Correction: "You can own the STAGE but the lights and glares will not make you real."
This is a song about a musician's life on the road and the relationship with his family back home.
He cheated on his wife while on tour "just said the first three words that popped into my head" then immediately regretted it and wished he could take it back, realizing that he has essentially abandoned his family.
The wife knows that he's been cheating on her one the road and she's mad at him because he has kids but he's not willing to tell them what's really going on.
"my woman is cold,
our children are stoned and worthless.
They're all waiting for you to tell them the truth,
the truth is a line that you'll never use."
When he first met his wife she was drawn to him as an icon, she just saw the glamor of the stage and the rich privileged image associated with rock stars, but that's not really how their lives are.
"Her dignity shown so brightly like a light on a hill,
and she burned for me and no other man came near her flame.
Bad country songs, the deafening twang of the rich white kid blues.
You can own the stage but the lights and glares will not make you real."
At the end his wife is giving up, she realizes that she was wrong about how she thought life being married to a musician would be and that she can't deal with the relationship. She admits she isn't meant for that lifestyle and she leaves him.
"She whispers to me I was meant to be free,
this life that we built is deadly.
She crawls from my bed,
runs a comb cross her head.
She crawls to the train and drives herself home."
Correction: "You can own the STAGE but the lights and glares will not make you real."
This is a song about a musician's life on the road and the relationship with his family back home. He cheated on his wife while on tour "just said the first three words that popped into my head" then immediately regretted it and wished he could take it back, realizing that he has essentially abandoned his family. The wife knows that he's been cheating on her one the road and she's mad at him because he has kids but he's not willing to tell them what's really going on. "my woman is cold, our children are stoned and worthless. They're all waiting for you to tell them the truth, the truth is a line that you'll never use."
When he first met his wife she was drawn to him as an icon, she just saw the glamor of the stage and the rich privileged image associated with rock stars, but that's not really how their lives are. "Her dignity shown so brightly like a light on a hill, and she burned for me and no other man came near her flame. Bad country songs, the deafening twang of the rich white kid blues. You can own the stage but the lights and glares will not make you real."
At the end his wife is giving up, she realizes that she was wrong about how she thought life being married to a musician would be and that she can't deal with the relationship. She admits she isn't meant for that lifestyle and she leaves him. "She whispers to me I was meant to be free, this life that we built is deadly. She crawls from my bed, runs a comb cross her head. She crawls to the train and drives herself home."