Portable television shrouded in snow
In a raggedy van on the side of the road
The night it had frozen through my little bones
So you took me in your arms
You squeezed out the cold
Upstate New York
Autumn brightly colored leaves
The hills were on fire
They burned for you and me
And where we were going it was built like a lie
But as sacred as the Bible
So we didn’t question “why”
They sodded the soil just recently
Where the rows of teeth they grow in fields of infinite green
And here laid the father
And here stood the son
Where the road meets the horizon for everyone
Portable television take us away
From this burden of reflection we’ve carried today
Oh the generator’s running but there’s nothing on the air
But the static is a comfort so we huddled round and stared
i think this song is about his views on religion, god, and death
all this of course is just my personal interpretation
i see the raggedy van on the side of the road as a metaphor for how he and his family were on a journey in life then the night had frozen which means tough times came along and took a little hope out of their life (stopped the van) then they looked to god and they felt hope (squeezed out the cold)
the second stanza i don't fully understand its obviously a personal experience
the second verse is about a funeral where a son buries a father and Ben is talking about how death is the absolute end because the horizon is the end, there's nothing past it (Where the road meets the horizon for everyone) the horizon is always something you are looking out towards and never actually reach, as is the knowledge of what happens after death; you don't find out until you're actually there.
in the last verse i think he is saying that many people just use religion and god to comfort themselves from the hardships of life and death whether or not they truly believe in it(Portable television take us away...there’s nothing on the air But the static is a comfort so we huddled round and stared)
i don't actually agree with much of this but i thought it an interesting opinion and i thought i should share the official lyrics as well as my interpretation
this is from the official digital booklet
Portable television shrouded in snow In a raggedy van on the side of the road The night it had frozen through my little bones So you took me in your arms You squeezed out the cold Upstate New York Autumn brightly colored leaves The hills were on fire They burned for you and me And where we were going it was built like a lie But as sacred as the Bible So we didn’t question “why” They sodded the soil just recently Where the rows of teeth they grow in fields of infinite green And here laid the father And here stood the son Where the road meets the horizon for everyone Portable television take us away From this burden of reflection we’ve carried today Oh the generator’s running but there’s nothing on the air But the static is a comfort so we huddled round and stared
i think this song is about his views on religion, god, and death all this of course is just my personal interpretation
i see the raggedy van on the side of the road as a metaphor for how he and his family were on a journey in life then the night had frozen which means tough times came along and took a little hope out of their life (stopped the van) then they looked to god and they felt hope (squeezed out the cold)
the second stanza i don't fully understand its obviously a personal experience
the second verse is about a funeral where a son buries a father and Ben is talking about how death is the absolute end because the horizon is the end, there's nothing past it (Where the road meets the horizon for everyone) the horizon is always something you are looking out towards and never actually reach, as is the knowledge of what happens after death; you don't find out until you're actually there.
in the last verse i think he is saying that many people just use religion and god to comfort themselves from the hardships of life and death whether or not they truly believe in it(Portable television take us away...there’s nothing on the air But the static is a comfort so we huddled round and stared)
i don't actually agree with much of this but i thought it an interesting opinion and i thought i should share the official lyrics as well as my interpretation