I see color bars when I come
(he sees himself as unfit for TV, they put color bars up when he comes on)
Sergeant Rock broke the key off in the lock
(sergeant rock is mainstream, mainstream can be simplified as being rigidly in favor of beauty on tv)
To where I come from
(smith's culture/character)
Sir, no sir
We have no power in the air
(air is stuff that's different from mainstream)
The battle's on the ground
(ground is mainstream, grounded stuff so to say)
Laying low again
(first hook, smith's staying out of the limelight...)
High on the sound
(...deriving pleasure from writing his music)
Bruno S. is a man to me
(welles-radio sums this up)
You're just some dude with a stilted attitude
That you learned from TV
(mainstream culture contrast to bruno s.)
You'll undo
But I'll be connecting everything
(figuring out the complexities and staying true to himself)
The traffic in my town
Riding high again
High on the sound
(hook)
Everyone wants me to ride into the sun
(also see welles-radio comment, smith's pegged as a loner-indie hero, like cowboys, but he doesn't want to play a character in hollywood and portray himself without the complexities)
But I ain't going to go down
(he's putting up a fight to above comment)
Laying low again
High on the sound
(third hook)
here's what i think:
I see color bars when I come (he sees himself as unfit for TV, they put color bars up when he comes on) Sergeant Rock broke the key off in the lock (sergeant rock is mainstream, mainstream can be simplified as being rigidly in favor of beauty on tv) To where I come from (smith's culture/character) Sir, no sir We have no power in the air (air is stuff that's different from mainstream) The battle's on the ground (ground is mainstream, grounded stuff so to say) Laying low again (first hook, smith's staying out of the limelight...) High on the sound (...deriving pleasure from writing his music)
Bruno S. is a man to me (welles-radio sums this up) You're just some dude with a stilted attitude That you learned from TV (mainstream culture contrast to bruno s.) You'll undo But I'll be connecting everything (figuring out the complexities and staying true to himself) The traffic in my town Riding high again High on the sound (hook)
Everyone wants me to ride into the sun (also see welles-radio comment, smith's pegged as a loner-indie hero, like cowboys, but he doesn't want to play a character in hollywood and portray himself without the complexities) But I ain't going to go down (he's putting up a fight to above comment) Laying low again High on the sound (third hook)