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I am the passenger and I ride and I ride
I ride through the city's backsides
I see the stars come out of the sky
Yeah, the bright and hollow sky
You know it looks so good tonight
I am the passenger, I stay under glass
I look through my window so bright
I see the stars come out tonight
I see the bright and hollow sky
Over the city's ripped backsides
And everything looks good tonight
Singing, la la la
Get into the car
We'll be the passenger
We'll ride through the city tonight
We'll see the city's ripped backsides
We'll see the bright and hollow sky
We'll see the stars that shine so bright
Stars made for us tonight
Oh, the passenger
How, how he rides
Oh, the passenger
He rides and he rides
He looks through his window
What does he see?
He sees the sign and hollow sky
He sees the stars come out tonight
He sees the city's ripped backsides
He sees the winding ocean drive
And everything was made for you and me
All of it was made for you and me
'Cause it just belongs to you and me
So let's take a ride and see what's mine
Singing, la la la
Oh, the passenger
He rides and he rides
He sees things from under glass
He looks through his window side
He sees the things that he knows are his
He sees the bright and hollow sky
He sees the city sleep at night
He sees the stars are out tonight
And all of it is yours and mine
And all of it is yours and mine
So let's ride and ride and ride and ride
Singing, la la la
I ride through the city's backsides
I see the stars come out of the sky
Yeah, the bright and hollow sky
You know it looks so good tonight
I am the passenger, I stay under glass
I look through my window so bright
I see the stars come out tonight
I see the bright and hollow sky
Over the city's ripped backsides
And everything looks good tonight
Singing, la la la
Get into the car
We'll be the passenger
We'll ride through the city tonight
We'll see the city's ripped backsides
We'll see the bright and hollow sky
We'll see the stars that shine so bright
Stars made for us tonight
Oh, the passenger
How, how he rides
Oh, the passenger
He rides and he rides
He looks through his window
What does he see?
He sees the sign and hollow sky
He sees the stars come out tonight
He sees the city's ripped backsides
He sees the winding ocean drive
And everything was made for you and me
All of it was made for you and me
'Cause it just belongs to you and me
So let's take a ride and see what's mine
Singing, la la la
Oh, the passenger
He rides and he rides
He sees things from under glass
He looks through his window side
He sees the things that he knows are his
He sees the bright and hollow sky
He sees the city sleep at night
He sees the stars are out tonight
And all of it is yours and mine
And all of it is yours and mine
So let's ride and ride and ride and ride
Singing, la la la
Lyrics submitted by ApplesInMono
Track duration: 04:44
"The Passenger" as written by Iggy/gardiner Pop
Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing, BUG MUSIC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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First there's the first verse, which is told in the singular pronoun- "I am the passenger, and I ride and I ride..." The character is enjoying his solitary life as a passenger, just flying through the streets in the backseat of a car and living happily. The "lalala" chorus sounds content in a strange way. All is well.
The second verse introduces another person to the passenger's life. "Get into the car, we'll be the passengers..." With the introduction of this person, the passenger looks back on his life before. "Oh, the passenger, he rides and he rides..." What he sees alarms him. He realizes there is more to life than aimlessly riding about at night. In an attempt at staying calm, he wants to "take a ride and see what's mine." (I find this lyric interesting, as the previous line says "It just belongs to you and me..." and then he goes back to "mine" rather than saying "ours.") The lalala chorus changes in the way it sounds- the lead vocals are getting frenzied and the smallest bit hysterical, while the backing vocals stay calm and controlled.
By the third verse, everything calms down. The lyrics repeat the basic idea of the verses before it- the passenger rides, sees things from under glass, etc. The character of the passenger seems to get back in control with the line "He sees things he knows are his." There's more to life than riding, but the passenger doesn't want to find out what it is. As long as he has these things that he views from out the window, he is in control. The verse ends with the decision to "ride and ride and ride and ride." The chorus is subdued, submissive, as the passenger has given in to his desires. I find the backing vocals on this last chorus very lovely to listen to.
Well, that's my take on it, anyway.
The Passenger
And I ride and I ride
I ride through the city's backsides
I see the stars come out of the sky
Yeah, they're bright in a hollow sky
You know it looks so good tonight
I am the passenger
I stay under glass
I look through my window so bright
I see the stars come out tonight
I see the bright and hollow sky
Over the city's a rip in the sky
And everything looks good tonight
Singin' la la la la lalalala...
Get into the car
We'll be the passenger
We'll ride through the city tonight
We'll See the city's ripped backsides
We'll see the bright and hollow sky
We'll see the stars that shine so bright
The sky was made for us tonight
Oh the passenger
How how he rides
Oh the passenger
He rides and he rides
He looks through his window
What does he see?
He sees the stars and hollow sky
He see the stars come out tonight
He sees the city's ripped backsides
He sees the winding ocean drive
And everything was made for you and me
All of it was made for you and me
'cause it just belongs to you and me
So let's take a ride and see what's mine
Singing... la la la la lalalala...
Oh, the passenger
He rides and he rides
He sees things from under glass
He looks through his window's eye
He sees the things he knows are his
He sees the bright and hollow sky
He sees the city asleep at night
He sees the stars are out tonight
And all of it is yours and mine
And all of it is yours and mine
So let's ride and ride and ride and ride...
Singing... la la la la lalalala...
what does 'the passenger' do? he 'rides and rides' what is he riding? he rides the white horse. it is like a car or a lover that takes him through the streets of berlin.
iggy shot herion and the heroin overdosed!!
ricky gardener wrote the music, bowie brought the cocaine
In the song everything the subject sees is is beautiful but the song is unnerving. This makes me think that he is startled by it all. The LSD comment works here - its like he is seeing the world for the first time through a new set of eyes (acid) and its kind of freaking him the fuck out. The realization that he owns everything is overwhelming and frightening.
Bowie's backing vocals are not surprising as he was the producer and this album is considered one of his Berlin-trilogy albums. It was released as an Iggy album, but in reality it was a collaboration w/ Bowie.\
Anywho. This album is a masterpiece.
or, considering the title of the track, it might be about an observer, who sees the cities nightlife happening around them but can't or doesn't want to participate.