A perfect example of "new pollution", cigarette smoke. This is a classic beck move to start out with something literal and then gradually become more figurative.
"She's got the lily-white cavity crazes..."
-She smokes cigarettes, but yet worries about her teeth being white. He is poking fun at trends in vanity.
"She's got a carburetor tied to the moon..."
On a car, the carburetor regulates the flow of air and fuel (the life blood of an engine) .. Her "carburetor" is tied to the moon in the sense that she functions best at night. He is either making reference to the fact that she gets horny at night or she gets energized by going out on the town
Pink eyes looking to the food of the ages
When she goes out, shes looking for some lovin' ;)
"She's got a hand on a wheel of pain..."
This hurts his feelings a lot, of course.
"She can talk to the mangling strangers..."
She's going to flirt with strangers who are just going to "mangle" her body
"She can sleep in a fiery bog..."
(she can sleep with someone else)
"Throwing troubles to the dying embers..."
and when she does, he's going to know about it and its going to bother him. The 'dying embers' are his relationship with the girl he is singing to.
"She's got a paradise camouflage
Like a whip-crack sending me shivers
She's a boat through a strip-mine ocean
Riding low on the drunken rivers"
She's trying to get hers over on him by pretending to live "well", but in his opinion, she's robbed herself of the best parts of life, hence the "strip-mine ocean"
I really hate when people say that Beck's songs are meaningless because if you break them down line by line they are the complete opposite. This is actually a very dense song. If only the people on this website weren't the same way...
"She's got cigarette on each arm..."
"She's got the lily-white cavity crazes..."
-She smokes cigarettes, but yet worries about her teeth being white. He is poking fun at trends in vanity.
"She's got a carburetor tied to the moon..."
Pink eyes looking to the food of the ages
"She's got a hand on a wheel of pain..."
"She can talk to the mangling strangers..."
"She can sleep in a fiery bog..."
(she can sleep with someone else)
"Throwing troubles to the dying embers..."
and when she does, he's going to know about it and its going to bother him. The 'dying embers' are his relationship with the girl he is singing to.
"She's got a paradise camouflage Like a whip-crack sending me shivers She's a boat through a strip-mine ocean Riding low on the drunken rivers"
She's trying to get hers over on him by pretending to live "well", but in his opinion, she's robbed herself of the best parts of life, hence the "strip-mine ocean"
I really hate when people say that Beck's songs are meaningless because if you break them down line by line they are the complete opposite. This is actually a very dense song. If only the people on this website weren't the same way...