Lyrics for Back of a Truck as interpreted by geekusa

Back of a Truck Lyrics
She lifted the monument in her monumental arms
She was the mother superior with the carry-on luggage charms
She was this androgynous powder nosed girl next door
She had eaten her dog and she was back for more
Back for more
Some more, yes please some more

Her gym teacher thought himself a sweat sock demi god
Her geraniums thought themselves an alien pod
Her front porch gave way beneath her classified weight
And when the ambulance came they said it's much too late
Oh it's much too late
How late? Very late, too late

Now the people of New Guinea and the people of LA
Have been pen pals for years cause they both hate ballet
Only the pandas and bears have made a clean getaway
But the news bulletin claims it's gonna be ok
Now Miss Lucy had a sweatshop where the immigrants worked
Problem was they all turned to pumpkins at the twelve o'clock stroke
Promptly confiscated by police precinct number X
That was when the alien geraniums demanded the facts
No violence of course, no violence of course, hey no violence of course. Of course? Why yes, of course

Here the story gets hazy and the hair gets too long
And the TV gets quiet as we hear a real bad song
The mothers get whiskey and the girlfriends get tongue
And there's a back of a truck selling smoke filled lungs
There's a back of a truck selling alien pods
There's a back of a truck selling game show hosts
There's a back of a truck selling the souls of the dead
There's a back of a truck selling crumb free bread
This is New York
There's a back of a truck selling the back of a car
There's a back of a car selling roadway maps
There are roadway maps selling the back of a head
Hey how much for that back of a head, man?
Hey wait a minute, that's my back of a head
Hey you can't sell that man, that's my back of a head
Hey sell it back to me man
Hey sell it back to me
It's mine

She lifted the monument in her monumental arms
She was the mother superior with the carry-on luggage charms
She was this androgynous powder nosed girl next door
She had eaten her dog and she was back for more
She had eaten her dowg, D-O-W-G
She had eaten her dog
Some more, yes please some more

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polichinelle
11-08-2004

Rated 0 
i'm so madly in love with this song <3

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JustaPerson223
10-27-2005

Rated 0 
I love it as well--some parts are kind of surreal. I especially love the Back of a truck selling... part. Regina has such interesting lyrics and a truly unique sound. Her voice has so much passion and her vocal abilities are stunning.

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mostlywater
04-01-2006

Rated 0 
you forgot the best part!

There's a back of a truck selling crumb free bread
THIS IS NEW YOOORK!
There's a back of a truck selling the back of a car" etc

i love that part.

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castleday
04-13-2006

Rated 0 
My favorite part:

"There are roadway maps selling the back of a head
Hey how much for that back of a head, man?
Hey wait a minute that's my back of a head
Hey you can't sell that man
That's mine
Hey sell it back to me man
Hey sell it back to me
It's mine!"

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DespisebyMorning
05-30-2006

Rated 0 
My favorite part is "this is New York." But I definately Love "that's myyyy back of a head!" I have no clue what this song is about, but I Love it.

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yimeno
09-14-2006

Rated 0 
the best part for me is at the end where it goes "She had eaten her dog and she was back for more. She had eaten her dog. D-O-W-G." and it goes on for a bit.

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fitzgerald
09-21-2006

Rated 0 
I love this song, i love her voice, and how she plays. I love the surrelness of this song.
I love how it tells strange storys alot like fairytales, then hits back with something from the realworld.

Honestly i just think its a song about a girl suffering from detachment from the real world.

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auxocrome
10-29-2006

Rated 0 
I have no freaking idea what this song is about really... although I like to think that is it the story, as well as the hallucinogenic final thoughts of a psychologically damaged woman who dies on her front porch. (Which kinda explains the trying to buy the back of her head from its thief!) She is unable to cope with living, as reality and fantasy are intertwined in her broken mind - thus "the story gets hazy and the hair gets too long".

Despite any attempt of interpretation, it's still an absolute epic and brilliantly brilliant song. I

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auxocrome
10-29-2006

Rated 0 
Thats' meant to say:

I

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auxocrome
10-29-2006

Rated 0 
Fark! I'm a newbie here, canya tell? :p

I heart 11.11-era Regina Spektor.

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dramavannah
12-09-2006

Rated 0 
this song is so amazing. i love dancing to it. it's got so much feeling.

as for what it means, i agree with auxocrome. i can easily see it being about a girl who just cannot discern reality from fantasy [or would rather not] and ends up shooting herself in the head ["Hey wait a minute that's my back of a head."]

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MuddyMae
01-02-2007

Rated 0 
Wow, this song is great. Bob Dylanesque.

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daisymay
01-11-2007

Rated -1 
wow...well I've never actually heard the song but the lyrics are amazing!

i agree with auxocrome and dramavannah but i think...maybe cuz i live near the border...that the alien thing and the back of the truck refers to illegal immigrants. I see it says something about NY too so i guess that blows my view out of the water...but it does make sense to me

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milomoo
01-13-2007

Rated 0 
Regina sounds a little like Bonnie Raitt in this one. I love the lyrics everyone mentions above---also "no violence, of course, why yes, of course." I also wondered if Miss Lucy was in any way related to Lucille from Pavolv's Daughter, another song with intriguing lyrics.

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WhereIsJF?
02-17-2007

Rated 0 
I actually think this song is about an anorexic girl who runs away to New York. And there it's like a completley different world.. She eventually goes back home and kills herself...

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believingyourlies
03-06-2007

Rated 0 
"There's a back of a truck selling crumb free bread..." i think this part of the song could be about people trying to sell anything for their own benfit...even if what they are selling it isn't real- kind of like a scam artist...

whatever it means though, i love regina ;)

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zaner
03-16-2007

Rated 0 
HURRAY for loving regina!!! it feels good to know that theres things this beautiful :) i'm in search for all that is beautiful and in my travels i started to forget what unbeauty looks like!

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paganpoetry005
04-06-2007

Rated 0 
I kind of see the first two verses as separate stories that merge together in some weird way at the end of the song...I don't know...it's an excellent song though. Where's the "This is New York!" part though?

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artslut
04-24-2007

Rated 0 
I'm not a lesbian, but I would go gay for Regina.

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envirohodges
04-30-2007

Rated 0 
i get a whole little shop of horror image in this song. and it makes me think of my old gym teacher who also thought he was infallible.

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philaphobic
06-19-2007

Rated 0 
i think the song is about a fat girl who dies on her porch (monumental arms, her front porch gave way beneith her classified weight, she had eaten her dog and she was back for more). i think she is probably mexican (mother superior with carry on luggage charms refering to a catholic and the whole immigrant thing). i think she worked for miss lucy and was in danger of being deported by the cops. i think the things being sold in the truck are about how people think money can solve all problems... like if u have money u can buy smoke free lungs. i think the back of a head is possibly refering to a brain... because when people buy things they r really trying to buy themselves. we buy the best things and we think that makes us the best. i think regina is saying that the immigrants are here to find a better life but when the girl gets too much of a good things (food-- she gets fat) and she dies. i think the alien pods are drugs... maybe... although maybe regina was taking some drugs when she wrote this song haha... i'm sure she is laughing at this site trying to explain her songs.

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Yukying
08-08-2007

Rated 0 
This is a song which explains the NY culture.
From the beginning its all about NY, and its confirmed by the line: This is New York!

She had eaten her DOG--I Believe she's talking about a Hot Dog.
The alien pods...well, everybody in NY thinks themselves better than the others, something out of this world.
When she says the monumental arms part, i believe its talking about the Statue of Liberty
The back of a truck selling everything....well, i guess you can buy anythingin the back of a truck in NY, even your back of a head, cause i guess that she's talking about stolen merchandise or something like that, then you can get it from the back of a truck in NY. Sorry, my english is not good, but i hope you get it.

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sensitivetofate
08-16-2007

Rated 0 
There are roadway maps selling the back of a head
Hey how much for that back of a head, man?
Hey wait a minute that's my back of a head
Hey you can't sell that man
That's mine
Hey sell it back to me man
Hey sell it back to me
It's mine!

This part is about a prostitute, I think. Explaining the metaphor would be really vulgar, though. :P

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kickthehabit
08-21-2007

Rated 0 
i wish regina would put out more stuff like 11:11. she used her voice to its extent, and it sounded absolutely amazing.
not to mention she's a fantastioc lyricist!

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love_is_free
11-15-2007

Rated 0 
{This song is one of my ultimate FAVORITES. It's so trippy.}
The main themes i can get out of this song are: Immigrants, New York, and corporate America.
But really, i think this song is about immigration to NY (regina went from Russia to NY). The culture shock of corporate-america, vendors selling things, all things, from the back of their cars. Maybe her first day in NY she saw a lot of vendors in backs of trucks or something.
"She lifted the monument in her monumental arms
She was the mother superior with the carry-on luggage charms" -this is definitely about flying to NY and seeing the statue of liberty.

But there are definetely deeper levels about fictional characters like the overweight girl who ate hot dogs (she had eaten her dog and was back for more), with the demi god gym teacher and geraniums who thought they were alien pods... which is what throws me off. But i think she was on something when she wrote this song, so the parts that don't fit in like that are some manufestation of regina's imagination. I read in an interview that a lot of her songs (Mary-ann, Sailor Song, Poor Little Rich Boy) are about fictional characters she makes up and sings about. I think this song def. is partly about characters of her imagination.
"Now Miss Lucy had a sweatshop where the immigrants worked
Problem was they all turned to pumpkins at the twelve o'clock stroke"
Turning to pumpkins = getting caught as illegal in this country and getting shipped back, like cinderella turning back to what she was at 12, her horses turning to pumpkins.
Alien pods = places for illegal aliens to dwell/live.
There's such an intense theme about New York in it because she was hit with such a new environment; it was culture shock. And she realized how consumer-driven the streets of NY are, and how everything can be sold, and that a lot of people define themselves by what they buy, even if what they're buying is ridiculous. Everything can be solved by their purchases (crumb-free bread, smoke-free lungs, game show hosts).
That's my take. This song definetley makes you think!

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