Better Off Dead Lyrics
And just enough time for the night to pass by without warning
Away in the distance there's a blue flashing light
Someone's in trouble somewhere tonight
As the flickering neon stands ready to fuse
The wind blows away all of yesterday's news
They always could find us but they never could catch us
Through the grease streaked windows of an all night cafe
We watched the arrested get taken away
And that cigarette haze has ecology beat
As the whores and the drunks filed in from the street
If you ask how I am then I'll just say inspired
If the thorn of a rose is the thorn in your side
Then you're better off dead if you haven't yet died
Of all the images on this steamy side of town the final two sentences nail it all down. There are a lot of thorns that can stick in your side, but the rose symbolizes love, and the thorn of the rose is unrequited love. When you are smitten, but unrequited then you are better off dead than love sick.
I think that is pretty clever. Another way to think about it is the rose can also symbolize inspiration, creativity, life, etc; so to think about it like this is to think if you're creativity or that which inspires you merely puts a thorn in your side or does not drive you, then the very hold that you have on life is that which irks your life and so you are caught in an embittered circle which prohibits you from truly living.
I think that is pretty clever. Another way to think about it is the rose can also symbolize inspiration, creativity, life, etc; so to think about it like this is to think if you're creativity or that which inspires you merely puts a thorn in your side or does not drive you, then the very hold that you have on life is that which irks your life and so you are caught in an embittered circle which prohibits you from truly living.
I can't believe nobody has commented on this song. It has such an amazing beat, and it is a truly a masterpiece, though quite short. Love this song!
i love this song, i think its one of my favorite elton johns songs. but just for the beat. to me it seems so dark though, like the beat sounds like marching, or guns or somthing,,, so when i heard this song i always pictured a scene with a lot of viloence like a war or a riot. is this song refrencing somthing in history cause i probably wouldn't know. its a good song either way
I agree. It has a severe underlying beat...it really reminds me of marching. The lyrics about the arrest and the lower side of life they are revealing seem to represent the development of an inner city "low life" that is a perpetual problem unaddressable by common law, or that common law has neglected to spurn to correction. Therefore the greater correction must come out of a state too big for itself, a fascist or overarching rule that seeks to overcorrect what a man's own self or parents or brother or neighbor or friend did not correct in him (hence the...
I agree. It has a severe underlying beat...it really reminds me of marching. The lyrics about the arrest and the lower side of life they are revealing seem to represent the development of an inner city "low life" that is a perpetual problem unaddressable by common law, or that common law has neglected to spurn to correction. Therefore the greater correction must come out of a state too big for itself, a fascist or overarching rule that seeks to overcorrect what a man's own self or parents or brother or neighbor or friend did not correct in him (hence the extreme "marching"). When common law fails which seems to be rooted in natural law or common sense (for lack of a better word), it introduces a lot of statute laws that micro-govern and overextend into all the affairs of men. Then you get to the extreme ends of this in military dominated states.
This song is a catchy one, and just a description of street scenes (maybe Bernie looking out of the window?). 'Cause the steams in the boiler the coals in the fire' suggests a writing energy, 'thorn of a rose' maybe refers to the pain of love songs, but they are coming out of is pen thick and fast!!
What do you spose a hoarding is, and why was there a face on it?
Also, "that cigarette haze has ecology beat"? Really? I don't think so.
A hoarding is a British English term for a billboard or large sign, also sometimes a large wooden fence around a building site. So I think the line means that there was a large billboard with an picture of someone on it which had been drawn over, maybe like adding a mustache and glasses. As the comment below says, just street scenes.
A hoarding is a British English term for a billboard or large sign, also sometimes a large wooden fence around a building site. So I think the line means that there was a large billboard with an picture of someone on it which had been drawn over, maybe like adding a mustache and glasses. As the comment below says, just street scenes.
Aw thanks! Never heard that term. I'll have to go back to London and spend a little more time!
Aw thanks! Never heard that term. I'll have to go back to London and spend a little more time!
What if the subtle truth is all the good or evil that you sow, in good measure is all the more good or evil that you reap in greater measure.