Get back in the car

[jessbrew]

I wanted to talk about this before it leaves my head, so this may be jumbled and not make a lot of sense.

"so the man was tired and the car was starved
and the sun was setting
no the moon was tired and the cow was carved
i remember every second"

This part makes me feel as if someone is trying to tell him this happened as the sun was setting, but he says no, it happened right before dawn (cow being carved having something to do with 'cow jumping over the moon', tired moon)

And its a big deal, for he remembers every second. Its etched to him.

Forget what you dont know yet, meaning either to the other person or to himself, dont jump to conclusions when you dont know the entire story. But then he sees someone talk on a cell phone and climbing out a window, and later on they never answer the cell phone (around him?) , maybe because he saw them and knows he knows something.

Help me, its driving me nuts (no pun intended xD)!

[Mebert78]

Hmm. I think it was sometime after the release of YGN that Kevin said in an interview he had been writing his lyrics by mumbling along to the music and then trying use and make sense of what he said. So the lyrics might not make total sense, but if you ask me there is some coherence in even a subscious mumble. I mean, the lyrics came from his mind so they must have some meaning or logic. I've always had trouble figuring out these lyrics too, so if anyone has idea please share lol.

Maybe the answer is as simple as it's a dream that kevin had. we all know that dreams don't make sense sometimes and weird shit happens. the closing distorted line is "get back in teh car, i'd like to get back home before i wake up." so maybe kevin was merely sharing a fucked up dream he had.

[vivace]

"so the man was tired and the car was starved
and the sun was setting
no the moon was tired and the cow was carved
i remember every second"

Ok i sort of interpret this song as being about living in the moment.
But it seems to also have this kind of Alien encounteresque allusions.

So for this particular passage I interpret it kind of like a conversation:

The one person says:
"Look the guy was tired, he was out of gas by the side of the road and it was getting late...it was nothing"

then the guy responds "no i remember it was a pitch dark night, no moon(a tired moon could mean no moon or sliver -- opposite of full moon) , I was feeling fine i just ate dinner(cow was carved), but then i saw these alien lights --i remember every second!"

Mebes--I tend to think the majority of Moore's lyrics and things that we notice are definitely not subconscious. I think its likely that when people ask him about songs and meanings that he doesnt feel like discussing or getting into in that moment he might just say something like that. Of course i could be completely wrong, but Moore strikes me as being very careful, and deliberate and indeed subtle.

Edit: i guess it might be that "moon was tired" alludes to dawn..but i guess it doesnt change my interpretation that much.

[lukeduke]

I don't know how to say about the meaning. I think, as Mebert said, Kevin is "mumbling along to the music and then trying use and make sense of what he said".

About that particular song, every time I think/read about it, my mind goes to the distorted piano part that fades at the end. It's one of the reason why I like Kevin so much!!

[lukeduke]

Sept 7, 2009 2:51:46 GMT -5 lukeduke said:

About that particular song, every time I think/read about it, my mind goes to the distorted piano part that fades at the end. It's one of the reason why I like Kevin so much!!

oops, the distorted part I mentioned is in Another Permanent Address, not in Get Back In The Car

[vivace]

Well its pretty clear to me that its telling like an alien encounter story...which is so brilliant and hilarious because the msg of the song is to live in the moment and not worry about things like checking email every 5 seconds or cell phone in otherwords worrying about information you dont know yet.

so the man was tired and the car was starved
and the sun was setting
no the moon was tired and the cow was carved
i remember every second

as I said "are you sure you saw something you were tired etc.."
"yes I remember ever second"

then i thought about the man with the shotgun
so the man took a shotgun out of the trunk
waited on the hood with the headlights on
radio was playing christmas songs
later on he thought he saw something
realized he never saw anything
now he drives with his headlights off

Convinced he saw something(like an alien) he goes out to where he was and waited on the hood with a shotgun with the headlights on. Eventually he sees something pretty strange but then to just function he convinces him self he didnt see anything. But he drives with his headlights off now because he doesnt want to see it again.


Well I would hardly call it mumbling...

[morten73]

This description is clipped from the old CK-site:

Song description
I have no idea what this means (alternate title?). After recording the basic tracks to each song, I grabbed a microphone and sang along to them, recording whatever came into my head, some words, some mumbling & humming. Then I played the track back and tried to fish words out of what i was saying, and wrote them down. Like an audio Rorschach test. Then I went back and recorded the resulting words. Looking at all the lyrics that came out of that process gets me a little worried, and this song is a good example.

Check it out at: web.archive.org/web/20010617113200/www.chromakey.com/lyrics.htm

[Mebert78]

Nice analysis, vivace. It's a possibility. I'm still not sure. And great find, morten. Yeah, that's the explanatiomn I was talking about regarding the mumbling. But even though he is mumbling, the words still came out of his head and must have some kind of meaning or coherence to them. Kevin clearly doesnt even understand what the song means! It's awesome that we are trying to figure it out.

I think the key to the song is what the man with the shotgun is waiting for. That's what the whole story builds up to. It could be anything. Vivace thinks it's an alien. I think something totall ydifferent. Since there are Xmas songs playing, maybe the man is waiting for Santa Claus? Is that silly? If not Santa, then maybe something holiday related? Otherwise, what's the purpose of mentioning that it's Xmas season?

[vivace]

Sept 7, 2009 17:59:48 GMT -5 Mebert78 said:

I think the key to the song is what the man with the shotgun is waiting for. That's what the whole story builds up to. It could be anything. Vivace thinks it's an alien. I think something totall ydifferent. Since there are Xmas songs playing, maybe the man is waiting for Santa Claus? Is that silly? If not Santa, then maybe something holiday related? Otherwise, what's the purpose of mentioning that it's Xmas season?

Yea it needn't necessarily be an alien. I thought the xmas songs playing really kind of set the scene-- The whole thing just makes me think of it all going down in some small farming town.
The local sitting there on his car hood smoking a cig, in a cold sweat with his shotgun, playing the xmas songs on the radio trying to keep from shitting himself... you know he must be REALLY freaked out--its xmas hes not supposed to be out there with a shotgun!

Not sure it could really be anything. The man sees something that freaks him out enough to drive with his headlights off after words. UFO fits into place for me--especially since the album kind of has a space/astronaut theme. Would a deer really have that kind of effect?

EDIT:
At any rate I actually think its not terribly important WHAT he was waiting for. Just that he was waiting for something that he didnt know yet.

Regardless of the song writing process the lyrics seem to have a very clear direction. I mean the process is interesting, but once its out there as a final product I find it hard to believe that the effects are entirely unintended. I tend to believe that its less subconscious than you might think from reading that blurb.

[jessbrew]

maybe he is just drunk or something. all other lyrics make me think the guy is uber paranoid. but i think its another person he is paranoid about, and wants to catch in the act of doing something. (talking to A cell phone, climbing out a window) He keeps "seeing" things, then not seeing things, and the waiting ofc, driving with headlights off.

[vivace]

Sept 8, 2009 11:06:50 GMT -5 jessbrew said:

maybe he is just drunk or something. all other lyrics make me think the guy is uber paranoid. but i think its another person he is paranoid about, and wants to catch in the act of doing something. (talking to A cell phone, climbing out a window) He keeps "seeing" things, then not seeing things, and the waiting ofc, driving with headlights off.

i dont think the other lyrics are about the same man.

[communicant]

I love to read all the diverse interpretations of his lyrics Often I have no clear idea of the message of the song, but that is what keeps me listening to them over and over. KM's music sets a picturesque scene in my head, and I usually put myself in place of the words, as if I'm telling the story (past, present, or future) to myself. I probably do this with all the music I listen to.

It's especially interesting when I mistake a lyric and it holds a completely new meaning! haha

[Mebert78]

I just read your latest post, vivace. You're right. I guess it's not important what he was waiting for. And yea, maybe the Xmas song referrence is just to set the mood and setting - it's wintertime, snowy, holiday time. Not a time to be clenching a shotgun waiting to shoot something.

The funny thing about the lyrics is that Kevin says "I remember every second." But that's not true at all. In the first lines he changes his story from saying "the man was tired" to "no, the moon was tired." He changes the story. Clearly, he doesn't "remember every second." Idk, that's funny to me.

Part of me thinks these lyrics have to do with relationships, like most of kevin's songs. Maybe the man is trying to spy on his wife to see if she's cheating. He sees the way she talks to her cell phone, and she never answers her cell phone when he calls. so he grabbed a gun and was gonna shoot her or her lover.

[vivace]

Aliens.

[hollow]

i always thought the cow being carved was possibly a reference to the biblical golden calf.

[vivace]

Interesting. what is the biblclical golfen calf? i guess i can google it...