Know something about this song or lyrics?
Add it to our wiki.
Remember the weight of the world
It's a sound that we used to buy
On cassette and forty five
And now this little girl
She says will we make it at all
Eight hundred miles is a drive
Yeah you got the weight of the world coming down like a mother's eye
And all that you can
All that you can give is a cold goodbye
The law enforcement's impressed you've survived to this age
Strapped-up soldiers
They'll lock you in a cage without a goodbye
For a nickel bribe
But aww no where you are tonight
And how'd we get here
It's too late to break it off
I need a release
The signal's a cough
But that don't get me off
I summon you to appear my love
Got the weight of the world
I summon you here my love
Remember the weight of the world
It's a sound that we used to buy
And all that you can
All that you can give is a cold goodbye
The law enforcement's impressed you've survived to this age
Strapped-up soldiers
They'll lock you in a cage without a goodbye
For a nickel bribe
But aww no where you are tonight
And how'd we get here
It's too late to break it off
I need a release
The signal's a cough
But that don't get me off
I summon you to appear my love
Got the weight of the world
I summon you here my love
The signal's a cough but that don't get me off
I summon you here my love
It's a sound that we used to buy
On cassette and forty five
And now this little girl
She says will we make it at all
Eight hundred miles is a drive
Yeah you got the weight of the world coming down like a mother's eye
And all that you can
All that you can give is a cold goodbye
The law enforcement's impressed you've survived to this age
Strapped-up soldiers
They'll lock you in a cage without a goodbye
For a nickel bribe
But aww no where you are tonight
And how'd we get here
It's too late to break it off
I need a release
The signal's a cough
But that don't get me off
I summon you to appear my love
Got the weight of the world
I summon you here my love
Remember the weight of the world
It's a sound that we used to buy
And all that you can
All that you can give is a cold goodbye
The law enforcement's impressed you've survived to this age
Strapped-up soldiers
They'll lock you in a cage without a goodbye
For a nickel bribe
But aww no where you are tonight
And how'd we get here
It's too late to break it off
I need a release
The signal's a cough
But that don't get me off
I summon you to appear my love
Got the weight of the world
I summon you here my love
The signal's a cough but that don't get me off
I summon you here my love
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!
They are kids in love
They used to listen to music that had all the drama of life in it
The cops came and took him away (probably for having sex with his teen girlfriend)
They took him away without a chance to even say goodbye and without a true crime of harm to anyone just the rhetoric coming from the parents of the girl "for a nickel bribe" who the cops believed over the girl and guy
She now has the drama "weight of the world coming down like a mothers eye" and is saying "will we make it at all"
He is saying he misses her and always thinks of her "oh where are you tonight" and how did this all happen but knows it is not going to go away because her parent are not going to budge "how'd we get here it's too late to break it off"
He needs to know she still loves him and it is driving him crazy "I need a release"
I think they are forbidden by law and the parents to see each other in jail so he is asking her to go to court and cough if she loves him and will wait for him. But he knows he still will have to wait "But that don't get me off"
On the one hand, when you get older you start to feel like your teenage years were the time when you were happy. In a long relationship that's going down the tubes, you start to feel like the early days were when you were happy. When you were younger, you listened to sad music because you weren't actually sad. You paid money for the thrill of pretending to be sad. As a grownup, you know about real sadness. Being a grownup sucks.
But on the other hand, when you were younger you actually _did_ feel sadness more intensely. Music really mattered. When your long relationship started, you felt those emotions really intensely, and music was crucial to you. But then you get older and nothing seems to matter as much. Your relationship gets boring. Everything gets dull, and you wish for some real sadness. You don't bother to keep up with new music anymore. Being a grownup sucks.
Both meanings operate at the same time.
i think the song is about two people who feel like its them against the world and they only have each other, but its hard because they dont actually have each other because theres 800 miles between them.
hes desperate to have her with him.
also, i think when he says
'I need a release
The signal's a cough
But that don't get me off
I summon you here, my love'
i think hes talking about the phone line. its whats connecting them, and the line is lacking, but thats not going to keep him from her. its not going to get him off the line because all he wants is her. he wants her by his side so he wishes he could just make her appear.
this is the first song my significant other ever shared with me, and it explains everything we are perfectly. because he lives 800 miles away from me. he lives far away and when ive been beat and ive been down, hes been what picks me up.
'But oh no where are you tonight?
And how'd we get here?
It's too late to break it off'
those lines refer to all those times when the distance gets so hard you just want to give up. anyone who has been in a long distance relationship knows this feeling. its that moment where you wonder if itll be easier to give up and look for something where you are and you realize youre in too deep and that person is the only one you want and its too late to break it off with them.
you feel like its you and that person against the world and
'you got the weight of the world' so you want to 'summon them to appear.'
Anyways, a few things I heard in the lyrics differently.
"Yea you got the weight of the world coming down...." not "You you got..."
and
"The law enforcement's opressed..." not "impressed"
Just my interpretations though. I could be wrong
I also like the idea of this song being about serving jury duty.
since it sounds like getting busted?!?!!?!?
wait.... what the fuck am I talking about?
Honestly, I do like this concept of a divorce though. When I first heard the song, I thought he sings, "And how'd we get kids? Too late to break it off" when it's really "And how'd we get here/it's too late to break it off." So perhaps subconsciously, I always associated it with that. I'm almost sad to see it's not "kids" though. Ha. The "summons" is interesting as it's a legal document, signifying divorce. But alas, I have to put this idea aside because it's just not that complicated.
It's about long distance relationships, plain and simple!
Do you believe Bob Dylan or Lou Reed's explanations for what their songs are about? It'd be hard to do since they give multiple explanations. Most artists do not want to define what a song is about. It's supposed to be a two-way experience. The listener uses their own experiences and brain when figuring out what it means *to them*.
Robbie Robertson, of The Band, once said that he didn't even like having the lyrics printed. He'd rather have the listener figure those out too. So, your personal experience of the song being about a divorce is great.
It's not like us over-analysers are not enjoying the song or something. Music and lyrics are more interesting when you free yourself of what the song is supposed to be about and think instead. Other people get more out of just listening.
Anyway, regardless of what the song is "about", that doesn't mean that the song doesn't have something else to say. Do you think those old blues singers were really just singing about some girl?
Honestly, I do like this concept of a divorce though. When I first heard the song, I thought he sings, "And how'd we get kids? Too late to break it off" when it's really "And how'd we get here/it's too late to break it off." So perhaps subconsciously, I always associated it with that. I'm almost sad to see it's not "kids" though. Ha. The "summons" is interesting as it's a legal document, signifying divorce. But alas, I have to put this idea aside because it's just not that complicated.
It's about long distance relationships, plain and simple!
But to me, I PERSONALLY connect with this song's disillusionment about growing up and going from a simple world to a complicated one as a young adult starting a career (as I'm doing), which includes real relationships, jobs, moving out, etc.
Remember the weight of the world
It's a sound that we used to buy
On cassette and 45
And now this little girl
She says will we make it all
Just to think that as a kid, I WANTED to be an adult and would have "bought" the weight of the world. Listened to songs about more adult subjects, wanting to have girlfriends, a job, money, etc.
800 miles is a drive
I guess I now drive a lot for jobs etc. (I know it's more personal).
You you got the weight of the world coming down like a mother's eye
And all that you can
All that you can give is a cold goodbye
Just the idea that living on your own, you are not living with your parents/family. You're never actually at home anymore, only giving them "cold goodbyes" for months on end. That and I do not feel like I at least call parents for personal reasons, but more for financial help, etc, ending in "cold goodbyes."
The law enforcement's impressed you've survived to this age
Strapped-up soldiers
They'll lock you in a cage without goodbye
For a nickel bribe
Just a little blurb about how cold the world can be. Growing up, you learn if you technically break a rule and even one innocent little mistake, people (police, courts, banks, schools, etc.) will get on you. Kinda "it's a cold world" sort of thing.
But oh no where are you tonight?
And how'd we get here?
It's too late to break it off
"How'd I grow up so fast" sort of thing and end up in the position as the person I am.
I need a release
The signal's a cough
But that don't get me off
I summon you to appear, my love
This is where my interpretation fails to an extent. I feel as I've grown, I have had fewer close friends and feel more lonely. And relationships are much less fun and free (as in expensive too!). Even more or less, relationships of convenience. I feel like it just expresses loneliness and wanting a real love to help with the loneliness.
Then repeat. Take my interpretation for what's it worth. It's more personal, but I feel it matches somewhat.