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I see that lantern trimmed low burning in our home.
And though I feel like crying, I swear tonight, I'll cry no more.
How many times have I prayed
That I would get lost along the way?
Dream with the feathers of angels stuffed beneath your head.
The regulator's swinging pendulum.
Come with me and walk the longest mile.
Is his wallet leather? Is his wallet fat?
For not a year later it's got you lying on your back.
You should have closed your windows and got another dog.
You should have chained up all the doors and switched up all the locks.
And how many times have I prayed
The angels would speed me away.
Dream with the feathers of angels stuffed beneath your head.
The regulator's swinging pendulum.
Come with me and walk the longest mile.
And though I feel like crying, I swear tonight, I'll cry no more.
How many times have I prayed
That I would get lost along the way?
Dream with the feathers of angels stuffed beneath your head.
The regulator's swinging pendulum.
Come with me and walk the longest mile.
Is his wallet leather? Is his wallet fat?
For not a year later it's got you lying on your back.
You should have closed your windows and got another dog.
You should have chained up all the doors and switched up all the locks.
And how many times have I prayed
The angels would speed me away.
Dream with the feathers of angels stuffed beneath your head.
The regulator's swinging pendulum.
Come with me and walk the longest mile.
Lyrics submitted by almostmanda
Track duration: 05:25
"The Regulator" as written by Nathaniel Hale, Warren Griffin, Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Mine might be really an over-interpretation, but couldnt it be about death sentence?
"The longest mile" could be the walk to the execution chamber... I found that a regulator could also be like a nozzle or supplying device for gas for instance.
I never heard the expression "the feathers of angels" but I suspect it refers to the pillow's stuffing
(stuck beneath your head) with the addition of the angels imagery which I do not grasp neither with pillow or non-pillow reading.
This must be very crazy and wrong ...I'm not an English native speaker and I didnt know about the Regulator clock...
In terms of musical style, it starts off with an acoustic, western inspired guitar. You couldn't musically better convey dusty railroads, horses tied up outside bars, and collarless shirts without penning it by Ennio Morricone. So there's your historical setting.
Some of the comments are correct: the regulator refers to an archaic clock where timing is regulated by a pendulum. Not an electronic clock, a pendulum driven clock. The longest mile also refers to the walk to a place of execution - in the historical context set by the song, a gallows.
The narrator is partly blaming himself for his own crimes {"And though I feel like crying / I swear tonight I'll cry no more / How many times have I prayed / that I would get lost along the way").
The narrator moves on to blame the victim of his crimes for his opulence ("Is his wallet leather? Is his wallet fat?") and foolishness ("You should have closed your windows and got another dog / You should have chained up all the doors and switched up all the locks").
Interspersed with this is the narrator's current position, the night before his execution, inviting the listener to join him on his trip to the gallows the next day ("Dream with the feathers of angels stuffed beneath your head / Come with me and walk the longest mile").
So there you have it. Guy in wild west robs someone, gets caught, sentenced to death, and whines about it (gotta say, nicely done musically and artistically though). It's a metal song. Metal songs tend to do death and regret. Metal songs tend not to do the love thing. Pope, Catholic, bear, woods, etc.
"Is his wallet leather? Is his wallet fat?
For not a year later it's got you lying on your back.
You should have closed your windows and got another dog.
You should have chained up all the doors and switched up all the locks."
Its been one year and you're already sleeping with this new wealthy husband.
You should have known better to change the locks, secure your new home, because I am plotting revenge.
"How many times have a prayed? that i would get lost along the way"
"And how many times have i prayed? That i would get lost along the way"
Ive prayed so many times that i could never go through with this.
Ive prayed so many times that i would just forget about what has happened
"May the angles speed me away"
"Come with me and walk the longest mile"
May my death for my murder come quickly
The longest miles refers to as the death penalty, which is known as the "longest mile"
Lantern: no electricity after the end of the world.
The prayer references: a man of faith following some old religion.
Wallet bit: something's gonna have value.
Basically, when I listen to this song I see something like The Book Of Eli.
I've noticed a few comments under notion the song's about infidelity. While I can't argue against that, I can present this. The only lines that definitively link to that are these, "Is his wallet leather? Is his wallet fat? For now a year later its got you lying on your back.". References to the word "home" can mean many things besides a traditional house or structure. It could mean a country, state, neighborhood, or any number of locations that'd represent a home to someone. It's a loaded word.
As for "lantern trimmed low burning". A lantern's wick is trimmed low to produce less light when lit "burning" much like we use dimmer lights today. While not strictly speaking, a lantern is nothing more than what'd be a modern day light bulb. At times light bulbs symbolize an idea, often illustrated above the heads of cartoons. For the sake of presenting a counterargument, this dim lantern setting the mood for a love affair could also represent a building idea. An idea perhaps building within our home, or what have you.
The line "And though I feel like crying, I swear tonight, I'll cry no more", certainly could be the devastation one would experience when catching their lover with another. However the line also conveys acceptance. The Kubler-Ross model, known as the five stages of grief, comprises a coping process that's seen after a tragedy or loss occurs and's often accompanied by fear. The stages are; denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance "respectively". It so happens this model was published in a book titled "On Death and Dying". I hardly find that coincidental.
Finally, lines like "Come with me and walk the longest mile.", "You should have closed your windows and got another dog.", and "You should have chained up all the doors and switched up all the locks." don't in anyway make sense to a situation of adultery. More so clearly therein these lines is a feeling of drudgery, seemingly like an foreboding event or object that's yet come to pass.
All speculative of course.
A truly chilling, yet poetic verse that happens to be a favorite song of my own.
A truly chilling, yet poetic verse that happens to be a favorite song of my own.
A truly chilling, yet poetic verse that happens to be a favorite song of my own.