R.E.M's "Waking Up In Reno"

Bruce Springsteen's "Reno"

She took off her stockings, I held them to my face.
She had your ankles, I felt filled with grace.
"Two hundred dollars straight in,
Two-fifty up the ass," she smiled and said.
She unbuckled my belt, pulled back her hair,
And sat in front of me on the bed.
She said, "Honey how's that feel, do you want me to go slow?"
My eyes drifted out the window, down to the road below.

I felt my stomach tighten. The sun bloodied the sky
And sliced through the hotel blinds. I closed my eyes.
Sunlight on the Amatitlan, sunlight streaming thru your hair.
In the Valle de dos Rios, smell of mock orange filled the air.
We rode with the vaqueros, down into cool rivers of green.
I was sure the work and that smile coming out 'neath your hat
Was all I'd ever need.
Somehow all you ever need's, never really quite enough you know.
You and I, Maria, we learned it's so.

She slipped me out of her mouth, "You're ready," she said.
She took off her bra and panties, wet her finger, slipped it inside her,
And crawled over me on the bed.
She poured me another whisky,
Said, "Here's to the best you ever had."
We laughed and made a toast.
It wasn't the best I ever had,
Not even close.


ML and I discussed the meaning of this song yesterday.

ML says that it is about losing "the best I ever had." It is about the past. ML is right.

I said it is about disappointment. It is about going to Reno hoping that it held answers then realizing it did not. It is the crack addict who spends his life searching for that first hit. It is the businessman who works seventy hours a week looking at what he has sacrificed. It is about searching for answers but realizing "it wasn't the best I ever had." It is about the present.

I ignored the second stanza and the last sentence being in the past tense. Springsteen's intentions are similar to ML's interpretation.

But my interpretation represents my philosophical foundations. Maria is a sunk cost. She is gone. Your memories hurt, but memories are a curable disease. Reno and a $200 hooker was not the answer, but the search continues. Maria is not the source of discontent. The discontent comes from knowing that the best is out there. You know it is out there because you have had better and even that was not the best.

The other interpretation sees men as hopeless. The pain of lost love lasts forever. Hookers cannot cure it. Nothing can cure it. Saddam Hussein was horrible, but Iraq will always be horrible. The US should not have invaded Iraq; we are wrong for still being there. Mankind is hopeless.

If that is Springsteen's intention, he is wrong. I wish he could have seen the passion and hope in Filipino farmers' eyes. I wish he could see the best thing he could do for people would be to get out of their way.

Sidenote: Iran's nuclear weapons do not scare me. Their philosophical foundations (as does Springsteen and Bono's) threatens the world. Until the Western world is willing to address these foundations there is no use interfering with Iran.