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Service And Repair Lyrics
On the outskirts of expansion, looking out from Blueprint peak
The flow is flooding of urban setters panning through rivers running dry.
Numbers roll on in, smiling a lottery grin, a sadness blurs the eye...
It's just a matter of time before they're moving on
It's just a matter of time before they're moving on
Doesn't take much time for plans to go wrong
and chase another ghost of a chance.
In the shadows of chain-store ghost towns
where no one walks the streets at night,
a silent nation hooked on medication,
stares into a blue flickering light.
the young drift off alone
and the old are whisked away
and prospects keep looking up,
but the line's getting longer on the lost highway,
the line's getting longer on the superstition highway
Doesn't take much time for plans to go astray
and chase another ghost of a chance
They say deep down inside, lie properties of a healing
kind,
If so it'd better come around soon
and do a little bit of service and repair
do a little bit of service and repair
do a little more service and repair
Doesn't take much time for plans to change
and offer up another chance
for a little bit more service and repair
do a little bit of service and repair
Doesn't take much time for plans to change
and offer up another chance
at sewing the dream better suited for both soul and
soil.
The flow is flooding of urban setters panning through rivers running dry.
Numbers roll on in, smiling a lottery grin, a sadness blurs the eye...
It's just a matter of time before they're moving on
It's just a matter of time before they're moving on
Doesn't take much time for plans to go wrong
and chase another ghost of a chance.
In the shadows of chain-store ghost towns
where no one walks the streets at night,
a silent nation hooked on medication,
stares into a blue flickering light.
the young drift off alone
and the old are whisked away
and prospects keep looking up,
but the line's getting longer on the lost highway,
the line's getting longer on the superstition highway
Doesn't take much time for plans to go astray
and chase another ghost of a chance
They say deep down inside, lie properties of a healing
kind,
and do a little bit of service and repair
do a little bit of service and repair
do a little more service and repair
Doesn't take much time for plans to change
and offer up another chance
for a little bit more service and repair
do a little bit of service and repair
Doesn't take much time for plans to change
and offer up another chance
at sewing the dream better suited for both soul and
soil.
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
The lyrics are slightly wrong: the line's getting long on the lost highway, the line's getting longer on the lost highway
That's what's said, even though the CD insert says the first line is repeated. This song is about Tucson and its growth. The frustration of the incoming masses and the defacement of the beautiful natural life. "Service and Repair" I think refers to attempting to fix problems while that solution just makes the problem worse. "Chainstore ghost towns" refers to Downtown Tucson, which saw itself become a ghost town quickly after major department stores all moved out to the malls. "Panning through rivers running dry" most likely refers to the Santa Cruz, which runs through Tucson, and has gone dry in the past 10 years due to over-irrigation and drought. It could also refer to the San Pedro or Gila Rivers though, which have also all but dried up in the past few years. Superstition Highway would indicate that this song is about Phoenix.
In addition to what bocmaxima said, I think the song, aside from Tucson specifics, is primarily bemoaning the itinerant nature of modern life. People leave their home towns ("The young drift alone"), don't establishes roots anywhere and move from town to town chasing better jobs and opportunities ("Numbers roll on in, smiling a lottery grin"), but "It's just a matter of time before they're moving on". We view our communities as opportunities instead of homes. The end result being "chain-store ghost towns", and rootless people chasing prospects "on the lost highway."
The beauty of the song is that we can all relate to it. Those of us from small towns have watched the young and talented leave for opportunities in larger towns, and those from larger towns have experienced these chain-store ghost towns; downtown Tucson as bocmaxima mentioned, or north Austin to cite my own hometown.
Good song from a good band.