Chains Around Your Heart
Break Free: Unraveling the Chains of Small-Town Dreams
Lyrics
It's a late, cool, autumn evening,
Describes the setting of a late, cool autumn evening.
And the sunset melts into night.
Portrays the transition from sunset to night.
With a v-twin throbbing beneath me,
Refers to a motorcycle engine pulsating beneath the speaker.
And my head's spinning alright.
Expresses a sensation of dizziness or excitement in the speaker's head.
Ritchie and me - we started as kids
Introduces Ritchie and the speaker's shared history from childhood in a rock 'n' roll band.
In a rock 'n' roll band on the street where we lived.
Describes their beginnings in a rock band on their street.
It's a long, hard, ride till the morning.
Highlights the challenging journey ahead until morning.
As the trees and wind start to sing,
Depicts the trees and wind creating a musical ambiance.
Chains around your heart that bind
Introduces the theme of emotional chains around one's heart.
Break away and leave them behind.
Encourages breaking free from emotional constraints.
Well, once there was a time in this rock 'n' roll dream,
Recalls a time when the town was vibrant with rock 'n' roll dreams.
This, here, town would be rip apart at the seams.
Suggests the current state of the town falling apart.
Now I'm out of money, and Billy's out of work;
Highlights financial struggles - speaker out of money, Billy out of work.
Eddie's pushin' pencils for the county clerk.
Mentions Eddie working in a less glamorous job for the county clerk.
Everybody's job is getting pushed out of town;
Describes a trend of jobs leaving the town.
Life is just knockin' 'em down.
Reflects on the challenges life presents.
Boyhood dreams are run into the ground.
Expresses a sense of disappointment as boyhood dreams fade.
Long, dark, shadows hang over this town.
Portrays a gloomy atmosphere with long, dark shadows over the town.
Cast away the chains that bleed.
Encourages freeing oneself from emotional burdens.
Break away, and I leave you free.
Reiterates the call to break away and find freedom.
Take my hand, come, leave with me.
Invites someone to join the speaker on a journey.
As nighttime fades away
Describes riding through hills and desert sand as nighttime fades.
We'll ride the hills and desert sand;
Continues the imagery of a journey through barren land.
Cross the barren land.
Describes the impact of job losses on families leaving.
All the families have all gone.
Notes the disappearance of jobs before the families.
Their jobs went before them I'm sure.
References the transformation of the town, replacing businesses with parking lots.
They knocked down the corner barber shop,
Recalls a time when voting for a principled leader was possible.
And put up a super, triple level, parking lot.
Advocates for intimacy and connection in challenging times.
There once was a time you could vote for a man
Reiterates the theme of breaking free from emotional chains.
Who wouldn't try and stick a gun in your hands.
Encourages ending discussions and focusing on love through the night.
So cut out all your talkin',
Restates the idea of emotional chains around the heart.
And make love with me through the night.
Emphasizes the need to break away from emotional constraints.
Chains around your heart that bind.
Repeats the theme of breaking free from emotional chains.
Break away, and leave them behind.
Reiterates the call to leave emotional constraints behind.
Just leave them behind.
Affirms the message of leaving emotional chains in the past.
Just leave them behind.
Concludes with a final emphasis on breaking free from emotional burdens.
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