In regards to the meaning of this song:
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.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Come on
Get on board
The Reaper wants to take y'all for a ride
Baby, get on board
Reaper wants to take y'all for a ride
His private train is leavin'
To slip you to the other side
Got all kinds of illicit stimulants
He's got cocaine and morphine too
Lots of stuff to get y'all high
Little pink pills in a big brown bag
Truckin' off across the sky
Baby, goin' truckin' off across the sky
Now if you feel like a disaster when you wake up in the mornin'
Nothin' but a goddamn monkey wrench inside your head
Got some things to make you go faster, others make you go slower
Open your eyes, take a drop, take away the red
What has he got?
He's got cocaine and morphine too
Lots of stuff to get y'all high
Little pink pills in a big brown bag
Truckin' off across the sky
Baby, goin' truckin' off across the sky
There'll be entertainment on the train
Fabian, Frankie Avalon, Jeannie C. Reilly, Conway Twitty
Miss America's gonna come out of a sixty foot cake covered with icing
And the boys will be invited up to lick it off
Everybody'll have a good time
Old man Reaper's gonna get you on the train
Come on everybody, he's got cocaine and morphine too
Lots of stuff to get y'all high, high, high, high
Little pink pills in a big brown bag
Truckin' off across the sky
Baby, goin' truckin' off across the sky
Come on, he's got cocaine and morphine too
Lots o' shit to get y'all high, high, high, high
Little pink pills in a big brown bag
Truckin' off across the sky
Baby, goin' truckin' off across the sky
One more, he's got cocaine and morphine too
Lots o' stuff to get y'all high, high, high, high
Little pink pills in a big brown bag
Truckin' off across the sky
Baby, goin' truckin' off across the sky
He's goin' truckin' off across the sky
He's goin' truckin' off the sky
He's goin' sailin' off across the sky
Sailin', sailin', over the bounding main
Get on board
The Reaper wants to take y'all for a ride
Baby, get on board
Reaper wants to take y'all for a ride
His private train is leavin'
To slip you to the other side
Got all kinds of illicit stimulants
He's got cocaine and morphine too
Lots of stuff to get y'all high
Little pink pills in a big brown bag
Truckin' off across the sky
Baby, goin' truckin' off across the sky
Now if you feel like a disaster when you wake up in the mornin'
Nothin' but a goddamn monkey wrench inside your head
Got some things to make you go faster, others make you go slower
Open your eyes, take a drop, take away the red
What has he got?
He's got cocaine and morphine too
Lots of stuff to get y'all high
Little pink pills in a big brown bag
Truckin' off across the sky
Baby, goin' truckin' off across the sky
There'll be entertainment on the train
Fabian, Frankie Avalon, Jeannie C. Reilly, Conway Twitty
Miss America's gonna come out of a sixty foot cake covered with icing
And the boys will be invited up to lick it off
Everybody'll have a good time
Old man Reaper's gonna get you on the train
Come on everybody, he's got cocaine and morphine too
Lots of stuff to get y'all high, high, high, high
Little pink pills in a big brown bag
Truckin' off across the sky
Baby, goin' truckin' off across the sky
Come on, he's got cocaine and morphine too
Lots o' shit to get y'all high, high, high, high
Little pink pills in a big brown bag
Truckin' off across the sky
Baby, goin' truckin' off across the sky
One more, he's got cocaine and morphine too
Lots o' stuff to get y'all high, high, high, high
Little pink pills in a big brown bag
Truckin' off across the sky
Baby, goin' truckin' off across the sky
He's goin' truckin' off across the sky
He's goin' truckin' off the sky
He's goin' sailin' off across the sky
Sailin', sailin', over the bounding main
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Great live song. Listen to the live version recorded in seattle its ovious what the song is about so I wont waste your time
I thought the same thing about this song for years & years - a great party song about all the goodies needed to take off and go "truckin' off across the sky..." presumably at a concert. The fact that it was never recorded in the studio or released as a single seemed to indicate as much. There was also a 'naughty' quality to it that you could jam out like crazy to the song, but couldn't belt out the lyrics in 'polite' company. I didn't do drugs but I sure drove my parents crazy by playing it at high volume behind closed doors in my bedroom.
Recently, and like the another comment here, I read that it was actually an ANTI-drug song. Hmmm...I suppose a case could be made for that in how it starts with the "Reaper wants to take y'all for a ride..." that will slip you "...to the other side..." Add to that the party atmosphere it describes in the entertainment (Miss America!) and you have an attitude akin to or even a forerunner of "Highway To Hell" (AC/DC).
A further description of how you can feel in the morning - and what you have to do to beat it - can also show or be a warning about addiction and being stuck in a rut. The 'rut' being the "fly now, crash later" cycle and having to take more junk to feel normal or to be able to function.
Also, the song closes with "...only the Reaper can get you on the train..." and fades out repeating a checklist of what you need or can take in order to board & ride. Yeah, I could see it interpreted as an anti-drug song but it sounds too damned fun to think about it while rockin' out. Besides, try selling that idea with this song & "The Pusher" (Steppenwolf) to your parents or grandparents - we already know the only parts or lyrics they would hear ????