Grey Street meaning....??

[Rippy]

Ok this might sound stupid but here it goes. My friend told me that Grey Street is about a single, lesbian mother. : Any truth what so ever behind this???

[greppson]

well, dave always uses the reference of a woman or girl figure to relate to his own problems or thoughts and beliefs that he struggles with.

for example, grace is gone seems to be about a woman, but it is about the loss of dave's step father.

grey street seems to be about questioning whether god exists and if he really can help us... and the anger that comes with it all. at least in dave's mind.

the song is whatever you want to believe it is about. some people think 41 is a love song. boy, they might want to look at that one again!

[Mark]

Originally posted by Rippy
Ok this might sound stupid but here it goes. My friend told me that Grey Street is about a single, lesbian mother. : Any truth what so ever behind this???

i would love to hear his reasoning

[DMBzilla]

Originally posted by greppson

grey street seems to be about questioning whether god exists and if he really can help us... and the anger that comes with it all. at least in dave's mind.

While that might have a tiny part of it, the basis for the song was the murder of Dave's sister Anne in South Africa, and it's basically a tribute to her life and struggle.

[Mark]

from am.org

The story revolves around a girl trapped in a loveless relationship, similar to Pearl Jam’s Better Man. Again, we see death references (cold blue ice) littered throughout the song.

http://www.antsmarching.org/setlists....php?SongID=65

Mark

[dmbfan524]

Originally posted by greppson
well, dave always uses the reference of a woman or girl figure to relate to his own problems or thoughts and beliefs that he struggles with.

for example, grace is gone seems to be about a woman, but it is about the loss of dave's step father.

grey street seems to be about questioning whether god exists and if he really can help us... and the anger that comes with it all. at least in dave's mind.

the song is whatever you want to believe it is about. some people think 41 is a love song. boy, they might want to look at that one again!

for example, grace is gone seems to be about a woman, but it is about the loss of dave's step father.

really??? i thought it was about the loss of a girl. maybe not someone dave knew personally, but about losing a girl in general. thats interesting. the song sort of takes on a different meaning now

[Trax]

yeah he said that in an interbiew about grace... its about his step father...


but he makes it seem like about a girl so more people connect with it

[cavecricket34]

I remember seeing something about Grey Street being written about Anne Sexton (I think her maiden name was Grey), who committed suicide. She was either a poet or an artist, or both, I don't recall. I think it was an article about Sexton that referenced Dave, but I don't remember all the details. I doubt the song has anything to do with Dave's sister though.

[PilotC150]

Originally posted by mark_s
[B]from am.org



http://www.antsmarching.org/setlists....php?SongID=65

Mark

I'd be very interested to know who actually comes up with these. And who decides they are "correct" enough to put on the website staying they are the truth.

[TripnBilles41]

Originally posted by PilotC150
I'd be very interested to know who actually comes up with these. And who decides they are "correct" enough to put on the website staying they are the truth.

doesnt Rob or one of the other mods do the explanations?

[Trax]

Jake does... after lengthy research

[Parker]

Originally posted by greppson
for example, grace is gone seems to be about a woman, but it is about the loss of dave's step father.

wow, never knew that.

[slfairless]

Originally posted by Trax
yeah he said that in an interbiew about grace... its about his step father...


but he makes it seem like about a girl so more people connect with it

yeah... I don't member where but I heard dave talk about it somewhere. I think he said the song was about him mourning the death of his step-fathers (who he says was a great man) but you can't really sing a song about... oh step-father... so he wrote the lyrics to be about a chick but the loss oh his step-father is where the emotion came from.

after talking about it, I think it's on one of my shows cuz I remember the crowd does the awww... when he says it's about the death and dave replies something like, don't mourn him for me -- he was a great man and had a great life. I think it's the 2001 virgin megastore show?

[Trax]

it was definatly one of the shows he did solo at the end of 2001.... yeah your right it was about a girl cause he couldnt write about his step-father... but deep down... its about his step father... with a facade about a girl..

[Number27]

Both are amazing songs.

[dmbkristin]

Originally posted by greppson
well, dave always uses the reference of a woman or girl figure to relate to his own problems or thoughts and beliefs that he struggles with.

Yes, Grey Street is about Dave. It is much easier to write about yourself in third person when dealing with emotional topics. Here is what I wrote on nancies as my interpretation of the song:

I think Grey Street overall is about dreams Dave lost because it was easier to go with the flow, rather than to follow his heart but stir things up.

"Oh look at how she listens- she says nothing of what she thinks. She just goes stumbling through her memories, staring out onto Grey Street. She thinks hey, how did I come to this? I dreamed myself a million times around the world, but I can't get out of this place."

He didn't want to speak up about how things were going. He reminised about other times (better times?) and how things could've played out differently.

"And there's an emptiness inside her- she'd do anything to fill it in."

This seems to describes Dave, from what I have seen/heard in interviews. Dave has had a lot of pain in his life (deaths, etc), and so I think he does feel empty inside. His drinking (which he still does to a degree, even if it's only beer and wine) is one way to fill the emptiness.

"Oh she wishes it was different, she prays to God most every night. And although He doesn't listen, there's a hope in her He might. She says I pray, but my prayers fall on deaf ears."

We have all heard Dave talk about his views on religion (Bartender, WYA's line about "hoping to God on high is like clinging to straws while drowning", etc) and this part goes right along with it.

"She feels like kicking out all the windows, and setting fire to this life. She could change everything about her, using colors bold and bright- but all the colors mix together to grey- and it breaks her heart"

He sounds so hopeful, but then all hope is lost. It's like he's saying that he could change things, but it's easier to let things stay the same (even if it's painful).

And remember the line in Grey Street on 9.8.02? "There's a loneliness inside me..." (rather than "inside her")

[dmbkristin]

Originally posted by slfairless
yeah... I don't member where but I heard dave talk about it somewhere. I think he said the song was about him mourning the death of his step-fathers (who he says was a great man) but you can't really sing a song about... oh step-father... so he wrote the lyrics to be about a chick but the loss oh his step-father is where the emotion came from.

after talking about it, I think it's on one of my shows cuz I remember the crowd does the awww... when he says it's about the death and dave replies something like, don't mourn him for me -- he was a great man and had a great life. I think it's the 2001 virgin megastore show?

I know for sure he talked about it on 3.19.01 at the KMTT (The Mountain) radio show in Seattle. I don't know if that was the first time or not though.

[XGigglesX]

I think maybe it's about trying to become somebody you want or trying to be who you really are. A lot of people, though not all, live under masks when outside their homes or even in them, and perhaps even Dave does. I'ts probably a reflection of his own life and how he wants to fill the void that perhaps past experiences have left inside himself. A lot of people do in fact question how they got to where they are in life, and perhaps he is asking himself how he ever got where he is and why he still feels incomplete. Despite what successes we have in life, few of us are ever near being complete, and even though he is a star and all, perhaps he wonders what it would be like to not be one, to not have to hide your private life so much from the media and the public. Grey Street seems to be a reflection of something we all feel at one time or another... being incomplete. It seems he expresses that he wants something more out of life, "to get out of this place", and yet he thinks that he isn't supposed to do it himself. Quite a few people believe that somehow they'll get to where they want without having to do it all themselves. It might be about the turning point in life, when you realize that you can't stand around waiting for things to happen and you realize what you really want. By saying "She could change everything about her using colors bold and bright" he might be implying that you can change yourself and become who you want to be by not being afraid to get out there and take control, by being bold and bright. In the last lines, "And it breaks her heart, It breaks her heart, To grey" it seems to me that he is saying that this girl, or himself, can't seem to be who they want nor have the courage to try to become that without help from others, and because of this, her heart breaks and instead of being the bright, bold person, she becomes a blender... grey.