Both as a standalone and as part of the DSOTS album, you can take this lyric as read. As a matter of public record, Jourgensen's drug intake was legendary even in the 1980s. By the late 90s, in his own words, he was grappling with massive addiction issues and had lost almost everything: friends, spouse, money and had nearly died more than once. "Dark Side of the Spoon" is a both funny & sad title for an album made by a musical genius who was losing the plot; and this song is a message to his fans & friends saying he knows it. It's painful to listen to so I'm glad the "Keith Richards of industrial metals" wised up and cleaned up. Well done sir.
After the glow, the scene, the stage
The sad talk becomes slow but there's one thing I'll never forget
Hey, you gotta pay your dues before you pay the rent
Over the turnstiles and out in the traffic
There's ways of living, it's the way I'm living, right or wrong
It's all that I can do and I wouldn't want to let you be
I want a range life if, I could settle down
If I could settle down, then I would settle down
I want a range life, if I could settle down
If I could settle down, then I would settle down
Run from the pigs, the fuzz, the cops, the heat
Pass me your gloves, this crime, it is never complete
Until you snort it up or shoot it down, you're never gonna feel free
Out on my skateboard, the night is just humming
And the gum smacks are the pulse I'll follow if my walkman fades
Well, I got absolutely no one, no one but myself to blame
Don't worry, we're in no hurry, school's out, what did you expect?
I want a range life if, I could settle down
If I could settle down, then I would settle down
I want a range life, if I could settle down
If I could settle down, then I would settle down
Yeah
Out on tour with the Smashing Pumpkins
Nature kids, I, they don't have no function
I don't understand what they mean and I could really give a fuck
Stone Temple Pilots, they're elegant bachelors
They're foxy to me, are they foxy to you?
I will agree they deserve absolutely nothing, nothing more than me
Dreaming, dream, dream, dream, dream, dream, dream
The sad talk becomes slow but there's one thing I'll never forget
Hey, you gotta pay your dues before you pay the rent
Over the turnstiles and out in the traffic
There's ways of living, it's the way I'm living, right or wrong
It's all that I can do and I wouldn't want to let you be
I want a range life if, I could settle down
If I could settle down, then I would settle down
I want a range life, if I could settle down
If I could settle down, then I would settle down
Run from the pigs, the fuzz, the cops, the heat
Pass me your gloves, this crime, it is never complete
Until you snort it up or shoot it down, you're never gonna feel free
Out on my skateboard, the night is just humming
And the gum smacks are the pulse I'll follow if my walkman fades
Well, I got absolutely no one, no one but myself to blame
Don't worry, we're in no hurry, school's out, what did you expect?
I want a range life if, I could settle down
If I could settle down, then I would settle down
I want a range life, if I could settle down
If I could settle down, then I would settle down
Yeah
Out on tour with the Smashing Pumpkins
Nature kids, I, they don't have no function
I don't understand what they mean and I could really give a fuck
Stone Temple Pilots, they're elegant bachelors
They're foxy to me, are they foxy to you?
I will agree they deserve absolutely nothing, nothing more than me
Dreaming, dream, dream, dream, dream, dream, dream
Lyrics submitted by TheInvisibleOne, edited by luke32113
Range Life Lyrics as written by Stephen Malkmus
Lyrics © Hipgnosis Songs Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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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.
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Great version of a great song,
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How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Interesting point. Roving means able to be shifted from place to place, not settled in one location - the opposite of a "range life". Maybe he's trying to draw attention to that by putting "range" in front? Shifting from place to place to different "ranges" so as to find where to settle down?...
To be honest, I always thought that lyric was alluding to the Range Rover, the ridiculously expensive SUV. The second generation of the Range Rover came out in '94.
Food for thought.