My interpretation of the song has expanded to believe that the headlights represents two people who care for each other very much (family members, platonic or romantic). Only one is now alive... one headlight. The one living will carry the memory of what they both had together alive, and drive it home with one headlight until his time comes, too. on int meaning
@@jenniferbacon6837 I'm so sorry to hear about your soulmate passing :( stuff like that just breaks my heart! My condolences go out to you, I hope you're doing well. I had a soulmate once, she passed away about 4 years ago in August (It may sound silly to some, but she was a rat) The bond we had was something I'll never experience again, I've missed her every day since
Life is all about making changes that can be really hard to make! I have been through some tough stuff in my life that has shaped who I am as a person and as a woman today. I maybe weak in mind and emotions but I am humble in heart and that gets me in trouble being an adult now.
@@Type3Rini was so scared i would get pulled over. but i got lucky there was no cops. and also i was in the countryside. it was like 2 AM too. pretty dangerous in the country. because you're the only person driving around at 2 AM and the cops are super bored. so you'll usually get pulled over for anything
This song hits home. To me hes talking about a girl he lost. The funeral in the first verse is a metaphor to the breakup. He always felt he didnt deserve her cause he couldnt give her what she wanted in life. (I wonder why she hung around this place) she is sick of the mediocre life (theres gotta be something better than in the middle) They tried hard to make it work and couldnt. They failed so much she was to the point of suicide (she hit the end, its just her window ledge) She left him and he sits alone where they used to live. They are strangers again. Her death once again is a metaphor because he is grieving a living person. The chorus is him saying they did so much together with so many memories...and even tho their relationship is over and broken, hes willing to take her back and finish life together with her, even though they are broken. They will still make it home...even with one headlight.
Jenn, thank you. This was my wife Erin and my song, we were married in March 98, couple of stupid kids with a baby on the way no plan for the future. But this song right here, and what that one headlight meant, pretty much defined the first couple years of our marriage. Sadly, we ended our marriage this year but I really love this song and the good memories that it brings back when I hear it. Because it was those years that we only had one headlight, we were the closest. When Love is the only thing that mattered. God bless E. C.
I too am curious about would what was in the mind of the writer creating these lyrics. That said, in every art form the audience brings its own interpretation to the work. Art is supposed to be subjective. This is what makes it a personal experience. When you have a song that is obvious and superficial, it detracts from the experience. I really appreciate the ambiguity here. It's an example of what songwriters should be aiming for. Indeed, every aspect of this song is absolutely brilliant. The guitars, bass, drums, vocals, and that little organ in there, are simply perfect. So simple yet so great. There is nothing to add and nothing to take out. 25 years on, this song is as good as the day of release-exquisitely crafted, immortal, perfect. That's all I have.
Whatever the writer might have had in mind is not the point. Observe that no mention is made of specific names and times and places. About all we know is that someone died. In this way anyone who knows someone who died can listen to the music in the context of their own lives. This is the correct and appropriate application of art. A painting that precisely duplicates what the eye would see is not art any more than a photocopy is art. Art is the most subjective thing there is.
This song came along when my mom died, barely an adult. None of my friends had dead parents, so marcinda would drive me in the back country roads so fk up…all I ever wanted was my mom back. Almost 30yrs later, all I have are memories. RIP. Glad I had a friend, who broke the laws to keep driving and picking me up the cemetery where my mama was
This song always grounds me, when I feel like absolutely sobbing. It brings a sense of peace and allows me to cry, when I think about my beloved father who is dead.
Sameeee omg. My dad was killed by a drunk driver and ejected from the sunroof of his car. He was 47. I spoke to him about 5 minutes before his accident. It was Halloween night. 3 minutes away from home. Miss you dad♥️😔 Life will never be the same without you. We will meet soon😭♥️
The song is a metaphor for the death of America on a psychological level for whatever reason that was going on at the time that it was written for the songwriter. But nevertheless this song can be interpreted on a more personal level speaking to someone who new somebody, a friend, and the story of their death by suicide. Most people not knowing about the symbolic thing going on here in this song interprets it more personally like I do and are deeply moved by the evocative narration and imagery in the lyrics concerning the death of a friend as it clearly states in the beginning. A lot of people have experienced some kind of loss of a friend in their lives and this is where the real heart of this song lies for me. One is free to interpret it as one may.
"metaphor for the death of America on a psychological level .." what are you babbling about? that was the golden age of America. After the fall of the Berlin Wall and before 9/11 was the longest period of peace and prosperity, freedom and optimism the country has ever seen...the *only* time in living memory that we didn't have at least one sword of Damocles hanging over our head. The closest parallel might be the roaring 20s .. but w/less isolationism and quasi-fascist paranoia. The guy was talking about a very personal tragedy. thats it.
@@jv-lk7bc yes I altogether agree with your last sentence as I clearly indicated in my original post here, but for some reason it has been said that the song is a metaphor of some kind hence the official music video with a sort of American flag and a black hearse.
@@jv-lk7bc you're incorrect. Jacob Dylan himself said "The song's meaning is all in the first verse. It's about the death of ideas. The first verse says, 'The death of the long broken arm of human law.' At times, it seems like there should be a code among human beings that is about respect and appreciation."
The world this hails from is long dead, if indeed it ever truly existed. The sad thing is just how melancholic and surreal this thinks it is in retrospect, huh? It really would make a person think. If thinking truly mattered all that much, anyway.
I was like 9 when this came out or I discovered this song I have always loved this. And even at 9 the one line that always stuck to me "I sit alone and I feel just like somebody else Man, I ain't changed, but I know I ain't the same" 26 years later I'm listening to this song word for word this is my song for my brother I miss you baby boy ❤
This is a song of a jockey and a race horse that runs a furlong further than it is physically made for. The filly that lost her stride at Saratoga in a 7 furlong race who lost for the first time and lost her life in August 2023
What type of runner and what was payday commission. You job bring cash register money. Stumbling drunk cash register. Keep trying to say something. To who email.
You're wrong, go watch the official music video. There is a kind of dark version of the American flag, along with a hearse in it. The song is a metaphor for the death of America. Number two the sun can't say ("saying") anything but a sign can. It's a quote from the sign "saying". Now of course you can interpret it any way you want, but at least give the official music video a chance. I do agree though that the song can be taken on a more personal level about someone a friend who has died possibly by suicide. But it is not sun but sign in the lyrics.
@@grosbeak6130I've always struggled with the interpretation of this song. I see the drug references and a death due to overdose. But, there's the reference to the window ledge that leads one to believe the death was by suicide...
Wow this is actually the correct lyrics when so many others if not all other lyric videos of this song get a number of things incorrect. Back a couple of years ago I mentioned 3 common mistakes in the comment section on one of these lyric videos to this song. Thank you. p.s Was I the guy who inspired you to post these correct lyrics to this song?
@@KoryHunter2388 Thanks for the reply. "Seedy" fits the context of the place being described and no part of the song suggests an urban setting, not that it has to I suppose. Do you have access to an authoritative source, such as the lyrics as submitted for copyright?
