Like a lot of the other comments are saying, I think this mainly about voyeurism. If the song was about his girlfriend, then why would he use the word spy. If you are a spy it means you shouldn't be caught, that is kind of the whole point, and if you are a voyeur, the whole point of the pleasure you get from it, is the fact that the other people don't know you are watching them. See a bit of a connection there?
"Hold on to my arm,"
She said, strung out on the floor.
"I've been knocked uptight.
I've been locked outside.
I can't go on anymore."
Cut off the circulation.
Don't let it go to my head too quick.
Let the feeling grow.
Just let it flow.
Gonna' make it last.
Gonna' make it last.
I'm a hurricane
And the blood flows free from an open vein.
This is the last time:
Never at home again.
Oh! I know that train you're riding on. (Oh-oh-oh.)
It's sixteen coaches long.
My baby's on that train and gone.
Can't slow it. (Gone.)
You know it. (Gone.)
It's coming down.
"Hold on," she said.
"I've been knocked uptight
And locked outside.
I can't go on.
I can't go on."
I'm a hurricane
And the blood flows free from a broken vein.
This is the last time,
Never at home again.
Oh! I know that train you're riding on. (Oh-oh-oh)
It's sixteen coaches long.
My baby's on that train and gone.
Can't slow it. (Gone.)
You know it. (Gone.)
It's coming down.
The future is open wide.
The future is open wide.
The future is open wide.
(Gone.)
Can't slow it. (Gone.)
You know it. (Gone.)
It's coming down.
Runaway train. (Run.)
Runaway train. (Run.)
Runaway train. (Run.)
Runaway train. (Run.)
Runaway train. (Run.)
She said, strung out on the floor.
"I've been knocked uptight.
I've been locked outside.
I can't go on anymore."
Cut off the circulation.
Don't let it go to my head too quick.
Let the feeling grow.
Just let it flow.
Gonna' make it last.
Gonna' make it last.
I'm a hurricane
And the blood flows free from an open vein.
This is the last time:
Never at home again.
Oh! I know that train you're riding on. (Oh-oh-oh.)
It's sixteen coaches long.
My baby's on that train and gone.
Can't slow it. (Gone.)
You know it. (Gone.)
It's coming down.
"Hold on," she said.
"I've been knocked uptight
And locked outside.
I can't go on.
I can't go on."
I'm a hurricane
And the blood flows free from a broken vein.
This is the last time,
Never at home again.
Oh! I know that train you're riding on. (Oh-oh-oh)
It's sixteen coaches long.
My baby's on that train and gone.
Can't slow it. (Gone.)
You know it. (Gone.)
It's coming down.
The future is open wide.
The future is open wide.
The future is open wide.
(Gone.)
Can't slow it. (Gone.)
You know it. (Gone.)
It's coming down.
Runaway train. (Run.)
Runaway train. (Run.)
Runaway train. (Run.)
Runaway train. (Run.)
Runaway train. (Run.)
Lyrics submitted by Neon_Like
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In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
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"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
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Hayalperest
Hayalperest
This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
Trains are a theme that run across many genres of American music - folk, blues, country, rock, jazz, r&b, 20th centry classical...... (can't think of any rap songs, but who knows). The Blake Babies honor and update this tradition, with some great allusions.
The most obvious is "I know that train you're riding on is sixteen coaches long". A reference to Mystery Train - a song sung by Elvis Presley in his Sun Sessions (1955), a song borrowed from Junior Parker. Elvis sings "Train I ride, sixteen coaches long Train I ride, sixteen coaches long Well that long black train Got my baby and gone." Countless covers have ensued - among them The Band, The Soft Boys, Neil Young, Dwight Yoakum. (Also note that Mystery Train is also a title of a book by Griel Marcus and a movie by Jim Jarmush).
Apparently Junior Parker borrowed this verse from the Carter Family's "Worried Man Blues." This verse hasn't survived into the more popular versions of this song (e.g. Woody Guthrie).
Like Robert Johnson's "Love in Vain" (covered by the Rolling Stones) the train of the Blake Babies is taking his baby away.
The Blake Babies use the metaphor of the train to represent hard drugs and their addiction. This metaphor isn't a first. John Prine's "Sam Stone" used it "And the gold rolled through his veins Like a thousand railroad trains...... There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes."
The Blake Babies take the metaphor and run with it - the train - drugs- is taking away his baby. I think this works on several levels. She (the drug user) is asking him (the narrator) to help her with the injection. The first line "Hold on to my arm" makes it first appear she is asking for moral support, but it turns out that she is asking for help to "cut off the circulation". This appears to be a larger dose than normal - a runaway train. I think he sees her leaving him on this current drug experience ("trip") lapsing into unconsciousness (maybe even death this time), but he also sees that he is losing her to the drug addiction- the addiction is a "runaway train" that will likely lead to her death. Powerful stuff.
One point of confusion... I got the feeling from the 2nd verse that he was using with her. But reading over the lyrics here, I think that the second verse might be spoken by her (the user)- the quotation in the first verse should continue to the second verse.
Some of the lyrics remain a mystery. "The future is wide open." Really? Maybe from the point of view of the user- unless one receives liberation from death....... "I am a hurricane." Beats me. Is it the narrator speaking? Or the drugs?
In Blake Babies style they merge the beautiful melodies and sweet harmonies with some fairly graphic imagery - "cut off the circulation ......the blood flows free from a broken vein."