Interpretations:The End Of The Tour

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>There's a girl with a crown and a scepter >Who's on WLSD

The girl is a newscaster on some television channel: WLSD. The crown is a headset and the scepter is a microphone.

>And she says that the scene isn't what it's been >And she's thinking of going home >That it's old and it's totally over now >And it's old and it's over, it's over now >And it's over, it's over, it's over now

The newscaster is saying that the situation, whatever it may be is wrapping up.

>I can see myself

>At the end of the tour >When the road disappears >If there's any more people around >When the tour runs aground >And if you're still around >Then we'll meet at the end of the tour >The engagements are booked through the end of the world >So we'll meet at the end of the tour

The chorus discusses the singers thoughts of death and meeting somebody in the afterlife.

>Never to part since the day we met >Out on Interstate 91 >I was bent metal, you were a flaming wreck >When we kissed at the overpass

A car crash occurred in New England (Interstate 91) in which the singer's car was not damaged, but the others involved with the accident were killed or maimed.

>I was sailing along with the people >Driving themselves to distraction inside me >Then came a knock on the door which was odd >And the picture abruptly changed

The singer was involved with the conversation in the car and then the knock of the two cars hitting brought him back to reality, and the picture changed.

>At the end of the tour >When the road disappears >If there's any more people around >When the tour runs aground >And if you're still around >Then we'll meet at the end of the tour >The engagements are booked through the end of the world >So we'll meet at the end of the tour

Chorus again.

>This was the vehicle these were the people >You opened the door and expelled all the people >This was the vehicle these were the people >You opened the door and expelled all the people >This was the vehicle these were the people >You let them go

Parody of Church/Steeple Rhyme

>At the end of the tour >When the road disappears >If there's any more people around >When the tour runs aground >And if you're still around >Then we'll meet at the end of the tour >The engagements are booked through the end of the world >So we'll meet at the end of the tour >And we're never gonna tour again >No, we're never gonna tour again

Chorus again.

"I've been thinking about it and now I thik that this song is either about the literal, being a carcrash, or the more romantic and in my mind better option is death.

all the lines that point to a car crash have about 1 metaphor in them such as "I was bent metal you were a flaming wreck when we kissed at the overpass." kissed could mean vehicles collinding. But I've always found that to be to literal. So I think it's about death.

The grateful dead theory could make sense but the dead broke up in 95 and john henry came out in 94."-MH


To me, this song is the Giants' homage to the Grateful Dead and their breakup (mainly the effect it had on their fans), around the same time that John Henry was released. Here's a breakdown:

"There's a girl with a crown and a scepter / Who's on WLSD / And she says that the scene isn't what it's been / And she's thinking of going home"

It's a fact that as the Dead continued to tour non-stop, more and more people came to their shows to sell or buy drugs, or just get fcked up as hell. This verse is about a radio DJ who happens to be a Deadhead (W-LSD...coincidence?!), who is announcing that their career is coming to a close, and "the scene isn't what it use to be".

"The engagements are booked through the end of the world"

The reason Jerry died when he did was not only because of his heroin addiction, but because, in order to keep the Grateful Dead "machine" running smoothly was to tour the country non-stop.

The verse about the car wreck and finding one another is a common thing within tight-knit communities such as the deaheads. This line is pretty powerful to me:

"I was sailing along with the people / Driving themselves to distraction..."

Taking psychedelics, driving themselves to distraction, not having jobs, living in a fantasy world that would soon come to an end...perfect was to sum up the "scene" with those 2 lines.

"And we're never going to tour again"

Funny, because the Dead (they dropped "Grateful" from their name....hmmmm...) are touring once again, with Mr. Warren "I can't be in too many bands, now can I" Haynes and Jimmy Herring filling in Jerry's position.

Anyway, that's all I have to say. If anybody else agrees with me, please post away.

______________________________________________________________________________


I've always thought this song was a car crash told from the point of view of the car. I'll expand on this more, but I think that if you listen to it while reading the lyrics with this theme in mind, you'll see it.

I'll give my impression of the song in light of one that I heard somewhere else. The first verse is about the fading of a fad, and the song is sung from the perspective of an artist (a band member or singer) who is slowly realising that his popularity is dying out. He's seeing himself at the end of the tour. The chorus is yelling out to the girl in verse two (I'll explain this, don't be confused just yet). The second verse is where the two interps diverve. The one I heard elsewhere was that there was a horrible car crash. The guy was distracted (the "people") and hit the girl's car. He and his car weren't hurt too badly (on the surface) but she was killed, and her car totalled (bent metal, flaming wreck). They "met" on the overpass, where the accident occured. The knock on the door is 1) the guy immediately snapping out of it (and "expelling the people") and 2) someone telling the girl's family that she's been killed. Either way the picture changes to something horrible. My interp is that the guy killed himself as he can't take the fact that he killed someone. The knock on the door could be the bullet hitting bone before he dies. Then the picture abruptly changes. He's dead. Nothing distracts him from being dead. And they've met at the end of the tour, figuratively speaking. Not too pleasant, but extremely moving (to tears, most likely), and then again sometimes the most horrible things in life matter the most. *Also noteworthy, I've heard of people that think that TMBG's popularity peaked with Flood, faded with Apollo 18, and their fad had basically died by John Henry. I don't know if that has anything to do with anything, but I thought it quite strange and in a weird way fitting. Aurora Hawthorne

Hey - long time listener, first time caller.

I always saw this song as a metaphor for the end of high school. Perhaps that's because John Henry came out when I was a senior in high school. I know it's a stretch, but bear with me here:

First verse: "the scene isn't what it's been...that its old and its totally over now..." When I was a senior in high school I thought "well this was fun and all but it's been long enough and now it's all over." PreChorus: "at the end of the tour, when the road disappears...if you're still around, then we'll meet at the end of the tour." Saying goodbye to high school mates was like this. We weren't mature enough or thoughtful enough to really understand how to say proper goodbyes; I think I had a more laissez-faire attitude, like Lloyd Dobler: "see you around, maybe." Second verse: "Never apart since the day we met...I was bent metal you were a flaming wreck when we kissed at the overpass." This pretty much describes all of my high school relationships. I was an immature nutso (bent metal), my girlfriends were the same (flaming wreck), and although we hung out all the time about the only thing we ever really did was make out. Second verse: "I was sailing along with the people driving themselves to distraction inside me then came a knock on the door which was odd and the picture abruptly changed." Again, in high school we are all busy finding ourselves (the people driving themselves to distraction inside me), and time whizzes by us as we do it (sailing along). Then, suddenly, we are called away to four years of college, and, ultimately, the real world (the odd knock and the abrupt change). Bridge: "This was the vehicle these were the people you opened the door and expelled all the people...you let them go." The vehicle was your school; the people were your classmates and friends; the door opening is (a) literally, the door to your school opening on the last day and everyone pouring out and leaving forever; and (b) the end of high school coming and (most of) the people leaving your life. Ending: "And we're never gonna tour again." You only get to do it once. It's all over once it's over.

AgentRocket (agentrocket@hotmail.com)


Linnell introduced this song at the July 4, 2004 concert in Chicago by saying "This song is not about anything. This song is based on a lie." (Or something along those lines; will edit after listening again.)

Reference: the lyrics...

This was the vehicle these were the people

You opened the door and expelled all the people

...parodies the childhood thing you do by clasping your hands in various configurations and saying

Here is the church, here is the steeple
Open the doors and see all the (or no) people 

-- amyloo
  • Interesting, if it's true that JL said that. TMBG have an infuriating knack for writing meaningless songs that still sound like they could mean something; songs by, for example, Beck have lyrics that are obviously streanm-of-consciousness, but when John and John write from stream of consciousness, they come out with stuff that's much more coherent and disturbing. - Jake C.

I dunno, but to me it seems that it's just about a guy who's tired of being on tour and wants to return to his girlfriend.

I heard the Chicago reference differently. Again, this is from memory, but he said something like "This song is about (pause) nothing. It's not about anything at all". Then they went on to play. To me, that meant that, like always, they're not teling what they had in mind, and it's up to the listener to get meaning from the song...or not.

For what it's worth, in the commentary for Gigantic, while Michael McKean was reciting the lines for The End of the Tour, they mentioned that he (McKean) made the song sound like it was about death. When asked what it was really about, Linnell replied, "I wrote it for the music." I'm pretty sure that means, as others have suggested, Linnell had a good melody and basically wrote the lyrics using words that fit. -Lars

"This song is not about anything. This song is based on a lie." They are are always saying things like that...

I randonly blorted out an interpretation at the LJ site that someone liked so I repeat it here. (Pardon my shameless self -promotion.)

Well, Mr Linnell wrote it, so it should be about angst, death, unfulfilled longing, bodily injury. Check, check, check and .... check. Oh yeah, and very permeable borders of the self... and .. check on that, too.

Narrator says:

I am like an automobile, containing squabbling anxious selves, and I crash into you, another car. Our relationship is like an auto smash, with flames and destruction that weld the cars together.

I am a church, and I am a vehicle - I contain all the people I am, and all the people I know. But since I am on tour, every night I open myself and let them go. They pass through my hands. I am playing the game children play with laced fingers - my hands are the church, my own fingers the people, the parts of me that I let go, because that night's concert is over. Also, I am, and am of, a place where people congregate to worship and sing, as at a concert.

I have been on tour so long, that it feels as if my entire life is a tour, and I can only stop when I die. Let's not futilely hold onto each other now, but agree to meet after this life is over, at the of the tour, when I can rest, and not crash, and not give away everyone I meet every night.

It's pretty damn sad, but very beautifully imagined. (Christina Miller - Apr 2005)

WOW!!! These are all really really interesting but the song is about...

death. Tour=life the engagements are booked through the end of the world. end of the world=death. The end of the tour is death. Linnell even acknowledged this once with the word "Yeah" when sarah vowell implied that it was about death. We'll meet at the end of the tour, we'll all die, we are equal in that sense. i know im not articulating this extremely well but it is so graphically summed up at the end of the song: "And We're never gonna tour again, No, We're never gonna tour again"

Little note: This was originally going to be TMBG's last album of the career and they were going to retire. This is the line "We're never gonna tour again" and why it was the last song on the album. However, TMBG decided to continue their career later.

Who said they were going to retire? Where did you get that concept?

I have the TMBG documentary by AJ Schnack on DVD. TMBG had a contract with Elektra entertainment (Flood was the first such album). The documentary explains that Elektra overworked TMBG while on tour. Elektra wanted the band to perform at a place in Japan that wasn't originally on the tour route,but JF & JL had promised the band some hang time. It was after this incident that they got out of their contract with Elektra. After explaining this, the documentary went to celebrities reading lyrics from this song. Although I know the interpretation isn't literal by every verse, there is perhaps some sort of connection. TMBG is done touring under the Elektra label. -Jason Caltrider

My somewhat more abstract interpretation has been that the narrator and the girl in the song can only meet each other again at the end of the tour, but the tour lasts until the end of the world, so they can only hope that they're still around by then. But it's unlikely that they, or anyone, will be around by that time, since all the people will be "expelled" at the end of the world. -Guest

Okay, so heres what I think,

I think this song is about a person in jail with a life sentance, possibly because they killed someone. I will waste my time, when i should be doing homework, and eloborate for you, line by line.

There's a girl with a crown and a scepter

Who's on WLSD

okay, I'm not quite sure how this relates

And she says that the scene isn't what it's been

And she's thinking of going home

this is talking about the person who got killed, and how she thinks that heaven is different, and how she would like to go back "home" aka life.

That it's old and it's totally over now

And it's old and it's over, it's over now And it's over, it's over, it's over now

The repeating "that it's old, and its totally over now" means that life is old and it's totaly over now.

I can see myself

At the end of the tour When the road disappears

The killer is saying how he can see himself dieing in jail, when his sentance is over, and he is free in the afterlife.

im running out of time, but if i remember to, i will finnish this yeah so yeah -Cody-schmidt

I think it's literally about the narrator crashing into some girl and killing her in a car wreck. I guess I'll go for a line-by-line.

"There's a girl with a crown and a scepter who's on WLSD" Describing the victim-- the girl thinks she's on top of the world and very confident as she is a queen, and she's on something like LSD

"And she says that the scene isn't what it's been, and she's thinking of going home That it's old and it's totally over now, etc." So she's bored and disappointed with whatever's she's found in life, and she's confident, high, and going on the road.

"I can see myself... at the end of the tour where the road disappears If there's any more people around when the tour runs aground And if you're still around then we'll meet at the end of the tour" This is the narrator getting ahead of himself. The whole song is him recounting how it all happened, and after thinking about the girl, he thinks about if he can see her again in heaven or maybe he's in denial and thinks he may see her again. I'll go with the heaven one.

"Never to part since the day we met out on Interstate 91 I was bent metal, you were a flaming wreck when we kissed at the overpass" By both going on Interstate 91, fate bound him to her life and vice-versa. The wrecked, and he was "bent metal"-- his car was damaged-- and she was a flaming wreck-- her car, at least. The ambulances or whoever came, and "kissed" her car with the jaws of life, or he possibly had to try CPR on her knocked-out body (I like the imagery of the first though).

"I was sailing along with the people Driving themselves to distraction inside me" He was driving along between all the other people, and he was distracted wandering his eyes on the other cars (which makes it sound like he's putting the blame on the drivers around him for being a distraction to him.

"Then came a knock on the door which was odd and the picture abruptly changed" Someone knocked on his car while he was being distracted. And when he turned, surprised, to look he saw his and her cars colliding.

"This was the vehicle, these were the people You opened the door and expelled all the people, etc. This was the vehicle, these were the people-- you let them go Dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun" Maybe more died with her. This was him watching the police or ambulances unsuccessfully try rescuing the people-- again, putting the blame on others (wrongly).

"And we're never gonna tour again" We'll never have a chance to live again, he acknowledges. The tour by the way is definitely metaphor for life. (You'll find the end of life when the road (of life) disappears. And once it's over, if there are people around (if he winds up in a heaven or hell), and he can find her there, he promises to see her and make amends. You can't live again (the engagements for new lives are all taken by people-to-be through forever), so they'll meet at the end of the tour.

So yeah, it's about a guy who's responsible for the death of somebody and who needs closure. The end.

Okay. There are a few interpretations I have for this one.

  • The "literal" one--that the song's about a car wreck. It makes sense, I guess, but I'm not so sure. There seems to be more to it than that.
  • The song is about a couple torn apart by tragedy--namely, the death of one of them. There does seem to be a romantic element ("Never to part..." "When we kissed at the overpass..."). And, of course, someone definitely dies in this song. It's hard to deny that. So I think it's possible--even probable--that this is the meaning of the song. (One could carry it even further and suggest that the dead one died in a car wreck.)
  • It really IS about nothing, but that seems unlikely.

Just my 3 cents. ~Anna Ng: The Only TMBG Fan In Her Class

I think the song is about a relationship that ended in a cancelled marriage. This is based on references to 'engagement', 'never to part', and the steeple/finger game (plus the song's primary instrument sounds like a church organ). It's easy for me to think of this as one of the angriest and most accusatory songs Linnell has written. Something tells me that Linnell feels he has revealed too much of his private life in this song. It's simply not his way. --Nehushtan 21:25, 21 Mar 2006 (CST)

To me this always seemed like a dying man who hopes there is an afterlife, so he can reunite with the one he loves. The tour is a metaphor for life and life's journeys.

i think that in some of TMBG's songs they hide phrases in the lyrics. John distinctly says "the picture above to change". I think that the line "the picture above me changed" is hidden in the sentence. It may be about losing the will to die during an attempted suicide. (Or successful, which, needless to say, would be tragic.)

I always thought that this song was about a fan who sort of pathetically builds a life around following a band. The fan is overly melodramatic about the scene not being what it was, even going so far as to make comparisons to the end of the world. I thought Linnel might be poking a little fun at fans who were upset about TMBG's use of a live band rather than the drum machine/recordings.

After a lot of pondering, I think I've got it.

There's a girl with a crown and a scepter / Who's on WLSD Pop idol. The crown and scepter are figurative, she's the "Queen of Pop"

And she says that the scene isn't what it's been / And she's thinking of going home / That it's old and it's totally over now She gets in her car and goes home.


Never to part since the day we met. Out on Interstate 91. I was bent metal, you were a flaming wreck. When we kissed at the overpass. I was sailing along with the people. Driving themselves to distraction inside me. Then came a knock on the door which was odd. And the picture abruptly changed. Okay, so the narrator got in a car crash with "you" who is the pop idol, the girl with the crown and a sceptar. The "kiss" is figurative, it's two cars slamming into each other. I dunno about the knock on the door, but basically the girl dies.

At the end of the tour / When the road disappears / If there's any more people around / When the tour runs aground / And if you're still around Then we'll meet at the end of the tour / The engagements are booked through the end of the world / So we'll meet at the end of the tour Alright, so the tour is life, and it's talking about the afterlife. If there's any more people around and if you're still around is if there's an afterlife, then we'll meet again, and I can apoligize.

This was the vehicle; these were the people. You opened the door and expelled all the people I think the people were fans of the pop idol who hated to see her die.

And we're never gonna tour again. No, we're never gonna tour again. No idea.

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