The title bears echoes of Allan Sillitoe's short story (and film) The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner, which explores related the relate theme of a 'Hegelian Master-slave dialectic', where in this case the job gives the crane driver the social freedom of a high income (a high position?!) but enslaves him through its physical and social isolation (through his workmates' envy).
My favourite line is "They say I'm on top of my game", delivered as a tacit 'crie de coer' - he's so obviously not - like someone whose heart is breaking telling his (or her) friends "I'm all right, I'm all right" when they are falling apart inside.
The 'mirrors and smoke' couplet is a nice piece of wordplay that could be read as a drug reference by some listeners and though I doubt that was Guy's meaning it adds a nice analogous layer to the song. He gets a lot into just a few poetic lines.
All good points. Some other things which struck me
"The ticker take tangles my feet as I search for a face that I know". A ticker tape parade as people shower acclaim on him but it could make him trip him. He looks around but there is no one that really matters in the crowd, they are just hangers on. Makes me think about someone who has associates who all think he's a great bloke - maybe people in the pub - but the reality is that he's lonely and the people that really matter are distant.
All good points. Some other things which struck me
"The ticker take tangles my feet as I search for a face that I know". A ticker tape parade as people shower acclaim on him but it could make him trip him. He looks around but there is no one that really matters in the crowd, they are just hangers on. Makes me think about someone who has associates who all think he's a great bloke - maybe people in the pub - but the reality is that he's lonely and the people that really matter are distant.
The title bears echoes of Allan Sillitoe's short story (and film) The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner, which explores related the relate theme of a 'Hegelian Master-slave dialectic', where in this case the job gives the crane driver the social freedom of a high income (a high position?!) but enslaves him through its physical and social isolation (through his workmates' envy).
My favourite line is "They say I'm on top of my game", delivered as a tacit 'crie de coer' - he's so obviously not - like someone whose heart is breaking telling his (or her) friends "I'm all right, I'm all right" when they are falling apart inside.
The 'mirrors and smoke' couplet is a nice piece of wordplay that could be read as a drug reference by some listeners and though I doubt that was Guy's meaning it adds a nice analogous layer to the song. He gets a lot into just a few poetic lines.
All good points. Some other things which struck me "The ticker take tangles my feet as I search for a face that I know". A ticker tape parade as people shower acclaim on him but it could make him trip him. He looks around but there is no one that really matters in the crowd, they are just hangers on. Makes me think about someone who has associates who all think he's a great bloke - maybe people in the pub - but the reality is that he's lonely and the people that really matter are distant.
All good points. Some other things which struck me "The ticker take tangles my feet as I search for a face that I know". A ticker tape parade as people shower acclaim on him but it could make him trip him. He looks around but there is no one that really matters in the crowd, they are just hangers on. Makes me think about someone who has associates who all think he's a great bloke - maybe people in the pub - but the reality is that he's lonely and the people that really matter are distant.