Lyrics like a Pair of Nikes.

The comfortable, wear-around-the-house (even though your mom says not to) kind of Nikes. Palisades Park, by Counting Crows-look them up or something, but you should know what Counting Crows is-anyway, this song they wrote is my absolute favorite, and has been for a long time now.

It’s honestly hard to groove to, or get into as the entire song is an experience, and takes ten minutes to listen to. I know what you’re thinking, ten minutes? 

Yes, ten minutes. The song, in my opinion, could’ve been two hours long, and if it carried the story out as well as it did in those ten, then it would still be my favorite.

I’m going to post the lyrics below, but you could never understand the magnitude of them without the music put with them:

Somebody screamed and all of Jim Jeffries dreams
Explode against a black fist
He falls to the floor
He stares up at the sky and he may wish he knew why
But he can’t go back there no more
Future sounds so crazy
We’ve all heard that song before
Tomorrow’s the name we change from yesterday to blame
When the train just don’t stop here anymore
I got starry-eyed on the coaster ride
Andy says “Man, I need a break from the world outside
These days my life just careens through a pinball machine
I could do so much better but I can’t get off the TILT”
There’s a photograph on the TV
Black and white and
Andy says something to you
Jack Johnson straddling Reno, Nevada like
She says “I forget myself sometimes too”
Out past the doorways where we are sleeping
The White Queens creep and the tomcats peep
And now I’m not breaking
The train’s just shaking
And I’ve never made it here before
There’s a Wild Mouse spinning the girls around
Til they can’t take it anymore
I used to dream in the dark of Palisades Park
Up over the cliffs and down among the sparks
It’s a long life full of long nights
But it’s not what I was waiting for
Everybody’s seen the horses diving down the shore
It’s a miracle they don’t make them anymore

 

So…”Make up ladies”…Wake up baby
You walked into the bar like some Saturday star
Stud-straight on spiked heels and needles and nerves
You’re a downtown pride fully-amplified Clyde
Gin-tight and aging but well-preserved

Remember Andy standing outside your bedroom window
Saying “Come on, let’s drive across to the Palisades
Keep going til we hit Reno, Nevada”
Don’t see Andy all that much these days
Still there are pages in back of the Action stacks
Where the White Queens creep and the tomcats peep
And the train’s not braking
The track’s just shaking
And I never made it here before
There’s a Sky Rocket turning the world around
Til I can’t take it anymore
You can carry that spark from Palisades Park
Down over the cliffs and out into the dark
It’s a long life full of long nights
And it’s not what I was looking for
Everybody dreams of horses flying ‘round the shore
It’s a bad dream we’re not having anymore
Man, have you seen Andy?
Hey man, have you seen her around?
Hey man, have you seen my my my Andy?
Hey man, have you seen her?
Have you seen him?
Have you seen her?
You seen Andy around?
Dressed up in our pirate best
All leathers and feathers and pearls
Andy said “Look at me man!
I am cookin’
These hands could finger up this whole world!”
He says “Come outside
Climb out your bedroom window
Shimmy down the fire escape
And say goodbye”
Come outside
Andy says “I’m dressed up just like Edie
Changing all the time
These leopard spots to polka dots
And say goodbye”
Come outside
Maybe we could move to California
Just meet me at the subway
And say goodbye
Come outside
The cops all think we’re crazy
But if you stay, you’ll just get married
To a girl who’ll never know you
And then say goodbye
Hey Man, have you seen Andy?
I lost her in the sun
I was high as a kite on Lovely & White
Man, you could lose anyone
Hey man, have you seen Andy
I don’t know where he’s gone
Real love outlives teenage lust
We could get wet and it keeps us warm
Love is like Angel Dust
Lovely sometimes changes us…sometimes not
Have you been aching to trust or just…?
Have you been waking yourself with lust…?
Have you been making us up or just taking us home?
It’s a long wait at a long light
Cars frozen in flight
All the traffic stops to stare
At a crosswalk in Reno, Nevada
Wearing nothing but air
And a pair of grey paper wings
Andy thinks “I got nothing to wear”
We got nothing new and…
We got nothing to wear…(2x)

In my perspective of the story, and after watching the video, I take away from this song the story of two young boys, living life in the 70/80’s, and just, completely blowing it, and coming to terms with their youth and their life not yet lived.

In the song, the story of Andy’s sexuality is explored, and in a way that moves with the music. Drugs, alcohol, and sex are also underlined themes in this song, and it really gives off a strange vibe for me every time I hear it.

The opening lines are a reference to boxer Jim Jeffries’ famous fight that happened in the seventies, and how he was knocked unconcious. I liked that this was the opening line, and that his blackout was further compared to life itself; a really clear picture  was painted through this.

My favorite lines are:

Man, you could lose anyone
Hey man, have you seen Andy
I don’t know where he’s gone
Real love outlives teenage lust
We could get wet and it keeps us warm
Love is like Angel Dust
Lovely sometimes changes us…sometimes not
Have you been aching to trust or just…?
Have you been waking yourself with lust…?
Have you been making us up or just taking us home?

I feel as though these lines really embodied what Adam Duritz (the guy in the band writing this incredible stuff) wanted to evoke from the song.

These lyrics were an exploration in discovering yourself, and falling in love with life and the things in it.

Palisades Park is an abandoned amusement park that used to operate in Reno, Nevada. This setting for the pieces encapsulates the idea of loss over time passing, not only of special places but of people, to many things that enter our life as we grow and change.

Anyway, love this song, and this band, and this idea. Really makes me want to be a lyricist and try to top this.

(Also, I do not care that this is 90’s dad-rock, it is still The Best Band and Music known to Man. Don’t knock it ’til you try it.)

Author: Katherine Westbrook

Kate. Too cool for school.