Pacific 231 Lyrics
Wanting so badly to be crushed
You leave it up to me
To do the crushing
The new sincerity
Making a mockery of trust
But if it's up to me
Bring on the new thing
Pacific 231
We're not careening off the rails
Just getting up to speed
I'd learn to love
The taste of bitter fictions
Or ring of contradictions
That sing to me
A faster forward than you want
But still you're keeping up
Is that devotion
Unsubtle parody
Poor fit and reconditioned parts
The very engine is
Sick from the motion
And now were learning all
About the charity that costs
But we could do without
The education
I'd learn to love
The taste of bitter fictions
Or ring of contradictions
That sing to me
To me
To me
They sing
To me
(You could have everything you want)
I'd learn to love
The taste of bitter fictions
Or ring of contradictions
That sing to me
one of the greatest indie rock songs ever written and nobody knows about it. you owe it to yourself to check this one out.
i would have to agree.
I kind of thought this song went along with Paper crowns in a way, sort of that, you could have it all, if you were just what people wanted you to be, and saying its almost a dream that he'd learn to love being what he's not.
I know the song makes references to a machine, specificaly a train. I know that pacific 231 is a work composed by Arthur Honegger in 1923 which is about a train (the work imitates the sounds of a steam locomotive). Anyways, I think this song is making a person or relationship out to be like a train wreck. the metaphor is that the "train" is sick from its own motion, as if it was not that great when it started but now it is even worse. But still (they) try and make it work.
There are too many mistakes in these lyrics:
"Is your fragility wanting so badly to be crushed you'd leave it up to me to do the crushing?" Not "fertility."
"The new sincerity," not "Through new sincerity."
"We're not careening off the rails," not "cleaning off the rails."
"I never dreamed I'd learn to love the taste of bitter fictions, the ring of contradictions..." not "another dream I learned to love..."
"Is that devotion?" Not "is that delusion?"
"Unsubtle parody, poor fit and reconditioned parts. The very engine is sick from the motion," not "i'm told appearently...etc."
"And now we're learning all about the charity of cost, and we could do without the education," not "and now we're letting up...etc."
And I agree with brianta69. I used to think maybe this was about the breakup of a band, but it could really be any kind of relationship.
Also, I forgot to mention 2 years ago that this song emulates the sounds of a train as well. Just like the Arthur Honegger work in 1923. The guitars and drums in this songs emulate the chug of a train going along the tracks, slowing and speeding up. A different song by the Cure, "Jumping Someone Else's Train," also has drums and rhythm to mimic that of a train.