I do not pretend to have any special insights into this song... but it bothers me that only a few of us have taken the time to attempt a full interpretation. I'll try:
Let's start with the phrase: "Are you brave or are you scared straight?" This seems to be about lifestyles. It seems to me that the man is somehow on the periphery of societal norms. Probably something like a hippie or a musician definitely not the "straight" lifestyle of an 9-5 job in the city.
This song is written after their most recent fight in which she stormed out and left him. She has called him from somewhere outside Washington D.C. to hash it out over the phone. "Washington's on the one" = Highway 1 which runs right through Washington DC.
So, she calls him to say that she's done. It's over. "You called to say you're gonna run"
His response is to ask her if she's sure. "Can you wait?" "Can you stand it" He's basically saying are you being brave and taking your destiny in your own hands? Or are you so tortured by this alternate lifestyle that you are scared into being a normal square?
The line "Maybe smoke belongs in the sky" seems to reference his alternative lifestyle involving weed. That might be me making things up... but it makes sense to me.
The whole point of the song is him trying to convince her that she has something good with him but in doing he seems to convince himself that "something has to change".
What do you think? Am I far off?
(Yes, I understand that I'm about 13 years late to this conversation.)
Then again.... John Roderick is from Washington State so "the one" might refer to HWY 101 on the coast. There is at least one TMBG song that refer to HWY 101 as "the one"
Then again.... John Roderick is from Washington State so "the one" might refer to HWY 101 on the coast. There is at least one TMBG song that refer to HWY 101 as "the one"
@wasmuthk Also, George Washington is on the one dollar bill...I don't necessarily see how that squares with the story he's telling, but I end up thinking about it each time I pull a dollar out of my wallet :)
@wasmuthk Also, George Washington is on the one dollar bill...I don't necessarily see how that squares with the story he's telling, but I end up thinking about it each time I pull a dollar out of my wallet :)
I do not pretend to have any special insights into this song... but it bothers me that only a few of us have taken the time to attempt a full interpretation. I'll try:
Let's start with the phrase: "Are you brave or are you scared straight?" This seems to be about lifestyles. It seems to me that the man is somehow on the periphery of societal norms. Probably something like a hippie or a musician definitely not the "straight" lifestyle of an 9-5 job in the city.
This song is written after their most recent fight in which she stormed out and left him. She has called him from somewhere outside Washington D.C. to hash it out over the phone. "Washington's on the one" = Highway 1 which runs right through Washington DC.
So, she calls him to say that she's done. It's over. "You called to say you're gonna run"
His response is to ask her if she's sure. "Can you wait?" "Can you stand it" He's basically saying are you being brave and taking your destiny in your own hands? Or are you so tortured by this alternate lifestyle that you are scared into being a normal square?
The line "Maybe smoke belongs in the sky" seems to reference his alternative lifestyle involving weed. That might be me making things up... but it makes sense to me.
The whole point of the song is him trying to convince her that she has something good with him but in doing he seems to convince himself that "something has to change".
What do you think? Am I far off?
(Yes, I understand that I'm about 13 years late to this conversation.)
Then again.... John Roderick is from Washington State so "the one" might refer to HWY 101 on the coast. There is at least one TMBG song that refer to HWY 101 as "the one"
Then again.... John Roderick is from Washington State so "the one" might refer to HWY 101 on the coast. There is at least one TMBG song that refer to HWY 101 as "the one"
@wasmuthk Also, George Washington is on the one dollar bill...I don't necessarily see how that squares with the story he's telling, but I end up thinking about it each time I pull a dollar out of my wallet :)
@wasmuthk Also, George Washington is on the one dollar bill...I don't necessarily see how that squares with the story he's telling, but I end up thinking about it each time I pull a dollar out of my wallet :)