bought a ticket for a runaway train
like a madman laughing at the rain
little out of touch, little insane
it's just easier than dealing with the pain
Without a doubt, these are my favorite lines of any song I've ever heard. As far as meaning, I think his buying a ticket for a runaway train represents his lack of meaning and control in his life. I always imagine it as though he knows that he knows he has no reason or purpose for which to live, but he 'buys a ticket' for it anyways--that is to say he tries to ignore his inescapable depression and ennuie in order to continue on living ("it's just easier than dealing with the pain").
Also, although he is talking to another person asking for help in finding meaning and happiness in his life, I don't really think that he genuinely believes this person can retrieve him from his depression. I'm sure that this is just because I am filtering the meaning of this song through my own personal outlook on life and love, but I think that this person he is talking to serves not as a means of escape, but mainly as a counterpoint of love and hope against which he can juxtapose his own hopelessness ("firefly without a light" vs. "blowtorch burning"). While I certainly think that other interpretations are equally valid, it is this personal, subjective interpretation that has made this song so special to me.
bought a ticket for a runaway train like a madman laughing at the rain little out of touch, little insane it's just easier than dealing with the pain
Without a doubt, these are my favorite lines of any song I've ever heard. As far as meaning, I think his buying a ticket for a runaway train represents his lack of meaning and control in his life. I always imagine it as though he knows that he knows he has no reason or purpose for which to live, but he 'buys a ticket' for it anyways--that is to say he tries to ignore his inescapable depression and ennuie in order to continue on living ("it's just easier than dealing with the pain").
Also, although he is talking to another person asking for help in finding meaning and happiness in his life, I don't really think that he genuinely believes this person can retrieve him from his depression. I'm sure that this is just because I am filtering the meaning of this song through my own personal outlook on life and love, but I think that this person he is talking to serves not as a means of escape, but mainly as a counterpoint of love and hope against which he can juxtapose his own hopelessness ("firefly without a light" vs. "blowtorch burning"). While I certainly think that other interpretations are equally valid, it is this personal, subjective interpretation that has made this song so special to me.