I think this song is a warning against spending all your time thinking about the past and sacrificing the present for the future.
To me, the phrase "Fire! Fire on the Mountain!" represents an erupting volcano, which I take two ways....First, living your life that way can cause you to broil with anger and potentially explode due to working yourself to death for some "envisioned perfect future" that may never come, or wasting your time ruminating about past mistakes that can't be changed anyway. I also think it's a warning that we should run from this type of life as it is obvious that we would run from a volcanic eruption.
I think the first stanza is about living in the past..."playing cold music on the barroom floor"....Nobody cares to hear some tired old song played in a bar...the same way they don't want to hear about all of your past successes or failures. Telling those stories may make you (or others) laugh or feel good for a minute, but if all you have are those past stories, you've probably become a pretty empty and shallow person ("drowned in your laughter, but dead to the core" hits this part home). Behind that fake laughter, that anger is broiling...maybe because the past is gone, and you long for the times when you were really living life...or maybe because you're embarrassed of things you've done in your past. I think this anger is represented by the dragon with matches...just burning yourself down with self-deprecating stories and longing for the good ole days.
The subject of the song is called "long distance runner" because he is probably treating life like a marathon, plodding along with the day to day grind of a soul sucking job with the idea that there will be a trophy for him at the end. Also, he's all about impressing others and competing (keeping up with the Jones'). He uses excuses for this behavior ("hey, gotta earn a living"..."we all gotta eat"). Since this guy is all business all the time, the wise songwriter is wishing that the guy would discover the business of "mercy". He needs to find mercy for himself because he is running himself so ragged that even if he gets close to accomplishing the elusive goal that he is working so hard for, he will have completely burnt himself out or perhaps even worked himself to an early grave.
The last stanza is a challenge. You've lived this way for so long, but what has it gotten you? You're angry...You've given your whole life away to a thankless job, and even though you gave everything that you could, that carrot keeps moving on you. They want more. If this is the reality of what your life has amounted to, why would you want to give more? Make your decision now because there's a thin line beyond (death) that you really can't fake! When you're dead, you're dead...No faking that. Live now!
I think this song is a warning against spending all your time thinking about the past and sacrificing the present for the future.
To me, the phrase "Fire! Fire on the Mountain!" represents an erupting volcano, which I take two ways....First, living your life that way can cause you to broil with anger and potentially explode due to working yourself to death for some "envisioned perfect future" that may never come, or wasting your time ruminating about past mistakes that can't be changed anyway. I also think it's a warning that we should run from this type of life as it is obvious that we would run from a volcanic eruption.
I think the first stanza is about living in the past..."playing cold music on the barroom floor"....Nobody cares to hear some tired old song played in a bar...the same way they don't want to hear about all of your past successes or failures. Telling those stories may make you (or others) laugh or feel good for a minute, but if all you have are those past stories, you've probably become a pretty empty and shallow person ("drowned in your laughter, but dead to the core" hits this part home). Behind that fake laughter, that anger is broiling...maybe because the past is gone, and you long for the times when you were really living life...or maybe because you're embarrassed of things you've done in your past. I think this anger is represented by the dragon with matches...just burning yourself down with self-deprecating stories and longing for the good ole days.
The subject of the song is called "long distance runner" because he is probably treating life like a marathon, plodding along with the day to day grind of a soul sucking job with the idea that there will be a trophy for him at the end. Also, he's all about impressing others and competing (keeping up with the Jones'). He uses excuses for this behavior ("hey, gotta earn a living"..."we all gotta eat"). Since this guy is all business all the time, the wise songwriter is wishing that the guy would discover the business of "mercy". He needs to find mercy for himself because he is running himself so ragged that even if he gets close to accomplishing the elusive goal that he is working so hard for, he will have completely burnt himself out or perhaps even worked himself to an early grave.
The last stanza is a challenge. You've lived this way for so long, but what has it gotten you? You're angry...You've given your whole life away to a thankless job, and even though you gave everything that you could, that carrot keeps moving on you. They want more. If this is the reality of what your life has amounted to, why would you want to give more? Make your decision now because there's a thin line beyond (death) that you really can't fake! When you're dead, you're dead...No faking that. Live now!