Songs:Silver Suitcases (3100)

From WWR

Contents 1 Trivia, story behind the song, etc. 2 Lyrics 3 Listener comments about Silver Suitcases (3100) 4 Tags

Trivia, story behind the song, etc.

Lyrics

 I was driving south on 39 on my way home from a gig in northern Wisconsin
 where I played for a handful of hippie kids. They sat in the audience and 
made soap and knit sweaters and passed around hunks of whole grain bread 
while I played my songs. I was thinking life and my plans, and whether I’m 
building them out of concrete or sand and how sometimes money really does 
make the world go round But trying to measure your life is a bit like trying 
to measure the current from inside the boat Sometimes all you can tell for 
sure is that the damn thing still floats

You needed the car, so I’m trying to get home fast, 
I was short on time and low on gas

I pulled into the rest area but they were closed. 
The car starts to sputter as I get back on the road, 
but I remain calm cause I’ve been here before 
and I know with this car I can usually make it another mile or two
 out of it if the hills go right. Yea, I’ve run out of gas before, hell,
 I do it all the time, it’s almost a hobby, but I’ve never had to actually walk.

Rolling into a gas station, or running on fumes makes me feel 
like a superhero or like a marathon runner who knows exactly 
how far he can push his body before it finally gives upbut having 
to get out and walk makes me feel like a delusional moron, so I keep driving 
another four long miles. I get off at the next exit and it’s a suburban mall.
 I can’t find a station anywhere in sight, the car finally dies, I’m on a hill at a light

--------------------

I open the door to start pushing into a parking lot
 and my foot lands on a soggy five dollar bill. 
I figure it’s play money someone left there just to fuck with my head. 
It’s not…there’s other bills scattered across the grass next to the mall
 on the side of the road. My head is down, all I’m thinking 
about is getting as much of it in my pockets before I get in trouble. 
Before someone finds out and tells me it’s not mine to take. 
I pick up a five, I pick up a ten, I pick up a twenty dollar bill. 
A woman pulls up in an SUV, my instincts say “it’s her money. She lost it. 
She’s come to claim it. She wants it back, she wants half. 
But she’s picking it up and stuffing it in my hands.

How did it happen? She wants to know, I don’t know, I say, 
and that’s the truth. Another SUV pulls up behind me.
 A young man gets out and asks if I need a push into the parking lot. 
He doesn’t see the money, Yes, that would be great, I say.
 The woman hands me a one hundred dollar bill and says again
 “how did it happen?” It flew out the window I say.

He doesn’t know what I’m talking about, She doesn’t know 
what he’s talking about. She keeps handing me bills, 
She grabs the last bill and says “is it all here?
I say yes, cause I am the lord of the bills. 
And my pockets are filled with somebody
else’s soaking wet cash.

--------------------

My friend Jay is an artist, He believes if you put it out there, 
things come back to you. Whenever I ask him if I can get him anything, 
he says “yes, two large silver suitcases full of 100 dollar bills”.
 He’s quite specific. He’s been saying it for 6 months. 
I call him up and tell him about the money and he says “we’re getting closer"

So I’m sitting in the parking lot, counting my cash and 
I see the woman getting out of her SUV and I know 
I should tell her the truth. It’s not mine. But no, 
I tell myself she doesn’t need the money, that she knew the money was there
 for me and that she was sent there to help me harvest my cash.

But the truth is, at that moment, I really needed the help, and there it was

And the timing seemed too weird to ignore, too symbolic to just let go

And it’s not even about the money. It lifts me up, puts wind in my cape,
 tank in my gas, it feels spiritual. Some people would thank
 jesus for it, Others would thank allah, or Krishna, or Buddha 
or whoever they’re in to. I’m still thinking about it…Don’t get
 me wrong, I consider it a gift, I know it’s a gift. 
I just haven’t figured out who to thank yet, I just have to figure out who to thank. 

Listener comments about Silver Suitcases (3100)

Tags

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Silver Suitcases by Andrew Kerr SONG
on the album Live Buy Andrew Kerr at CD-Baby Live	Request this song: Silver Suitcases (Only logged in and authenticated users can make requests.) Overall rating: (8 votes) Your rating: You have to login to give your opinion about songs. Length: 5:57 Times played: 20 People hearing: 216 Times requested: 6 First played: Mar 23rd, 2003 Last played: Oct 26th, 2008 Previously played: Aug 25th, 2008 Song ID#: 3100	Listener rankings: 5 stars=Jim 4 stars=Kazookid ♦ Big Daddy Lee 3 stars=12-stringer ♦ E.D. Egg ♦ Kimchifox ♦ Scobey 2 stars=Mert