7 Meanings
Add Yours
Follow
Share
Q&A
Neal And Jack And Me Lyrics
I'm wheels, I am moving wheels
I am a 1952 studebaker coupe
I'm wheels, I am moving wheels moving wheels
I am a 1952 starlite coupe...
En route.....les Souterrains
Des visions du Cody...Sartori a Paris...
Strange spaghetti in this solemn city...
There's a postcard we're all seen before...
Past wild-haired teens in dark clothing
With hands-full of autographed napkins we
eat apples in vans with sandwiches ... rush
Into the lobby life of hurry up and wait
Hurry up and wait for all the odd-shaped keys
Which lead to new soap and envelopes...
Hotel room homesickness on a fresh blue bed
And the longest-ever phone call home.....no
Sleep no sleep no sleep no sleep and no mad
Video machine to eat time... a cityscene
I can't explain, the Seine alone at 4am
The Seine alone at 4a.m....Neal and Jack and me
Absent lovers, absent lovers...
I am a 1952 studebaker coupe
I'm wheels, I am moving wheels moving wheels
I am a 1952 starlite coupe...
En route.....les Souterrains
Des visions du Cody...Sartori a Paris...
Strange spaghetti in this solemn city...
There's a postcard we're all seen before...
Past wild-haired teens in dark clothing
With hands-full of autographed napkins we
eat apples in vans with sandwiches ... rush
Into the lobby life of hurry up and wait
Hurry up and wait for all the odd-shaped keys
Which lead to new soap and envelopes...
Hotel room homesickness on a fresh blue bed
And the longest-ever phone call home.....no
Sleep no sleep no sleep no sleep and no mad
Video machine to eat time... a cityscene
I can't explain, the Seine alone at 4am
The Seine alone at 4a.m....Neal and Jack and me
Absent lovers, absent lovers...
Song Info
Submitted by
kornchick On May 14, 2002
More King Crimson
21st Century Schizoid Man
The Court of the Crimson King
I Talk To The Wind
Epitaph
Moonchild
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
Yeah props to edu for getting this one right. If you all read "On the Road" and recognize Kerouac's "spontaneous prose" as he coined it, youll find that Belew is actually writing these lyrics how Kerouac would write in "On the Road". As for the homoerotic references, I doubt that Belew is referencing the band cause those guys are all married. Most of the Beats were gay, by the way. Kerouac fooled around with a dude but freaked out and never felt right about it again. Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs, and the rest of the beats used to have boy toys. Neil Cassady, too.
@omfgitsdtc You're on the right track here I think. Nothing really homoerotic about it though. IMO, absent lovers is a reference to life ''on the road,'' where you are separated from your lover. It's well known that Neal Cassady was the inspiration for Kerouac's Dean Moriarty. There are other references to being on the road; homesickness, new soap, fresh blue bad, being out at insane hours (4am). Neal was known to drive a beat up old Studebaker, but it was a station wagon, not a Starlight coupe, poetic license?
@omfgitsdtc You're on the right track here I think. Nothing really homoerotic about it though. IMO, absent lovers is a reference to life ''on the road,'' where you are separated from your lover. It's well known that Neal Cassady was the inspiration for Kerouac's Dean Moriarty. There are other references to being on the road; homesickness, new soap, fresh blue bad, being out at insane hours (4am). Neal was known to drive a beat up old Studebaker, but it was a station wagon, not a Starlight coupe, poetic license?
@omfgitsdtc Yes, this is the answer. "Absent lovers" likely just means the "singer" is feeling lonely, just as the Beats were all quite lonely and independent.
@omfgitsdtc Yes, this is the answer. "Absent lovers" likely just means the "singer" is feeling lonely, just as the Beats were all quite lonely and independent.
My guess on the "Absent lovers" lyric is rather than it being some kind of homo-erotic reference, it means the travelers are absent from their lovers, who are waiting at home.
The whole album is dedicated to the BEAT generation
Another Autobiography of life on the road as a famous musician, tough life, no doubt. I must be too homophobic to take the last line literally, esp any of the 'boys in the band' at this time: Fripp, Levin, Belew, Bruford.
i dont think the last line is literal. he is probably talking about neal cassady and jack kerouac. he mentions kerouac's books in french "en route"=on the road. "des visions of cody"=visions of cody."les Souterrains"=the subterraneans. etc... what can i say, i love jack kerouac and this band is cool for making reference to him.
i dont think the last line is literal. he is probably talking about neal cassady and jack kerouac. he mentions kerouac's books in french "en route"=on the road. "des visions of cody"=visions of cody."les Souterrains"=the subterraneans. etc... what can i say, i love jack kerouac and this band is cool for making reference to him.
I personally agree with drds63 in that I think it's about the life of a travelling rock star. There are references to several aspects of the travelling life, such as new culture (strange spaghetti), the local night life (Past wild-haired teens in dark clothing With hands-full of autographed napkins we eat apples in vans with sandwiches), living in hotels (Hurry up and wait for all the odd-shaped keys Which lead to new soap and envelopes), and finally homesickness (the last 7 lines)