Just listening for the 784,654th time....and it's just perfect in every way. Just incredible. The only reason it was remade was to scoop up a boatload of money from a more modern and accepting audience. But it is a completely different song than the other one that sounds slapped together in a few takes without a thought for the meaning.
This song captivates me still, after 50+ years. Takes me to the deep South and the poverty of some who lived thru truly hard times. And the powerful spirit of a poor young girl being abandoned to her future with only a red dress and her wits to keep her alive.
She not only stayed alive, she turned her hard beginnings around, became self sufficient, successful and someone with respect for herself. She didn't let the naysayers and judgers stop her. She's the one sitting in the drivers seat at the end.
So, not a song about a poor girl, but a song of hope and how you can rise up no matter how far down you started.
There is a huge difference between a singer who simply belts out a song that is on a page in front of them, and someone who can convey an entire experience with their voice. Telling not just a story with words, but taking you inside it and making you feel like you are there, with their interpretation.
Jan lays down and wrestles in her sleep
Moonlight spills on comic books
And superstars in magazines
An old friend calls and tells us where to meet
Her plane takes off from Baltimore
And touches down on Bourbon Street
We sit outside and argue all night long
About a god we've never seen
But never fails to side with me
Sunday comes and all the papers say
Ma Teresa's joined the mob
And happy with her full time job
Do do do do do do
Am I alive or thoughts that drift away?
Does summer come for everyone?
Can humans do as prophets say?
And if I die before I learn to speak
Can money pay for all the days I lived awake
But half asleep?
Do do do do do do
A life is time, they teach us growing up
The seconds ticking killed us all
A million years before the fall
You ride the waves and don't ask where they go
You swim like lions through the crest
And bathe yourself on zebra flesh
I've been downhearted baby,
I've been downhearted baby,
Ever since the day we met
Moonlight spills on comic books
And superstars in magazines
An old friend calls and tells us where to meet
Her plane takes off from Baltimore
And touches down on Bourbon Street
We sit outside and argue all night long
About a god we've never seen
But never fails to side with me
Sunday comes and all the papers say
Ma Teresa's joined the mob
And happy with her full time job
Do do do do do do
Am I alive or thoughts that drift away?
Does summer come for everyone?
Can humans do as prophets say?
And if I die before I learn to speak
Can money pay for all the days I lived awake
But half asleep?
Do do do do do do
A life is time, they teach us growing up
The seconds ticking killed us all
A million years before the fall
You ride the waves and don't ask where they go
You swim like lions through the crest
And bathe yourself on zebra flesh
I've been downhearted baby,
I've been downhearted baby,
Ever since the day we met
Lyrics submitted by antispork, edited by billyb93, markydissod
Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand Lyrics as written by Jane Feather Chris O Connor
Lyrics © KOBALT MUSIC PUB AMERICA INC
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Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth With Money In My Hand song meanings
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"We ride the waves and don't ask where we go" could mean that people just act without much thought as to the consequences of their actions. This song hints on some existential philosophy when it questions as to if humans are just their thoughts. "Does Summer come for everyone" also hints towards existentialism with a question of human perception. When he questions human experiences and human perceptions, he also wonders if our inability to think (or speak) will be forgivable with physical goods (money).
The author gives us a mixed approval of individual perception. On one hand, he questions if currency could replace thought. We're only "half asleep" (or half-awake) if we don't think. He also hints that we are prone to mindless violence (lion-like behavior and swimming through zebra flesh).
On the other hand, if we are thinking, then we do run a risk of isolating ourselves with our own flawed perceptions. He cites those with the argument of god.
Well, that's my stab at it...
Though the definition does not truly do agnosticism justice, because it is a FACT, not an opinion, that proof for or against Creationship cannot be given because there is no empirical evidence for either side. Agnostics would, therefore, be agreeing with you on the idea that perhaps everyone in the circle of tense, defensive belief argumentation is incorrect.
Aside from that, relatively solid analysis.