When the night's quiet,
And you don't care anymore,
You're eyes are tired,
And someone's at your door
As the song opens, the character is depressed, at the end of his rope. Springsteen's characters are often depressed and hopeless. Springsteen himself has suffered from life long depression.
And you realize you want to let go,
And the weak lies and cold walls you embrace,
Eat at your insides
And babe I ain't no liar,
I walk streets of fire!
Perhaps he finally lets go and has some type of spiritual awakening. He's tired of "the weak lies and cold walls", now he lets go and finds himself in a new place, an elevated place spiritually, he's walking "streets of fire"
Now I'm wondering',
A loser down the tracks
And I'm lyin',
But babe I can't go back!
"Cause in the darkness,
I hear somebody call my name!
Again, the character is depressed and aimless. "A loser down the tracks"--perhaps a hobo. But he hears "somebody call my name!"
Now he has hope, he's ready to fight back.
"When you realize how they tricked you this time,
'Cause it's all lies,
But I'm strung out on the wire,
In these
"Streets of Fire, Streets of Fire...etc"
He's back to the "Streets of Fire". Perhaps similar to Johnny Cash's concept of "I Walk the Line". He walks life's narrow, tough road.
"I live now, only with strangers,
I talk to only strangers!
I walk with angels that have no place!"
From his new spiritual perspective, the people around him are now "Strangers". He's walking a divine path with "angels that have no place".
And don't look at my face,
Don't come to my place,
Cause I'm strung out on my wire!
Cross Streets of Fire, Streets of Fire!
I'm not sure about the meaning of this part. Perhaps he's in a new spiritual place and he doesn't want any of the "strangers"--regular people-- to look in his face or to come to his place. He returns to the analogy of "streets of fire!"
When the night's quiet, And you don't care anymore, You're eyes are tired, And someone's at your door
As the song opens, the character is depressed, at the end of his rope. Springsteen's characters are often depressed and hopeless. Springsteen himself has suffered from life long depression.
And you realize you want to let go, And the weak lies and cold walls you embrace, Eat at your insides And babe I ain't no liar, I walk streets of fire!
Perhaps he finally lets go and has some type of spiritual awakening. He's tired of "the weak lies and cold walls", now he lets go and finds himself in a new place, an elevated place spiritually, he's walking "streets of fire"
Now I'm wondering', A loser down the tracks And I'm lyin', But babe I can't go back! "Cause in the darkness, I hear somebody call my name!
Again, the character is depressed and aimless. "A loser down the tracks"--perhaps a hobo. But he hears "somebody call my name!" Now he has hope, he's ready to fight back.
"When you realize how they tricked you this time, 'Cause it's all lies, But I'm strung out on the wire, In these "Streets of Fire, Streets of Fire...etc"
He's back to the "Streets of Fire". Perhaps similar to Johnny Cash's concept of "I Walk the Line". He walks life's narrow, tough road.
"I live now, only with strangers, I talk to only strangers! I walk with angels that have no place!"
From his new spiritual perspective, the people around him are now "Strangers". He's walking a divine path with "angels that have no place".
And don't look at my face, Don't come to my place, Cause I'm strung out on my wire! Cross Streets of Fire, Streets of Fire!
I'm not sure about the meaning of this part. Perhaps he's in a new spiritual place and he doesn't want any of the "strangers"--regular people-- to look in his face or to come to his place. He returns to the analogy of "streets of fire!"