Know something about this song or lyrics?
Add it to our wiki.
Venus stopped the train
While the brakeman lost his place
Satellites were spinning
In outer space
They televised her feelings
While the light
The light struck terror
I kept my distance
Because she fell in love with everyone
Smoking grass and taking Christmas trees
She fell in love with me
I was polite to her
A soft sadness had her much more than her loneliness
Her father warmed the benches
Vice President of southern branches
He reached out to her
When her mother slept
He would never forget
The light
The light
The light striking terror
I kept my distance
Because she fell in love with everyone
Smoking grass and taking Christmas trees
She fell in love with me
I was polite to her
A soft sadness had her much more than her loneliness
Satellites spinning
Satellites spin
The light
The light
The light
The light
The light
The light strikes terror
The light strikes terror
I keep my distance
Because she falls in love with everyone
Smoking grass and taking Christmas trees
She falls in love with me
I'm polite to her
A soft sadness had her much more than her ugliness
I keep my distance
Because she falls in love with everyone
Smoking grass and taking Christmas trees
She falls in love with me
I'm polite to her
I reached my soft hand out to her
I've known her for a very, very, long time
While the brakeman lost his place
Satellites were spinning
In outer space
They televised her feelings
While the light
The light struck terror
I kept my distance
Because she fell in love with everyone
Smoking grass and taking Christmas trees
She fell in love with me
I was polite to her
A soft sadness had her much more than her loneliness
Her father warmed the benches
Vice President of southern branches
He reached out to her
When her mother slept
He would never forget
The light
The light
The light striking terror
I kept my distance
Because she fell in love with everyone
Smoking grass and taking Christmas trees
She fell in love with me
I was polite to her
A soft sadness had her much more than her loneliness
Satellites spinning
Satellites spin
The light
The light
The light
The light
The light
The light strikes terror
The light strikes terror
I keep my distance
Because she falls in love with everyone
Smoking grass and taking Christmas trees
She falls in love with me
I'm polite to her
A soft sadness had her much more than her ugliness
I keep my distance
Because she falls in love with everyone
Smoking grass and taking Christmas trees
She falls in love with me
I'm polite to her
I reached my soft hand out to her
I've known her for a very, very, long time
Lyrics submitted by Hunter
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
i think this was a collaborative tweedy/bennett tune lyrically, based on the first explanation and the winona one. it didnt get played live because of jays departure, though he recorded it afterwards himself. this has always been one of my favorite wilco songs and the fact it was left off yhf, yet hmd made the cut never set well with me, but again i think its the jay thing. perhaps jeff just added depth to jays words.
The line "They televised her feelings, while the light, the light struck terror" I think refers to her appearance on Conan where she gushed over Tweedy publicly. I think the idea that she was speaking on national television about him scared the hell out of him and likely made it a little too obvious that something was going on between the two of them.
"I kept my distance Because she fell in love with everyone" refers to Winona's well documented flings with many mid-west based musicians.
"Smoking grass and taking Christmas trees" refers to, well smoking grass and taking drugs. This was during Tweedy's well known period of drug abuse.
I don't know much about Winona Ryder so I won't speculate as to the "Her father warmed the benches" part.
Lastly, many Wilco fans love this song but it has never been played live nor has it appeared on any of their albums. I think this may be because Tweedy is being respectful to his wife and thought it best to leave this song buried.
And I wish I could comment on the song itself, but I'm unsure what it means. It feels like it's missing a verse, honestly. In its current form, the relationship between the narrator and the girl sounds rather dysfunctional. The defining element of their interaction seems to center around marijuana, the theft of evergreens, and politeness...which does nothing to explain the light striking terror. Or, for that matter, why she would appear on television, broadcasting her feelings.
This may be another one of Tweedy's strange channelings of 9-11 before it actually happened. I dunno, though...like I said, it almost feels like he left very crucial elements of the story out.
So Venus stopped the train. I’ve heard the tale of Venus and her crazy brakeman and the spinning satellites that televised her feelings while the light struck terror. Everyone kept their distance as she orchestrated her love affair—smoking grass and being a Christmas spirit, she would take Christmas trees. I don’t recall her converging on Wilco but what do I know? It’s hard to say which had the tighter grip—her sadness or her loneliness. Her dad warmed the benches and reached out to swipe her. What a surprise. So accurate ...
99.99% of the time, in American parlance "warming the bench" refers to mediocrity in sports. e.g. bad players are made to sit-out and keep the bench warm. I'm very sure it's a clever way of saying that he was a shitty, frustrated businessman.