When You Were Young | Roman Empire | Old Subway Car | YouTube Rabbithole
Alright @YouTheReader,
When You Were Young by The Killers is one of my favorite songs of all-time. It’s either 1a) or 1b) on Week to Week Notes’ The Killers power rankings, neck and neck with Mr. Brightside, which is saying a lot considering Mr. Brightside is the bar song of my generation. When You Were Young came out in September of ‘06 and peaked at #14 on the US Billboard Charts, even reaching #6 in Ireland, and #2 in the UK. I’ll be honest though, I don’t think I heard this song until it was on Guitar Hero III, which came out in the fall of ‘07. To be honest, I was subpar at Guitar Hero but this was one of the only songs I could get a perfect score to on expert because I just loved the tune. I’ll be honest, I’ve known every word to this song since I was 13 and never actually took the time to see what the lyrics mean.
Strong open about someone going through a heartbreak. She is sitting and waiting for a savior while stuck in the past. Her forgiveness enlightens a change in perspective and before you know it she’s found someone new.
When she was younger, she had expectations that the savior would be Mr. Perfect, I mean Jesus H. Christ is a high bar, c’mon now. Anyway, this guy may not fulfill her high expectations or fit the “look” she imagined, but he fulfills her other criteria like being a gentleman.
That is one way you could interpret these lines, the other could be that Jesus wasn’t necessarily known for his physical appearance but more so for his good actions and words. The “gentleman” here could be that she knows he is not good for her, but he is able to sweet talk her.
You could read it from either perspective and it could make sense. Lead singer and songwriter, Brandon Flowers, said the band knew they were cooking with gas as soon as he wrote these lines.
Climbing a mountain symbolizes relationships. Any relationship is an uphill challenge because nothing is ever easy while going downhill is. In this case, the couple is questioning if they can continue to progress in the relationship while realizing that they have never been more serious. Taking things slow or nice n’ easy tends to be the right way to go about climbing a successful mountain.
In the previous lines, they were climbing up a mountain, here they are burning down a skyline which could represent that the relationship has plateaued. The highway could mean it is still moving fast, just not progressing up the mountain. Driving in a hurricane furthers the idea that the relationship has gone chaotic. Maybe it moved too fast because she thought this was what she had been looking for since she was young.
I mean the song is called “When You Were Young” so these lines fit perfectly. When people get nostalgic they tend to look back at happier times as a source of comfort. If I can interject, for me it’s very weird to do this now. When I was a kid playing Guitar Hero in Pearl River, I used to think back to these lines about Westwood or one of the 87 different apartments I lived in with my parents in the Tri-Sate. Now, over 15 years later, it reminds me of Pearl River, as well as my childhood. Very bizarre, but very cool. Weird how music can do that and change your perception of things with the passage of time.
The devil’s water I’d assume is alcohol. All alcohol except Guinness, of course, which is God’s gift to humanity. These lines are about giving in to temptation and not always being good.
The drums coming in at the 2:12 mark are so elite. The instrumentals are unreal. Brandon Flowers told NME, “We’ve been guilty of having a lot of chords in our songs, and there’s not anything necessarily wrong with that, but there’s something great about simplicity. ‘When You Were Young’ is just one progression which repeats, with a couple of small variations, but it was instantly powerful and once I heard it, I came up with the melody and the title within 20 minutes.” Ahhh, so the simplistic chords are why I reached perfection on Guitar Hero. I can see clearly now.
The Killers always credit Bruce Springsteen as much of their influence. This song sure feels like it has a ton of Bruce in it.
So as mentioned, I’m not quite sure how the guy in this song is to be interpreted. When The Killers made a music video for the song, the director, Anthony Mandler, not in the band, shot a short film of an unfaithful husband with a young bride. Pretty dark. Counterpoint, when Brandon Flowers wrote this song he meant, “That a savior could come in different forms. And, I mean, we all have those experiences with people in our lives, I think. Most of the time I feel like [the song is autobiographical]. It’s about the man that I wanted to become. This is sort of me as a 24-year-old, knowing that… he ain’t here yet, but I hope, you know, that I get to where I’m supposed to get.”
I want it Noted that I’m on Team Flowers over Mandler, but I guess the mystery is another reason why the song is great, it’s open for interpretation. Brilliant song!
This Week’s Bit on The Roman Empire
This week your quick bit on The Roman Empire brought to you by Week to Week Notes featuring Ancient Rome: The Exhibition in New York is on the Calcatorian Crane.
The Calcatorian Crane was one of the most powerful of ancient cranes. It was used for lifting and moving heavy loads for the construction of large temples, bridges, and aqueducts. It was made of wood and was the size of 10 meters (about 10 yards or 30 feet for us Yanks) in height. The unique feature of this crane was the giant circular treadmill that looked like a hamster wheel. Construction workers would actually walk around in a wheel, like a hamster to lift heavy ass stones.
These cranes were responsible for the likes of the Roman Colosseum being built. The power that could be generated by these hamster-human treadmills was said to be enough to lift colossal loads up to 21 tons, meaning 42,000 pounds or 19050 kilograms for my European friends. In 1848, while Italians were doing road work in Rome, they discovered the Tomb of the Haterii, a wealthy ancient Rome family. The tomb was constructed around AD 100 and inside of the tomb were many works of art. One such relic depicted a Calcatorian Crane being used to build a temple. One cool thing inside was a depiction of the Colosseum, which at that point wasn’t fully completed with the attic above its 3 arches. (Smart History)
More Roman Empire history next week!
Old Subway Car (Vol VII)
BRT ‘Standard’ Car 2204
This subway car was built in 1916 by American Car and Foundry Company. The location was Berwick, Pennslyvania, which we already previously went over is the home of Wise Potato Chips. This subway car was in service from 1916 to 1969, with routes all over the City except for certain 19th-century elevated routes. I was going to say, no way it could run on 1800s train routes, this machine, you kidding me?
So the BRT version of the ‘Standard’ was different than the IRT version because the IRT version was financed by August Belmont - the one they named Belmont Stakes after. The BRTs were longer and wider cars, which now makes sense as to why they wouldn’t fit on older 19th-century tracks. These differently designed cars helped address the over-crowded passenger problem. IRT cars contained 42 to 44 seats, whereas these larger Standards had 78 seats and a standing room load that could fit up to 182 people. These BRT Standards of 1916 also introduced destination roll signs, larger windows, brighter lighting, and a center doors easier-to-use system that made things faster for people getting on or off. Previously, passengers would have to leave and enter through doorways at the ends of the train with the conductor manually opening or closing the door. By 1921, BRT Standards perfected their system that allowed a single conductor to operate all the doors on an 8-car train.
As you can see, they were showing off the seating arrangements with all the new space they had on these subway cars. Honestly, those painted poles in the aisle from 1916 look much cleaner than the nasty smudged-up steel ones today. I like what they were going with on the cushioned textured seating, but we can’t have nice things on subways like this today.
This “Food Will Win The War” poster was a campaign ad by the US Food Administration in 1917 during WWI. The campaign was initiated by Herbert Hoover, who was newly appointed as head of the agency. Herbert Hoover would go on to become the 31st United States President during the onset of the Great Depression. I’ll save more about him for a time in the winter after the football season, but Hoovervilles in NYC would be a cool piece.
Anyway, the meaning behind the US Food Administration was asking Americans to pledge to ration foods such as meat, pork, and wheat so it could be used toward the war efforts in Europe. Not only did American soldiers need the food, but Europeans fighting in trenches as well as famines desperately needed it as well. American soldiers during WWI were expected to eat around 4,600 calories a day to keep up with their activity level and the physical demands of trench warfare. They would eat beef, potatoes, and bread to keep them full. Plum puddings and chocolate were common as well. Instant coffee also became so popular for G.I.’s overseas that the term G.I. Joe would become the origin of the nickname “cup of Joe” for coffee. (Medical Museum)
These rationings of food at home during WWI were voluntary, which was much different than WWII when they were enforced. The posters seen above were used as propaganda for consumers to buy just enough food and not have any excess, however, it was more social pressure rather than having any legal consequence. The US Food Admin would have Meatless, Porkless, and Wheatless days where Americans were asked to substitute these foods with fish, beans, and corn.
YouTube Rabbithole
The Killers Open Up About Writing ‘When You Were Young’ | Song Exploder | Netflix