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Interpretations:Road Movie To Berlin

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I have always thought the phrase "Road Movie to Berlin" was a reference to the old Bob Hope silly comedy "Road Movie" series of films ("The Road to Bali", "The Road to Hong Kong", etc.). I figured it was an ironic reference of some sort - i.e. being in a road movie to somewhere would be comparing life to one of those madcap comedies. Berlin, in the era of the song, would have had some pretty serious connotations, what with the Cold War and the Berlin Wall and all, so a "Road Movie to Berlin" makes an interesting juxtaposition of a nutty comedy with a serious destination.


My two cents: the key word is "Berlin", which was one of the focal points of the Cold War. The song, to me, speaks of the people, in uniform and/or playing the "Great Game", on either side of that conflict, and how being in that most conflicted of cities has jaded them. "We're in a road movie to Berlin" evokes the "Road to...." movies of Bob Hope and friends, and wryly reduces the cold war around them to little more than a movie plot. The lyric "you can't drive out the way you drove in" refers to the way that being in Berlin during the Cold War, and all the factors inherent, affected everyone present - sometimes you can't go home again, because although the place may not have changed, you have, and you don't fit it anymore.

"We were once so close to heaven/Peter came out and gave us medals/Declaring us the nicest of the damned" may refer to the blurring of loyalties and ethics. "Peter" could represent either Uncle Sam and/or the Communist party, doling out pats on the head to those loyal servants who served them well, or to the confused or ambitious on either side who, by accident or design, were untrue to their homeland.

"Time won't find the lost/It'll sweep up our skeleton bones" would, in this interpretation, refer to the ultimate futility of their actions, that whatever the grunt-workers may do or say, governments will do as they please, and are just as likely to hang its most loyal servants out to dry. Finally, "So take the wheel and I will take the pedal" and "So sneak out this glass of bourbon and we'll go" refer to that most human of necessities, whatever the circumstances: to do what's necessary to get yourself (and, if possible, your buddies) through another day more-or-less intact.

At the very least, this is what I think. Your mileage may vary....


It's about nuclear holocaust/the cold war. Being the last song on "Flood", it was written before 1990, so the cold war was still around, although the Berlin wall had fallen (I think, I'm a little foggy about the history of the world when i was 3). Berlin is the primary icon of the cold war: Communist and Capitalist sharing of the german capital after WWII caused a lot of bad feelings. The line "Time won't find (possibly bind, I'm doing this from memory) the loss, it'll sweep up our skeleton bones" means 'Nobody will mourn for us, we'll just be bleached skeletons with the flesh stripped off by nuclear fire'. The movie aspect is the feeling of helplessness for people: They can't affect the world, and they can only wait and see if they make it through. Both of the Johns must have been born around the 50s, so they grew up in the era of 'Oh my god, we're all going to be nuked, duck and cover, et. al' environment. my 2 cents.


About World War II soldiers.


My fav TMBG song shame it's in the 300's. how is <3:00 too long?

When I first heard this song, I thought immediately that it was about the movie Kings of the Road.--LeahDanger 22:58, 18 Oct 2005 (EDT)


This is currently my favorite Leonard Cohen tune.--M. Fudd 18:50, 10 Dec 2005 (EST)

"We were once so close to Heaven, [St.] Peter came out and gave us medals declaring us the nicest of the damned." What that tells me is that They are trying to tell us something religious. They want us to know that being nice can't/won't get you into Heaven. It's faith in God that will. Nice guys that don't have religion still go to Hell. DISCLAIMER: This is just an interpretation; I'm not preaching. — User:ACupOfCoffee@ 18:53, 9 Jan 2006 (EST) - True, but they're also saying that they themselves don't have religion

I take that line to be more of a comment on communism. I don't think the use of St. Peter should be taken literally. I always thought they were saying that they (communists) came really close to achieving their goal, but their system was doomed (damned) to fail from the very start. It's like strapping one end of a bungee chord to a rock in hell and the other end around someone's waist. The person can try to walk to heaven if he wants, but as he gets closer to his goal, the chord gets more and more taught, making his goal harder and harder to achieve, until he goes so far that the chord yanks him back to where he started. -Cronny


Hey i have an interpretation sort of in line with theory about the song being related to the movie "King of the road." this movie is the last (if i remember correctly it might be the 2nd) in a trilogy of movies by Wim Wenders (all german films) that are considered part of his "road movie" trilogy, (referring to the genre not a self made denomination). The movie i feel like has the closest connection to the song is one called "Alice in the Cities" which is about a young german reporter who is convinced by a strange american girl he meets on one of his stops who convinces him to take a young girl with him, the rest of the movie is spent between the reporter and the girl building a strange freindship as they travel from city to city looking for the girl's grandmother. I dont remember exactly, but I beleive there is a scene in this movie where he allows her to sit in his lap and drive while he operates the pedals, though i may be thinking of a different movie. So anyways thats just my bit though im sure theres probably way more too it than that -Jon K, non-user

I dimly remember from the film All Quiet on the Western Front (but not the book, for some reason) a scene in which the German soldiers get a break from fighting to go to Berlin (or maybe somewhere else) so that the Kaiser (or maybe someone else) can present them with medals—after which point the boys go back to the war so they can get killed. --Afterward 01:03, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

I think the song starts like a road trip song but you slowly realize the narrator has died (possibly on a Road to Berlin) and been damned to Hell. The 'St. Peter' character is the focus of the later line "You said you were the King of Liars." This 'King' is none other than The Devil. He specializes in deceit as told by many a bible and impersonates deities on multiple occasions. The line "But I realize now, that I had been deceived" is the realization that the narrator is not in Heaven. But maybe it's just me.



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