
Falling asleep against the windowpane
My blood will thicken
I need to wash myself again
To hide all the dirt and pain
'Cause I'd be scared
That there's nothing underneath
And who are my real friends
Have they all got the bends?
Am I really sinking
This slow
My baby's got the bends
Oh, no
We don't have any real friends
No, no, no
Just lying in a bar with my drip feed on
Talking to my girlfriend, waiting for something to happen
And I wish it was the sixties, I wish I could be happy
I wish, I wish, I wish that something would happen
Where do we go from here?
The planet is a gunboat in a sea of fear
And where are you?
They brought in the C.I.A
The tanks and the whole marines to blow me away
To blow me sky-high
Baby's got the bends
We don't have any real friends
Just lying in a bar with my drip feed on
Talking to my girlfriend, waiting for something to happen
I wish it was the sixties, I wish I could be happy
I wish, I wish, I wish that something would
I want to live, breathe
I want to be part of the human race
I want to live, breathe
I want to be part of the human race, race, race?
Where do we go from here?
The words are coming out all weird, where are you now?
When I need you
Lyrics submitted by piesupreme, edited by eloso, Paymaan, pete116128
The Bends Lyrics as written by Colin Charles Greenwood Jonathan Richard Guy Greenwood
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Spirit Within
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The way this song speaks to me🥺🥺when I sing it I feel like I relate
Fast Car
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There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
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The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Holiday
Bee Gees
Bee Gees
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I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
The song is about becoming famous.