Lyrics for Classic Cars as interpreted by light_pollution

Classic Cars Lyrics
She was a real royal lady, true patron of the arts
She said the best country singers die in the back of classic cars
So if I ever got too hungry for a suitcase or guitar
To think of them all alone in the dark
So I laid some nights beside her in a bed made for a queen
She said I kissed her different, that all the men her age were mean
Gave me anything I wanted, oh, the generosity
I took all that I could, it was free
Now the sky is a torn up denim and the clouds are just splattered paint
It’s a room I’m renovating, it’s a name I got to change
If I get out of California I’m going back to my home state
To tell them all that I made a mistake

And I keep looking for that blindfold faith
Lighting candles to a cynical saint
Who wants the last laugh at the fly trapped in the windowsill tape
You can go right out of your mind trying to escape
From the panicked paradox of day to day
If you can’t understand something then it’s best to be afraid

The whole world, it loves you if you are a chic chameleon
Intersecting circles she could hang with anyone
But when conducting business she would lie about where she’s from
Saying, "Life is how it is, not how it was"
I learned to listen, felt like I was back at school
She’d talk forever about the phases of the moon
Saying, "Everything is a cycle, you’ve got to let it come to you
And when it does, you will know what to do"
Without even knowing I guess I took her advice
Painted her front door, it seemed a suitable goodbye
It’s not that often but I think of her sometimes
Just something quaint, a couple ships in the night

And they keep moving at a glacial pace
Turning circles in a memory maze
I made a new cast of the death mask that is going to cover my face
I had to change the combination to the safe
Hide it all behind a wall, let people wait
And never trust a heart that is so bent it can’t break

Interaction
Mail to a friend Send Lyrics to a Friend
Share on Facebook

Stumble It
Add to Del.icio.us Add to Del.icio.us




  • 44 Comments
  • Printer Friendly Lyrics
oldest first     Expand All
mixedtape
03-29-2007

Rated 0 
this is one of my favorite songs off of hte new album

Log in to reply
lovenothing__
03-29-2007

Rated 0 
"If I get out of California I’m going back to my home state
To tell them all that I made a mistake"

i think this is like.. if he gets to famous that he's living in california with all the celebrities who are so fake, then he won't have achieved what he wanted to.
he would have made a mistake, which i agree with.

Log in to reply
Sil
03-30-2007

Rated 0 
^ I agree, but I think that the entire song in itself is about him learning from a woman he was with. Even though she was fake ("she would lie about where she's from"), and lived "life how it is not how it was" he still learned a lot from her. ("I learned to listen, felt like I was back in high school")

I think it's about no matter where you are in life and what you think is going on, you can always learn from anyone else, however unlikely that may be.

The only part that get's me is the end, I can't figure out where the last line fits in, even tho its a great piece of advice. Maybe that's what she taught him? Idk enough guesswork for me.

Log in to reply
tiki_12
03-31-2007

Rated 0 
When he says "Everything is a cycle, you've got to let it come to you, and when it does you will know what to do. Without even knowing, I guess I took her advice..." That's what he learned from her. She lied about where she was from, all the men her age were mean - she had been hurt in the past, and in turn gave him the advice, and probably the same advice he will give "Don't trust a heart that's so bent it can't break."

Log in to reply
2 Replies
willk
03-31-2007

Rated 0 
Isn't this the song he said was about being with an older woman? He says he never was with an older woman, but he did have an older friend Rose who he says taught him what it meant to part of the world and that's probably who this song is about.

Log in to reply
1 Reply
ohiooo88
04-02-2007

Rated 0 
I think its about learning from someone that is not perfect and not the smartest (this is why he sorta critizes her for not telling the truth ect.) and in return he has a different take on his inpending death, and a better view on how to live his life.

Log in to reply
geeveecatullus
04-03-2007

Rated 0 
I don't think "living life how it is not how it was" is a bad thing.
All that says to me is that you should not live in the past.
So it doesn't really matter where you come from, what's here and now that is important.

Log in to reply
sidelines
04-04-2007

Rated 0 
that last line is fantastic. probably my favorite song off the new album.

Log in to reply
daystoforget
04-04-2007

Rated 0 
shit, this song is really amazingly written. it kind of reminds me of "take it easy (love nothing)" just because, i guess, i always thought that was an older woman too. i don't remember if he says that in the lyrics, but i got that from it, and this seems like this is too - "She said I kissed her different, that all the men her age were mean"

Log in to reply
Nilhem
04-05-2007

Rated 0 
I love the hank williams sr allusion

Log in to reply
quirky_but_kewl
04-06-2007

Rated 0 
it's about wiona rider

:)

Log in to reply
Ask The Parrot
04-06-2007

Rated 0 
Older woman, patron of the arts, talks about the best country singers and how they died, Emmylou Harris?

Log in to reply
redd
04-09-2007

Rated 0 
i think this song is about how you can learn from everything and everyone if you just listen. this woman was probably different from anyone else he had been with, but she had so much to teach him that he really respected her even if she did lie a little here and there.

i think this song is about living in the present, instead of the past or the future. There's no need to think about the past too much (life is how it is, not how it was), but its also important to remember to enjoy the present instead of anxiously awaiting the future (when it comes to you, you will know what to do). Wherever you are, you're there, and that's where you're supposed to be.

Log in to reply
queenbam
04-10-2007

Rated 0 
there are 2 things i think of this song... i do think that the woman was older than him. and i dont know if the 2nd woman is the same he talks about in the beginning, buuut....

the lyrics "But when conducting business she would lie about where she’s from
Saying, "Life is how it is, not how it was"
I learned to listen, felt like I was back at school" make me sort of think that the entire song is about that. feeling that he needs to stay true to himself as an artist.

Log in to reply
Tfil7
04-10-2007

Rated 0 
the woman is likely winona ryder, its funny how he sings about her generosity after she got caught stealing clothes or whatever it was, he probably did so to show thats not the type of person she really is.

Log in to reply
JACKIE THE HOBO
04-10-2007

Rated 0 
awesome song.
wyonnia ryder? i think not. no offense.

one of the best on cassadaga.

Log in to reply
quirky_but_kewl
04-12-2007

Rated 0 
it IS about wyonna ryder. i read it somewhere that conor said it was. if you think about it, it all slots into place. deconstruct a bit more. geeze.

Log in to reply
thepamphleteer
04-12-2007

Rated 0 
yes, it is about winona ryder for sure. it says it in Rolling Stone.

Log in to reply
redd
04-13-2007

Rated 0 
the rolling stone article sucked. it also said that the abortion in "lime tree" was about conor, which is wrong. he said in an interview that it was about his friend.

Log in to reply
Pooop
04-14-2007

Rated 0 
since it's referring to an actress, and that seems older than conor
it's definitely winona ryder.

Log in to reply
bluelikejuly
04-17-2007

Rated 0 
for some reason i just don't think this song is about winonna ryder. at all. and also, conor has a tendency to tell interviewers false things about his music i've noticed. as if it's a game to him, which is kind of funny. like on some record of his, i can't remember which... he's "staging" an interview or something in which he goes back and forth on what he's talking about over and over. saying at one point, "yes that's what the song was about", and later "no i didn't say that, what are you talking about?" if that made any sense.

i think this is probably about emmylou harris. almost definitely. it all just makes sense. with the reference to country stars like hank williams' death, who she worked with, and did a tribute album for. the woman he is speaking of has to be much older than winonna, she is too wise sounding...

emmylou is a southern belle so the generosity and hang with anyone parts make sense. as well as "royal lady", she is country music royalty.

the song even has a country flair to it in the melody.

basically i definitely think it's about her.

i'm curious though what he meant when saying 'there's a name i gotta change" a will maybe?

aaaaand i'm spent.

Log in to reply
CarouselOfPictures
04-19-2007

Rated 0 
who sings in the background in the chorus on this song?

Log in to reply
ThickLykePuddin
04-23-2007

Rated 0 
hahaha omg i was thinking emmylou harris! bad mental picture though...

Log in to reply
miriamleaman
04-23-2007

Rated 0 
I am not completely sure, but I think Gillian Welch is singing in the background. She sang with him at Bonnaroo and that is who it sounds like. Conor wasn't the person in the interview on Fevers And Mirrors. That was Todd Fink(of The Faint) pretending to be Conor. He and Conor sound a lot a like, but if you listen to that interview carefully, it isn't Conor. It was sort of a joke for the album.
Anyway, I don't think that it is Emmylou Harris. They were never a couple. I am thinking that is is 'Rose' (whoever that is). I remember he dedicated "At The Bottom Of Everything" to her on Austin City Limits. I think he also makes up a lot of names(to avoid people knowing exactly who it is about), so it could be one of the women he talks about in his other songs. Like Laura, Lua, Neely O'Hara, Emily, Kathy, and others I can't think of at the moment. This is a great song(duh). I think as long as you can get something from it, it shouldn't really matter who it is about. He doesn't write for people to guess about who the songs are about. He writes to share experiences, advice, and wisdom.

Log in to reply
klave
05-02-2007

Rated 0 
The end of this song to me is like a more cryptic version of "yeah, I am not singing for you" from Lets Not Shit Ourselves. Cassadaga is a real leap in style and content for Conor, and in some ways the lyrics have become less emotionally accessible. So the lines "I made a new cast of the death mask that is going to cover my face
I had to change the combination to the safe
Hide it all behind a wall, let people wait" seems to me to be a reference to his new, more cryptic lyrics - the emotional stuff is there, but you have to dig a little deeper. The "safe" represents his feelings and thoughs, the "new combination" is the development in his style of songwriting, less confessional and more ambiguous, and "let people wait" is another protest against giving all of yourself away in a son at once - he's doing it for himself, not anyone else, and is content with the direction he's going in - to hell with everyone else.

Log in to reply




  • Add Your Comments
What does this song mean to you?

You must be logged in to post your comments.

Feel free to create an account with us, or log in with your existing account, to start adding your comments to songs.





Popular
Top:   Lyrics, Artists, Albums
Random:   Lyric, Artist, Album

Your Ad Here