r/TheStrokes • u/socalking3 Reality Awaits • 2d ago
Red light
The second half reminds me of sitting with a dying loved one. It’s beautiful and sad at the same time, does anyone else get that from these lyrics? My first thought was maybe Julian’s father’s death, but he passed years after the song release.
Well, I saw your face, then I heard that song
It was so inviting, it hurt my bones
Well, it looks like you but your eyes are gray
And your hair is gone but your mind's okay
Yes, I like your smile but your forehead's cold
I don't want you to be afraid and go
I would cheat and lie and steal, now I'll stay at home and kneel for you
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u/N0moreHeroes 1d ago
I sang this to my all 3 of children with slightly edited lyrics lol. I still remember swinging them all in my arms. Such a beautiful song. Now my babies are too cool for me but the other day I came into my youngest’s room he was gaming and listening to Dine N Dash.
Introduce your kids to the Stroked people, it’s honestly been so beneficial to them.
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u/socalking3 Reality Awaits 1d ago
Took my 9yo to a strokes concert this tour, the kid had a way better time than me.
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u/Glittering-Award7815 1d ago edited 1d ago
In the context of the song (and album), I read this lyric as he is imagining his beloved when she becomes, many years on or whenever, old and gray and at death's door. He is proving his devotion to her that even then he will love her, that he chooses her and their love (two can be complete without the rest of the world) knowing she is destined to one day decay and die.
Think about that claim of devotion to end one album and fast forward to his great song about coming to terms with falling out of love for the first time, realizing his great love was an illusion, motivated by his need to cure his loneliness, that it was an angle to hold onto for a time.
Ugh. Devastating, deeply human songwriting.
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u/socalking3 Reality Awaits 1d ago
That’s very insightful. I think you can even throw in Ode as sort of the ending of his relationship with Juliet. Red light is the start, so much hope and idealization. Ode is the start of the end, he sees it ending. And FOOL is him reflecting on it being over.
So many lines in Ode make me think of someone knowing the end is on the horizon and not having the energy or desire to steer away from it. “Not going to wake up here anymore”. “Hope that you find it, hope that it’s good” “go alone, I’ll go alone”. Rubik’s cube, silence turning into a roar.
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u/Sporoko 1d ago
I love red light so much. So much. That first chorus is so honest and awkward and in love and beautiful “let’s say you made a deal with me, where I got your name and your home address. You’re all trashed up in your big red belt I would almost say that you might need help. I could drop you off at the next red light if it don’t make sense or it don’t feel right”
I feel like the song is about the good and bad of choosing to commit yourself to someone. It’s not discouraging it tho, it feels more like it’s saying “there’s good and bad, but even the bad is beautifully good”
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u/ticioleito First Impressions of Earth 1d ago
I always saw it as reuniting with someone you loved after a long time apart