"Turn the Page" by Bob Seger

On a long and lonesome highway, east of omaha.
You can listen to the engine moaning out it’s one lone song
You can think about woman, or the girl you knew the night before,
But your thoughts will soon be wandering, the way they always do.
When your riding sixteen hours and there’s nothing much to do
And you don’t feel much like riding, you just wish the trip was through.
Say, here I am, on the road again. there I am, up on the stage.
Here I go, playing star again.
There I go, turn the page.
Well you walk into a restaurant, strung out from the road,
You can feel the eyes upon you as your shaking off the cold
You pretend it doesn’t bother you, but you just want to explode.
Most times you can’t hear em talk, other times you can.
Oh the same old cliche, is that a woman or a man?
You always see my number, you don’t dare make a stand.
Here I am, on the road again. there I am, up on the stage.
Here I go, playing star again.
There I go, turn the page.
Out there in the spotlight your a million miles away,
Every ounce of energy, you try and give away,
As the sweat pours out your body like the music that you play.
Later in the evening as you lie awake in bed,
With the echo from the amplifiers ringing in your head,
You smoke the days last cigarette, remembering what she said.
Now here I am, on the road again. there I am, up on the stage.
Here I go, playing star again.
There I go, turn the page.
Here I am, on the road again. there I am, up on the stage.
Ah here I go, playing star again.
There I go, there I go.


First off, I can't seem to find an answer as to what he's saying the second verse, whether it's "is that a woman or a man?" or if it's "as that woman on her a man". And also whether it's "You always see my number, you don't dare make a stand" or if it's "you always seem outnumbered, you don't dare make a stand".

On the surface it seems like the story of a rock star, but I think there is something more there. Something about the darkness of loneliness. The second verse is what throws me a bit though.

Anyone have any thoughts on this song? It's definitely one of my favorites, and I actually enjoy the Metallica cover also, unlike a lot of covers.

I think that your lyrics are incorrect. They should be:

Most times you can’t hear em talk, other times you can.
All the same old cliches, is that a woman or a man?
You always seem outnumbered, you don’t dare make a stand.

I figured that particular section was referring to the long hair of many male rock stars that would be mocked by other "real" men, who they would come across in a diner during a tour stop. The rock star could feel their stares, and hear their comments about if it is a woman or a man, and want to explode, but since he was outnumbered, he couldn't without getting his ass kicked.

below are the lyrics as performed by Metallica. although, that line I never really looked at to hard until now. However, movieking seems to have a good idea on what it means.

line in question is bold.


On a long and lonesome highway east of omaha
You can listen to the engines moaning out as one note song
You think about the woman or the girl you knew the night before

But your thoughts will soon be wandering the way they always do
When you’re riding sixteen hours and there’s nothing much to do
And you don’t feel much like riding, you just wish the trip was through

Here I am - on the road again
There I am - up on the stage
Here I go - playing star again
There I go - turn the page

So you walk into this restaurant strung out from the road
And you feel the eyes upon you, as you’re shaking off the cold
You pretend it doesn’t bother you, but you just want to explode

Yeah, most times you can’t hear ’em talk, other times you can
All the same old clichés, "is it woman? is it man? "
And you always seem outnumbered, you don’t dare make a stand
Make your stand

Here I am - on the road again
There I am - up on the stage
Here I go - playing star again
There I go - turn the page

Oo-ooh, out there in the spotlight, you’re a million miles away
Every ounce of energy you try to give away
As the sweat pours out your body like the music that you play, yeah

Later in the evening, you lie awake in bed
With the echoes of the amplifiers ringing in your head
You smoke the day’s last cigarette, remembering what she said
What she said

He-ey

Yeah
And here I am - on the road again
There I am - up on a stage
Here I go - playing star again
There I go - turn the page
There I go - turn that page
There I go, yeah, yeah
There I go, yeah, yeah
There I go, yeah
There I go, yeah
There I go, oo-oo-ooh
There I go
And I’m gone

The lyric in question describes the following:

The singer, a long-haired rocker type, walks into a redneck (read: bigoted, rural simpletons) bar or truck stop and they're staring at him and giving him shit because he has long hair, asking things like "Is it a woman, or is it a man?" Because Mr. Long-haired Rockstar is alone in the bar with all of these guys, he dares not make a stand because he's outnumbered and will, in all likelihood, get his ass kicked.

This lyric is very much a product of its time, as it's now not unusual for those same "redneck" types to now have long hair. Also, short hair on women is much more commonplace than it was thirty years ago, so the long old "long hair=woman, short hair=man" isn't relevent any longer.

You're da-man. That's exactly the explanation I was looking for! Thanks.

It's a song about a crybaby rockstar feeling sorry for himself in spite of the type of success 99% of struggling musicians will never achieve. What a whiny-ass pussyboy.

I don't get the whining part, just a description of what life on the road touring non-stop is like, quick relationships waiting around for the next gig (sort of like going up and down from a high)...which in all fairness is extemely boring and tiring by bus ... especially if it's 300+ days a year on a bus. Plus I have never heard of Seger referred to as a whiny-ass pussyboy.

Scroll up.

das

Yeah, I know movieking said it too, he get's props as well