The Driver

Got any interesting thoughts on a set of lyrics? Any that don't involve the word "indeed"? Find yourself struggling to decipher all those obtuse references Von makes? Read "1959 And All That" and still no clearer? Nope, us neither. Postcards found lying in a skip around the back of the Chemists can be found here... Don't say you weren't warned.
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Dan
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I just posted to Dominion, but may as well have a more permanent record of it here.

http://rapidshare.de/files-en/500339/Th ... r.mp3.html
(click the link, scroll to the bottom, click Free, wait around 30 seconds for the download link to appear)

I had a go at transcribing the lyrics.

The Driver
--------------
lay me down the long white line
leave the sirens far behind me
call me weird but call me friday
call me when the sun goes down
we will find a public highway
we will wind the window down
call me at the magic hour
when the morals run to ground
epic squeals the speed and power
while the wheels go wheeling round and round

life is short and life is cruel
but we have beer and we have fuel
we are never coming down
drench the creature on his last
lines across the middle rando(?) [Lines across the middle and I'll]
mouse(?) the ????sters ever faster [Pass through places ever-faster]
gusting through the shame and shadow
while the place is flashing past
the sound fills the big black cars
these hours we've drunk the booze and buzz
we'll touch

but use your mad acceleration
we are never coming down
we will live forever
while the wheels go wheeling round and round
call me weird but call me friday
call me when the sun goes down
we will fly along the highway
we will wind the window down
call me at the magic hour
when the morals run to ground
reason yields to speed and power
while the wheels go wheeling round and round

**updated**
Someone on Dominion sent me some lyrics from a site he forgot. I don't agree with all the lines, and for 2 lines I can't decipher I included them in square brackets after my unsuccesscul decyphering, as I disagree with them cos they sound wrong if you listen to the song.
Last edited by Dan on 03 Feb 2005, 01:24, edited 2 times in total.
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Hojyuu-obi
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Always thought it was "we have beer and we have fuel" :lol:
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Quiff Boy
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Hojyuu-obi wrote:Always thought it was "we have beer and we have fuel" :lol:
me too :oops:
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Dan
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Hojyuu-obi wrote:Always thought it was "we have beer and we have fuel" :lol:
Ah it could be I spose. It sounds like either, but slightly in favour of a b with headphones.
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Dark
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Well, it's a brilliant song. Here's my transcription so far.

Driver
----

Lay me down the long white line
Leave the sirens far behind me

Call me weird and call me Friday
Call me when the sun goes down
We will find a public highway
We will wind the windows down
Call me at the magic hour
When the morals run to ground
Effects yeild to speed and power
While the wheels go wheeling round and round

Life is short and life is cruel
But we have fear and we have fuel

We are never coming down
Drench the future on the glass
Lines across the middle
And the mountain places, ever faster
Rushing through the shame and shadow
While the pleasure flashes past
The sound that fills the big black cars
Is ours, the drum machines and fast guitars

But use your mad acceleration
We are never coming down
We will live forever
While the wheels go wheeling round and round

Call me weird and call me Friday
Call me when the sun goes down
We will fly along the highway
We will wind the windows down
Call me at the magic hour
When the morals run to ground
Reason yeilds to speed and power
While the wheels go wheeling round and round
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CellThree
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I think that it is Fear rather than Beer. Also, it sounds more like Withered than Wierd, but that doesn't make sense either!
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Dark
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It's the lines Lines across the middle, And the mountain places, ever faster that's irritating me. I know the first line is correct, but I can't make out the second one. It sounds like "mountain", or "marching"..

I don't think it's "weird" either, I admit I took that from Dan, because I don't have a clue either. I always sang it as "Call me weak and call me Friday" (though that could have been "Call me weekend, call me Friday") but on relistening, it doesn't sound like it has a k in it.
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Brad
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"when the morals run to ground
ethics yield to speed and power"
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Nicole
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Link appears to be dead - can someone re-upload? Pretty please?

I've never heard this - definitely interested after reading the lyrics - early version of Heartland? Or are the first couple lines the only thing they share?
...with the wind in our face and our arms open wide...
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Quiff Boy
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Nicole wrote:Link appears to be dead - can someone re-upload? Pretty please?
http://sharebee.com/a5476903

;)
Nicole wrote:I've never heard this - definitely interested after reading the lyrics - early version of Heartland? Or are the first couple lines the only thing they share?
both :lol:

different people say different things... some people can hear HL in there, some cant.

tbh its been so long since i listened to it i cant remember :o :D
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stufarq
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Definitely "ethics yield to speed and power"

and "But we have fear and we have fuel"

"We are never coming down
?? the future on this glass" (I'm not sure that it's "drench" but I can't come up with anything better. Possibly "dredge" but that doesn't make any more sense.)

It does sound like "Lines across the middle
And the mountain places", although I'm less sure about "middle" than "mountain".

I'd go for "Call me weird but call me Friday"

Other than that, I pretty much agree with Dark's version.
Any more of that and we'll be round your front door with the quick-setting whitewash and the shaved monkey.
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Lord Emsworth
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"Ethics squeal to speed and power"
"Reason yields to speed and power"
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Brad
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I always heard "trace the future on this glass."
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stufarq
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Methedrome wrote:I always heard "trace the future on this glass."
I think we have a winner.

And it's "Ignition and acceleration"
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Brad
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As a laugh, I did a dodgy cover version of Driver about 8 years ago. I will have to dig it out of the vaults and post it here.
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stufarq
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Not that it helps us much but I think that it's

"Lines that cross the [something]
And the [something] places, ever faster"

And I don't think it's "pleasure" that flashes past but I can't work out what it is.

It also occurred to me last night that the song has some musical similarities to Anaconda as well as the links to Heartland that Nicole already mentioned. Anyone know which came first? I thought I'd seen a discussion about the origins of this song (whether it was genuine SOM, whether it was by Gary Marx etc) somewhere recently but can't seem to find it now.
Any more of that and we'll be round your front door with the quick-setting whitewash and the shaved monkey.
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kafka
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Hi,

I find it hard to ignore the "wheels go wheeling round and round" and its doppelganger in Corrosion. Given that the lyrics to Driver are, well, pretty awful, is it reasonable to infer that they're probably Hussey lyrics? I have a hard time imagining that Von would write something like "And the mountain places, ever faster / Rushing through the shame and shadow," or as awful as "The sound that fills the big black cars / is ours, the drum machines and fast guitars"...

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stufarq
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I don't think that they sound like Hussey lyrics, even his early ones. And I'm not sure that he's that into cars.

My guess would be that they're Gary Marx lyrics.
Any more of that and we'll be round your front door with the quick-setting whitewash and the shaved monkey.
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Dark
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Well, since it was written before Hussey joined the band, I'd find it difficult to believe they're his lyrics.
And "awful lyrics" does not exclusively mean "Hussey's lyrics". Just look at Burn.
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kafka
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Good point...
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mh
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I'd say the lyrics are Marx. The credit for Heartland is Eldritch/Marx, so what we have here may be an intermediate stage between the first Marx demo and the final version, assuming that the "Driver evolved into Heartland" theory is correct.

Must dig out my copy of it and join in the transcription fun. :D
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stufarq
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Dark wrote:Well, since it was written before Hussey joined the band, I'd find it difficult to believe they're his lyrics.
:lol:
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eastmidswhizzkid
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i think heartland is undoubtedly an eldritch lyric, which would lead me to think that the driver must be as well. i cant see von doing a lyrical collaboration (though he may just have been particularly taken with those two lines). as driver sees a later incarnation as the instrumental candle (post marx) i think it fair to assume that eldritch wrote the music.
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stufarq
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Fair point.

To be honest, some lines sound like Eldritch and some just don't. Maybe this is an insight into his songwriting process. Perhaps he starts with very rough ideas, just scribbling down whatever comes to mind, and then rewrites until he gets something that we would recognise as a Sisters song.
Any more of that and we'll be round your front door with the quick-setting whitewash and the shaved monkey.
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FMAMMY
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I hear these lines:

"When the MARVELS runs around"
"The sound, THE FILTH, the big black cars Is ours, the drum machines and FIRST guitars"

Does anyone else hear the same thing? :)

and what about the
"Lines across the middle and the mountain places, ever faster". It's not "mountain" but what can it be instead? mouse or mouth?
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