Grandaddy – Miner At The Dial-A-View

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Send "Miner At The Dial-A-View" Ringtone to Cell

I found your house and I saw your car
But I've no idea where you are
From the dial-a-view

Tire scraps on the federal roads
Look like crash landed crows
From the dial-a-view

Hello welcome to dial-a-view
To locate the area in which you wish to observe
You must program in the longitude and the latitude
For a closer more detailed picture
Use either the zoom or micro-zoom controls
Good luck

I dream at night
Of going home someday
Somewhere so far away
So dream alright
I know it's going to take some time
I'm going home someday

Fifteen years is almost done
And I don't recognize anyone
From the dial-a-view

My home my friends and you
I watch them fade but what can I do?
From the dial-a-view

Hello welcome to dial-a-view
To locate the area in which you wish to observe
You must program in the longitude and the latitude
For a closer more detailed picture
Use either the zoom or micro-zoom controls
Good luck

I dream at night
Of going home someday
Somewhere so far away
So dream alright
I know it's going to take some time
I'm going home someday

I dream at night
Of going home someday
Somewhere so far away
So dream alright
I know it's going to take some time
I'm going home someday

I dream at night
Of going home someday
Somewhere so far away
So dream alright
I know it's going to take some time
I'm going home someday

Send "Miner At The Dial-A-View" Ringtone to Cell


Lyrics submitted by jt

Track duration: 05:21

"Miner at the Dial-a-View" as written by J Lytle

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Miner At The Dial-A-View song meanings
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20 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:There is a transportation service in Modesto called Dial-A-Ride which is possibly where he got the idea for Dial-A-View. I used to see them all over the place in Modesto as a kid.
    Flag ciboboyeeeon July 28, 2012   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning:Another comment mentioned a prediction of Google Earth/StreetView technology back when this album was produced, and I think that's the most apt way to look at this song. If you listen to the "recorded" voice talking about entering coordinate values and then using the zoom to gain a more accurate picture, it's almost as if Google listened to this album and said "We could do that."
    When StreetView first came out, I can distinctly recall looking up my current and past places of residence, to sort of check up on them. It was never the same, of course; almost like looking through a filter. And things are hard to make out, which easily ties in to the "crash-landed cows" line in this song. As the project has expanded, I spend a lot of time looking at StreetView in far-flung countries, just imagining being there and traveling around. I don't think this was a terribly unique idea in 2000. With the emergence of the various technologies at that period, I think many people saw that it was only a matter of time before we had some sort of street-level satellite type view of the world, where we could sit in our house and visit the homes we dreamt about through our computers.
    Flag bocmaximaon October 31, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I don't know for certain what the song is about, but every time I listen to it, I get an idea for a book, or at least a short story, about a guy that has a relationship with a coworker at a government surveillance police sort of place, think A Scanner Darkly, and he uses his tools at work to spy on her after they break up, and he just reminisces over his times with the Dial-A-View.
    Flag Stephen57on October 07, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:One small thing I just noticed: the sighs that benfolds fan mentioned get lower in the mix each time they arrive, as if they're fading away...
    Flag plank201on July 17, 2009   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:It definately makes me imagine a miner on another planet, who was sent there to mine for more resources to send back to earth, so that we can continue "progress". Meanwhile, he's looking back at his home, and his old life, looking for those he loves and will probably never see again.
    Flag lololeelaon February 27, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:the idea of a person on another planet/moon is the same vibe i got from the song. the entire album gives that futurist impression many of you have brought up
    Flag _Starkson March 03, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:dial-a-view
    technology will replace love.
    Flag Ekstasison January 11, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I don't know how serious the previous comments were but I'd like to say, to me, that the song is arguably about a man separated from his hometown. Probably the artist in L.A. but having grown up in some midwestern or so state in the U.S. The Dial-A-View is most likely the picture of his old town he gets by talking to someone still there on the telephone.

    Fifteen years could be an arbitrary length of time to build a career or possibly a prison sentence. A prison sentence would mean a severe cutoff from the outside world. The only view would be through phone calls or mail perhaps.

    The tire scraps and crows line is probably how different and unattached his interpretations of regular life are having been so "out of it." That and the artist thought it was sooo clever (and it is) that it had to be in the song.
    Flag Frederfon September 09, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think beer_good meant that it looks like "I love you".
    Flag resignedon July 05, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Considering this song was released in 2000, I'm impressed that Grandaddy knew about Google Earth technology way back then!
    Flag YoLa10goon May 01, 2007   Link

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