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Interpretations:Mink Car (Song)

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I'm not into very deep interps, for me this song is about a man dreaming he's rich (he has a diamong wig, etc.), but ends up realising that being so rich isn't that good (he gets hit by a mink car and dies, he could be alive if that car didn't exist). Once he gets hit (he gets knocked down onto the platinum ground), the silver chauffeur says "it's all in your head" (it's just a dream), and once he's totally dead (24-karat dead) he wakes up on his normal life without all that money, which -for him- is way better than the rich world he dreamt (woke up in a beautiful dream, alone).

It's some kind of a paradox, what he says he's doing is actually a dream, and what he "dreams" is when he's awake. I still don't get when does the "She is reaching past my hollow core..." part, though. --Kuriru 20:15, 27 August 2007 (UTC)

To me this song is about like getting caught up in being rich and all those desired "wants" It's just talking about getting hit by a mink car figurtivley the mink car being like hit by the wave of riches and it let him get to whoever, and its all in their head and its not all about riches and things like that.

For what it's worth, "Twenty-Four Carat Dead" is the name of an episode in the old Mike Hammer TV series.

Bryce's interpretation: you can't take it with you, but you wouldn't want to anyway.

My initial impression upon hearing this song was that it's simply a creative exercise, combining symbols in a subconscious way, in the grand tradition of surrealism. The more I listened, the more I thought about the lyrics, until I eventually began to see them like this. Let me emphasize that this is not an attempt to infer the Johns' intended meaning, it is an imposition of meaning onto the song by my own brain.

To me, this song is a statement of mortality's ubiquity; even the rich die. It's about the dangers of avarice, and the ultimate insignificance of material wealth.

It's knocking off my diamond wig
Knocking me down onto the platinum ground

"It," the car as it impacts with the narrator, is obviously disruptive, but the opulence of the setting makes it all the more disruptive. The diamond wig must be very important to the narrator, since it's the first thing he thinks of as he's being mowed down. His attachment to the wig makes it harder for him to accept what's happening.

Diamonds and platinum are obviously symbols of extravagance, but used in this way they symbolize a level of extravagance that actually decreases utility. Wigs are false hair; their purpose is to hide your existing hair (or baldness) by providing a convincing replacement. Diamonds, being non-fibrous and transparent, are particularly ill-suited for this purpose. Also, platinum is the hardest of the precious metals mentioned in this song. A ground of solid platinum would be uncomfortable to stand on for very long, like a lobby's marble floor that gives the doorman back problems.

Woke up in a beautiful dream
Alone

The contradiction of "woke up in a beautiful dream" makes it my favorite line in the song. I interpret the awakening as an epiphany. In death, the narrator realizes that his wealth is of no consequence. His description of the dream as "beautiful" suggests to me that he finds relief in this realization.

It also suggests that he finds it beautiful to be alone. Perhaps his wealth always kept him surrounded by false friends, or filled his life with demands and expectations from other people. Now that he is dead, he is finally alone. He begins to realize what has just happened to him.

I got hit by a mink car

Like the wig, the mink car ignores all practical considerations in favor of extravagance. Even beyond its impracticality, though, the car is dangerously seductive. Mink invites touch, it's soft and comfortable, but the touch of the car proves fatal.

Hit by a mink car driven by a guitar
And the silver chauffeur says

I'm a little confused by the presence of the chauffeur. What's he driving, if the mink car is driven by a guitar? Maybe the guitar is only "driving" the car in the sense of providing an impetus. If you accept that interpretation, it would suggest that the narrator is a rock star, and that all these luxurious trappings of his life come from that.

that it's all in your head
When you're 24-karat dead
Dead

This goes back to the fact that the narrator is alone in death. There are no more possessions, no other people, only the narrator's thoughts remain. None of it matters any longer. The relaxed vocals and loungey instrumentation throughout the song suggest that even the narrator's death doesn't matter to him, so at peace is he with his new freedom.

In my dream she is reaching past my hollow core
And her smile's an "Open" sign on an abandoned store

"She" is Death itself, the grim reaper. The narrator's hollow core refers to his superficiality in life. Death reaches past it, helping him to transcend his shallow materialism. The store metaphor is interesting on a couple of levels:

  1. The fact that the narrator compares it to a store (of all things) supports the whole materialism thing.
  2. If the smile is an "Open" sign, then the store could be the whole face. The fact that it's abandoned would suggest that it's fleshless bone, which is a common representation of the grim reaper's visage.
  3. The imagery of someone's smile being an open sign on an abandoned store makes it seem that "she" is hollow herself. Like her smile has no substance to it. It welcomes you to come in but there is nothing there you want or need.

Maybe the chauffer is the guitar?

HearingAid:

I see some connections here to Number Three

1. The chauffeur is silver. The guitar is the chauffeur. Thus the guitar is silver. 

"I bought myself some denim pants and a silver guitar"

2. The attitude of the rich man. 

"A rich man once told me, 'A-well, life's a funny thing'"

3. The whole sense of shallowness.

Maybe this song is about a yuppie getting a TMBG CD for Boss Of Me and then hearing Number Three and realizing he actually likes bluegrass. (Okay, a major stretch :) )

These interpretations rock my platinum socks. I would here like to include a note about the album title, which is also Mink Car. I believe the Giants chose to call the album this because the vast majority of these recordings already existed in other forms elsewhere -- be it on Dial-A-Song, or EPs, or Severe Tire Damage, or what have you. Most of these songs were already available in some incarnation, thereby rendering the purchase of this CD, however attractively packaged, really pretty unnecessary. A mink car would be a flashy and totally needless purchase, so I think TMBG were going for a little ironic commentary on their own product there. Good job, guys! --

The Cure have a song called "Mint Car." They are kind of like The Smiths, which evidently both Johns like, so it could be a reference...??

I look at this song in a slightly different light. The speaker isn't dying or being killed; he is having an epiphany. The "mink car driven by a guitar" is an opulent lifestyle brought about by fame and fortune from being a musician. He's got a "diamond wig," a "mink car," a "silver chauffer," and he's suddenly in a "beautiful dream," but he is "alone." He realizes the relative insignificance of material wealth and possessions compared to the simple necessity of human companionship. -- FireLily

I find it interesting that the "weird" stuff in this song sound like the "normal" version of stuff. It's hard to explain, take a look at this:

Diamond Wig = Diamond Ring
Platinum Ground = Paved Ground
Mink Car = Mink Coat
Guitar = Chauffer
24-karat dead = 24-karat gold

I read an article where Flans said that his wife suggested "Our Wives Want Mink Cars" for the album title, and it was later shortened to simply "Mink Car." I don't think he said where Robin came up with the term "mink car," though. Maybe SHE'S the Cure fan.

The majority of songs on the album relate in some way to a relationship, so I think that, as the title track, this song ties into that theme as well. The majority of adjectives in this sound relate to things being costly, perhaps reflecting the materialism in the relationship, while the "mink car" is the relationship which is destroying him when he gets hit by it. She is now with another person, since "In my dreams / She is reaching past my hollow core", reaching past his heart to someone else, and she is no longer available, though he still wants to be with her: "And her smile's / An open sign on an abandoned store". --Chuckie


Just a note: 24-karat gold is 100% pure gold, so 24-karat dead would be 100% pure dead, or completely, truly dead. ~Sammo260

Just another note: "silver chauffeur" sounds like a pun on "silver surfer" -- in addition to whatever other role(s) it serves LeFou 16:29, 5 May 2006 (CDT)

They say the 'mink car' is driven by a guitar. But Mink Car is the name of the album, and music is described as 'guitar-driven' if the guitar is a prominent instrument in the production. So perhaps the Johns simply took the term 'guitar-driven' to a literal level.

Being hit by a Mink Car to me means that you get hit with inspiration, an idea, a daydream, ya know, stuff like that. --Dunklekuh81


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