A song about a girl who is a vehicle more like it. This, like "Big Mistake" has religious connotations I think, but done in such a perfect "Think about this now.." way as to be thoughtful and not overdone or insulting to anyone of other beliefs. So get past that, first of all, he's not saying anyone's wrong, he's just posing the question in a beautiful way.
This one's deep, brace yourselves. So this woman, middle-aged maybe, has this Jaguar, and she keeps it in perfect condition, polishing it all the time and keeping it looking great.
But it doesn't move - "hasn't run in a year or two" - so what's all the work for? Well, she cares about it - "it's too precious to be careless" and "it's too easy to collide it / And it hurt so much before." Okay, so a car she's afraid to drive because she's crashed it before and knows what that feels like.
But why is she giving it so much importance? "Could it be / it's just a vehicle / She shines." It's not that big a deal right?
Then the turn - the next verse is about this woman. She's down, blue, "Great shape but she's not so new anymore." She works out, keeps herself looking good, just like the car.
If we extend that metaphor even further, we could say driving the car is like taking risks in life, falling in love only to get hurt again, and she's stopped doing that, again because "it hurt so much before." So she's losing hope, has nothing to look to, feels empty and "sees it's going nowhere and she knows there must be more."
Ah, there it is. There must be more. What ever could that mean?
"Could it be / That it's relly just a vehicle" - could she herself be only a vehicle? A container for her soul that could be going somewhere further, beyond this superficial and painful world that's going nowhere? That's the question posed and not really answered, and it's not something I would even begin to answer, nor anything anyone really knows for sure, but dang, what an amazing way to ask that question!
To compare a person to a car; why polish a car if you're not going to use it? What's coming next for it? Well, you might get a new car, or maybe get out of the car, and you're still there, you're still able to live and love and move around, just outside your vehicle. That's totally the sentiment here. Could it be? Who knows.
I totally didn't catch this for many years, until I really listened to the lyrics one day and it all fit together. That's a testament to David's incredible gift for metaphor, and in such a way as to make something clear and understandable by making it indirect and just enough to get the message across. This is another of his best songs, in my opinion.
Ah a song about a girl and her car... or not.
A song about a girl who is a vehicle more like it. This, like "Big Mistake" has religious connotations I think, but done in such a perfect "Think about this now.." way as to be thoughtful and not overdone or insulting to anyone of other beliefs. So get past that, first of all, he's not saying anyone's wrong, he's just posing the question in a beautiful way.
This one's deep, brace yourselves. So this woman, middle-aged maybe, has this Jaguar, and she keeps it in perfect condition, polishing it all the time and keeping it looking great.
But it doesn't move - "hasn't run in a year or two" - so what's all the work for? Well, she cares about it - "it's too precious to be careless" and "it's too easy to collide it / And it hurt so much before." Okay, so a car she's afraid to drive because she's crashed it before and knows what that feels like.
But why is she giving it so much importance? "Could it be / it's just a vehicle / She shines." It's not that big a deal right?
Then the turn - the next verse is about this woman. She's down, blue, "Great shape but she's not so new anymore." She works out, keeps herself looking good, just like the car.
If we extend that metaphor even further, we could say driving the car is like taking risks in life, falling in love only to get hurt again, and she's stopped doing that, again because "it hurt so much before." So she's losing hope, has nothing to look to, feels empty and "sees it's going nowhere and she knows there must be more."
Ah, there it is. There must be more. What ever could that mean?
"Could it be / That it's relly just a vehicle" - could she herself be only a vehicle? A container for her soul that could be going somewhere further, beyond this superficial and painful world that's going nowhere? That's the question posed and not really answered, and it's not something I would even begin to answer, nor anything anyone really knows for sure, but dang, what an amazing way to ask that question!
To compare a person to a car; why polish a car if you're not going to use it? What's coming next for it? Well, you might get a new car, or maybe get out of the car, and you're still there, you're still able to live and love and move around, just outside your vehicle. That's totally the sentiment here. Could it be? Who knows.
I totally didn't catch this for many years, until I really listened to the lyrics one day and it all fit together. That's a testament to David's incredible gift for metaphor, and in such a way as to make something clear and understandable by making it indirect and just enough to get the message across. This is another of his best songs, in my opinion.