Lyric discussion by moik 

What is meant by "Range Life"?

Chartstopper wrote:

The title "Range Life" appears to be Malkmus's translation of the French term "une vie rang�e," which means an ordered, structured life. A range life would be an ordinary life, an "arranged" life, a comfortable life, a life of shady lanes perhaps. Malkmus probably studied French at UVA. I realized that he must have been referring to "une vie rang�e" when I encountered the term in a poem I studied in a French class a few years ago. From what I've heard, he finally found his range life with his wife, his kids, and his well-established career. Maybe that's why his music doesn't do much for me anymore. There was so much emotion in his voice on those old Pavement records. <<

I think this sums it up, but I always considered it to relate to an American idiom from "Home on the Range."

Something like this:

Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam,
Where the deer and the antelope play,
Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
And the skies are not cloudy all day.

    Home, home on the range,
    Where the deer and the antelope play;
    Where seldom is heard a discouraging word
    And the skies are not cloudy all day.

So the meaning is the same - the narrator yearns for a quaint, quiet, peaceful life - but not right now. Maybe the French idiom relates to the American song (?????)

But there's another thought, also, in Elevate Me Later:

Those who sleep with electric guitars Range roving with the cinema stars And I wouldn't want to shake their hand Cause they're in such a high protein land

Is this also what SM means by "Range Life"? Probably not - but just a thought.

Interesting point. Roving means able to be shifted from place to place, not settled in one location - the opposite of a "range life". Maybe he's trying to draw attention to that by putting "range" in front? Shifting from place to place to different "ranges" so as to find where to settle down?...

To be honest, I always thought that lyric was alluding to the Range Rover, the ridiculously expensive SUV. The second generation of the Range Rover came out in '94.

Food for thought.

Foolish is the idea that people who have stable jobs; decent reputations; earn good money, etc have boring lives. It's a stereotype, and sadly accepted. I have met the most fun people in my lifetime, and some of them were very successful financially (in business or law or the medical profession, etc) while having nice homes and families. They were also the wildest ones at the dance clubs...laughing, drinking, partying, etc. This idea that everyone falls into some round or square hole is silly. We each have multiple sides to us, and a different side shows depending upon the situation...

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