Blinking Lights (for me)
or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love Airplanes, Car Accidents, and Psychic Pain
blinking lights on the airplane wings
up above the trees
blinking down a morse code signal
especially for me
ain't no rainbow in the sky
in the middle of the night
but the signal's coming through
one day i will be alright again
blinking lights on the highway cars
stopping one by one
get a look at the accident
didn't see that one coming
and the doctor in the sky
gonna bring his chopper down
gonna bring me out alive
and set me on the ground
once more again
blinking lights on the airplane wings
up above the trees
Note: The subtitle of the song appears only in the lyrics booklet, and gives the song extra dimension. Certainly, it guided me towards the 'car crash' theory.
There are a number of lovely ideas in this song. First I'll start with the basics - what I think the song is about. The key is the third verse. It took a couple of listens, and the sub-title kinda gives it away - but it is E in the car accident. He has a near death experience - and from this develops a sort of optimism. He learns to see hidden messages in the world. And this is the idea that I really love in this song - that E can look up at the flashing lights on an airplane wing, and see them as a sort of morse code, telling him everything is going to be OK. It's a really sweet idea that such a humble thing can inspire hope. That it can be a message from God, or some higher power. That he can see this little sign, and draw strength from it. After a fashion, we all draw inspiration from messages in the world around us. A beautiful sunset. A song that speaks directly to us. Birdsong reminding us that morning has come, and the new day must begin. Little things that we sometimes see around us, things that bring a smile to our face. Such things are E's blinking lights.
There is a literal interpretation for the lights, and indeed the whole song. I don't know anything about the accident of which he writes - whether it's real or fictional - but if one was to have a car accident, seeing airplane lights afterwords would be a good thing. It would mean that you're still alive. The flashing lights are proof that you can see, and they tell you that things are going to be OK. E says the lights are on an airplane wing - but what if what he's seeing is the lights on the air ambulance which comes to resuce him? 'and the doctor in the sky / gonna bring his chopper down'. In this case, the blinking lights do literally mean that he's going to be OK - because they represent the doctor who is going to make him better.
This fourth verse confuses me slightly. Maybe confuse is the wrong word. This doctor in the sky - is it not some mortal doctor, and in fact God? The lyric 'set me on the ground' kinda hints towards this. After all, a doctor wouldn't pick you up and set you on the ground. But a benevolent god might see fit to pick you up, dust you off, and set you down. And of course, 'in the sky' suggests that he is writing about some higher power, or some force in Heaven. Could it be that E feels he has been saved by God? Perhaps. In all honesty, this doesn't seem like an E kind of thing to say. But maybe he feels that there is some greater force at work. Certainly, I don't think any of his music denies the existence a god (correct me if I am wrong, please). I certainly don't think that this is the central point of the song, but it is an idea hinted at, and worth considering.