Ol' '55

Album: On the Border (1974)
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  • Well my time went so quickly
    I went lickety-splitly out to my old '55
    As I drove away slowly, feeling so holy
    God knows, I was feeling alive

    And now the sun's coming up
    I'm riding with Lady Luck, freeway cars and trucks
    Stars beginning to fade, and I lead the parade
    Just a-wishing I'd stayed a little longer
    Lord, let me tell you that the feeling's getting stronger

    Six in the morning, gave me no warning
    I had to be on my way
    Now the cars are all passing me
    Trucks are all flashing me
    I'm headed home from your place

    And now the sun's coming up
    I'm riding with Lady Luck
    Freeway, cars and trucks
    Stars beginning to fade
    And I lead the parade
    Just a-wishin' I'd stayed a little longer
    Lord, don't you know, the feeling's getting stronger

    Well, my time went so quickly
    I went lickety-splitly
    Out to my old '55
    As I pulled away slowly
    Feeling so holy
    God knows I was feeling alive

    And now the sun's coming up, yes it is
    I'm riding with Lady Luck
    Freeway, cars and trucks
    Freeway, cars and trucks
    Riding with Lady Luck
    Freeway, cars and trucks
    Riding with Lady Luck
    Freeway, cars and trucks
    Riding with Lady Luck Writer/s: Tom Waits
    Publisher: BMG Rights Management, JALMA MUSIC
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 9

  • Klee from New YorkOne of my all time favorite songs. Tom Wait is an idiot thinking this version doesnt do it justice. I can’t even listen to his version. Love Glenn and makes me tear up thinking of his passion when I hear this one. RIP and thanks for the memories.
  • Rob from UkFor me personally, it's about death having lived a full and happy life. Heading home. I have left explicit instructions that this will be my funeral song.
  • L From The Stl from St LouisI have always taken the song to mean the exhilaration and invincible feeling of a guy the morning after sex with a new woman. Creeps back out to freedom and off he rides in the only thing he will ever truly love for a slow ride home as the sun rises.
  • Me from InI cannot and will not even think about this song and DEATH! Without being mean or judgmental I have to ask Humberto from Brazil- - Whatcha smoking there buddy? This “holy feeling guy” just got laid!!!
  • Mikeyt from VaI disagree about the "death" interpretation. 1) Funerals aren't held at sunup
    2) Why would a person on way to his funeral be "feeling so alive"?
    3) How is Lady Luck riding with a dead man?
    4) Trucks don't pass a funeral procession, and I have never seen lights flashing at a funeral
  • Joseph Troise from Sonoma, CaliforniaI actually asked Tom Waits about this song many years ago when he was playing small clubs in Denver, CO. He said the car was not a '55 Chevy but rather a '55 Buick.
  • Humberto Veras from Recife - BrazilThis song is about the death, certainly. The time already last, in the current time he leading the friends' list still alive and coming the other acquaintances behind in a line where all head for the death. It is a parable of Tom Wait doing that comparison, of a man that passed you finish hours with her lover and now returning home, he makes the relationship of the years already last and the ones that he still has for the front.
  • Randy from Houghton Lake, MiI think I equally like this cover and the original by Tom Waits. It just depends on what kind of mood I'm in.
  • Oldpink from New Castle, InI actually quite like this song, especially Al Perkins' wonderful pedal steel.
    Also, very nice to hear Henley and Frey sharing vocals so well.
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