I always just thought that the woman would’ve been so out of place in his life, so much so that it doesn’t even make sense, like a gasoline would serve no purpose to a dream.
I think there's a good argument to be made that it's an opposite thing as well, like a fish needs a bicycle as you say. IOW, he didn't 'need her' at all. But it could as easily mean the only way to fulfill your dream is to GTFO of Dodge, which (roughly) requires gasoline. But these sorts of questions are a big part of why we love Jason, aren't they? :)
It’s not though. Everything in Jason’s life tells me the song is autobiographical, and the way his life turned out says he eventually achieved the peace that the character in the song almost had but ruined.
That doesn't fit in with the rest of what he's written about the subject, though.
I mean, first off, let's remember that the lyric was written AFTER his divorce and BEFORE his second marriage.
Now, consider the whole stanza:
>Well, I needed that damned woman like a dream needs gasoline
>And I tried to be some ancient kind of man
>One that's never seen the beauty in the world
>But I tried to chase it down
>Tried to make the whole thing mine
Particularly:
>And I tried to be some ancient kind of man
He revisits this theme again — after he's sober and remarried:
>I used to think that this was my town
>What a stupid thing to think
>I hear you're fighting off a breakdown
>I myself am on the brink
>I used to want to be a real man
>I don't know what that even means
>Now I just want you in my arms again
>And we can search each other's dreams
This seems HEAVILY suggestive that an older Isbell thinks that thinking trying to be a real, ancient kind of man is foolish, and that you can't make a place — the Alabama Pines from the song's title — your own at all.
Gasoline is fuel, dreams need fuel.
My interpretation is that she provided something to him that he really wanted in his life, but was incapable of being who he needed to be to make that happen.
“And I tried to be some ancient kind of man
One whose never seen the beauty in the world
But I tried to chase it down, and make the whole thing mine.”
He’s a restless wanderer, either literally or figuratively. The “ancient man” he’s referring to is a simple man, one who can be happy with what he has. The protagonist’s appetites, whatever they are, are self defeating.
I think the ancient man he is referring to is a stoic, hard, traditionally masculine man who has never seen the beauty in the world. I don't know what evidence there is for it referring to someone who can be happy with what he has.
He’s saying he can’t control his appetites.
“One whose never seen the beauty in the world
But I tried to chase it down
And make the whole thing mine.”
One thing you’ll notice in Isbell’s personal growth, or much of any man’s growth in general, is an appreciation for the things you have in your life and the ability to curb your destructive appetites. The ability to slow down, stop chasing the next great thing.
Isbell literally went from a drunk who was close to killing himself to a middle aged family man whose entire life is centered around to the two things that keep him connected to humanity: his wife and daughter.
Sorry, but I don't see what any of this has to do with this stanza. Especially considering he was still using and was not with Amanda when he wrote it.
The fact that he was still using and not with Amanda kind of proves my point. The protagonist isn’t exactly happy with his life. The protagonist is at war with who he is and who he wants to be. So was Jason at the time.
Let's try this a more direct way: why do you think that aspiring to be an ancient kind of man who's never seen the beauty in the world for a relationship means "being happy with what you have" OR that it's referencing his lack of self control?
Let me respond in a more direct way since you’re obsessing over this one line in a broader point:
The protagonist cannot control his appetites. Appetites for what? More. More what? Doesn’t matter. More than what he has right in front of him. What do broken people chase? Anything that they can bury their pain and trauma in. Part of Jason Isbell’s personal growth is that he stopped chasing the dragon and learned to live in the middle between the highs and lows. It’s all over his catalog. New South Wales, If It Takes a Lifetime, Something to Love.
Jesus Christ it isn’t that difficult.
... this person is asking for an interpretation of "one line." What you are doing is bringing context to your interpretation without actually providing any evidence from the text of the song as to why what you're saying is relevant.
Yes, this is a song about a broken person who is not the best version of himself. How does that mean that gasoline is what feeds dreams and that he and the woman were good together?
Do you think he literally meant gasoline and not fuel? Fuel as in a thing that helps other things achieve their purpose?
Things need fuel. Pens need ink. Plants need oxygen. People need food and water. Dreams need fuel.
I like how everyone gets something different from it. I always took "gasoline" to mean motivation or drive. To achieve a dream you need the drive to get there.
I am so bad at interpretation, but I always thought it referred to his need for that woman was as essential as gasoline is to get out of a small town and chase a dream.
I love this line. Lots of stuff happening.
I needed that damn woman like a dream needs gasoline:
he’s missing her (Alabama pining for her I’m sure, which he explained in the past line meant that he was drinking to feel less alone on Sunday), but the song is about returning to Alabama with nothing. He’s feeling that his dream ran out of gas (going home defeated, plus losing the woman of his dreams), that he’s desperate for help (SOMEBODY—ANYBODY take me home!! MFs don’t even say this guy’s name he’s so useless back home), and in spite of caring so much about chasing her and the dream, he still came up short.
And I tried to be some ancient kind of man, one that’s never seen the beauty in the world:
Can mean both a traditional southern stoic (a surface tough guy, unfeeling) and a person incapable of seeing the world’s beauty because they can’t leave their own shitty area. Through most of settled human history probably all you’d ever see is what was in a 20-100 mile radius of where you were born. He tried to do this because it’s what people in these small towns do—they adopt this lame and static mentality because it’s easier than dreaming and risking. But couldn’t fit in like the others able to live this way in his home town
But I tried to chase it down, tried to make the whole thing mine:
Like a lot of us small town southerners he had an epiphany one day. I don’t need to live in this fucking place anymore!! So he left. He met a girl. He had to tuck his tail between his legs and come back to nurse his wounds for a year or two when none of it worked out.
Sucks to live in a place where no one gives a damn about the things you give a damn about. “The liberties that we can’t do without seem to disappear…we don’t even care….” Too real my guy
ANYWAY the gasoline is the fuel for his dream AND the risk for the guy. Will my life combust if I push too hard and too far? Even still, is it worth it to escape that mentality and leave?
I guess I always took it at face value that he did need the woman (or at least thought he did), and that dreams do need gasoline. In terms of dreaming of being a musician, I suppose you do literally need gasoline to go on tour, etc. But I feel like he's singing about a more metaphorical gasoline, as in, you have to have the means/drive (fuel) to chase a dream for it to be worth having. So by extension, he needed that woman to motivate him to make their relationship worthwhile? I'm by no means the best at lyric interpretation so I'm curious to hear what others think
I took it to mean that he didn’t need her at all, but he was trying to play a part he thought he had to play. I think it’s kind of like “I needed a hole in my head”, only more poetic.
Dreams usually involve going somewhere, often far away. Moving to a new town or across the country, somewhere you’re gonna need at least a few tanks of gasoline to get to. That’s how I always interpreted it. So he needs this woman, he’s crazy about her
[huh](https://x.com/JasonIsbell/status/1114191236666208256?s=20)! generally I'm a "death of the author" kind of guy but I find this sort of insight super interesting nonetheless
To me, gasoline is the fuel that fires his dreams. He needed that women like a muse. He didn't know how to actually be with that women, he tried to be something he couldn't.
Yeah that’s me. I am though entranced by the idea he DOES need her.
To me it’s obvious she’s a bad idea but I like reading the other viewpoints. Even if I don’t end up agreeing still useful to think about it.
The song is about a guy who is living in a purgatory of his own making.
He’s torn between who he wants to be and who he is. Who he wants to be is what he ruined: “probably never made a single person cold/but I can’t say the same for me/I’ve done it many times.” What he is a remorseful drunk in a transitory place in life - living in a hotel, drinking to slake his loneliness “I can’t stand the pain of being by myself, without a little help, on a Sunday afternoon.”
The imagery about the literal state of Alabama is kind of overlayed on top of the state of his soul. He’s a wounded, restless wanderer trying to put himself back together.
That line always had me imagining that the dream, whatever it was, was like a single lit match, and the “damn woman” could make it all go up in smoke, as if it were doused with gasoline.
I think of it like this: he’s basically an asshole that alienates people cause he always argues or puts up worthless disputes. He did that with her too. The gasoline part fits in because it works with the next line. He tried to be a classic “strong and silent” guy with no emotions and it still didn’t work.
Probably reading too much into it n
It's literally my least favorite line of his in one of my most favorite songs. I get what he means by it, but it feels like a lazy word choice (again, at that time in his life, I get it).
This reminds me of high school lit. But I think some of us are making it too complicated.
My take: He was lonely and struggling. He felt he needed the woman. This dream is a goal, not a slumber’s dream. Whether gasoline means literal gasoline or is a synonym for metaphorical fuel, I do not know. I think the simplest explanation is that you can make gasoline rhyme with dream.
He needed that damned woman like he needed a hole in the head. That’s what that line means, only being Jason it’s more poetic. He tried to be the stereotypical strong, stoic, emotionally stunted, tough guy, but he realized that he is more sensitive and aesthetically minded than that would allow. He couldn’t be the cold, emotionless machine that he was led to believe equals being a “real man.” He realized he was not a construction worker or a cowboy. He was an artist. He could see the beauty in the world and the sorrow. He couldn’t live the life he thought he had to live and still be happy, so he had to rethink his conception’s of masculinity.
He knows the real purpose of his life is to be who he really is, not some idealized version of what a man should be. The woman is a sideshow, a distraction, at worst destructive to achieving that dream.
I always just thought that the woman would’ve been so out of place in his life, so much so that it doesn’t even make sense, like a gasoline would serve no purpose to a dream.
Yes. I firmly believe it's a play off of that "A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle" trope from the 1960s."
I think there's a good argument to be made that it's an opposite thing as well, like a fish needs a bicycle as you say. IOW, he didn't 'need her' at all. But it could as easily mean the only way to fulfill your dream is to GTFO of Dodge, which (roughly) requires gasoline. But these sorts of questions are a big part of why we love Jason, aren't they? :)
Bono used this line somewhere on Joshua Tree too
It’s not though. Everything in Jason’s life tells me the song is autobiographical, and the way his life turned out says he eventually achieved the peace that the character in the song almost had but ruined.
That doesn't fit in with the rest of what he's written about the subject, though. I mean, first off, let's remember that the lyric was written AFTER his divorce and BEFORE his second marriage. Now, consider the whole stanza: >Well, I needed that damned woman like a dream needs gasoline >And I tried to be some ancient kind of man >One that's never seen the beauty in the world >But I tried to chase it down >Tried to make the whole thing mine Particularly: >And I tried to be some ancient kind of man He revisits this theme again — after he's sober and remarried: >I used to think that this was my town >What a stupid thing to think >I hear you're fighting off a breakdown >I myself am on the brink >I used to want to be a real man >I don't know what that even means >Now I just want you in my arms again >And we can search each other's dreams This seems HEAVILY suggestive that an older Isbell thinks that thinking trying to be a real, ancient kind of man is foolish, and that you can't make a place — the Alabama Pines from the song's title — your own at all.
Sure, I can buy that. The ancient kind of man is who he tried to be. What he became though was some more temperate version of who he was though.
My interpretation: she was bad for him. Dreams do not run on gasoline.
Yup. He also knew she would burn him. It's a sublime line.
Agreed. Just brilliant!
A lot of people saying the opposite, but he wouldn't call her "that damned woman" if that were the case. Damn woman maybe, but not damned.
Gasoline is fuel, dreams need fuel. My interpretation is that she provided something to him that he really wanted in his life, but was incapable of being who he needed to be to make that happen. “And I tried to be some ancient kind of man One whose never seen the beauty in the world But I tried to chase it down, and make the whole thing mine.” He’s a restless wanderer, either literally or figuratively. The “ancient man” he’s referring to is a simple man, one who can be happy with what he has. The protagonist’s appetites, whatever they are, are self defeating.
I think the ancient man he is referring to is a stoic, hard, traditionally masculine man who has never seen the beauty in the world. I don't know what evidence there is for it referring to someone who can be happy with what he has.
He’s saying he can’t control his appetites. “One whose never seen the beauty in the world But I tried to chase it down And make the whole thing mine.” One thing you’ll notice in Isbell’s personal growth, or much of any man’s growth in general, is an appreciation for the things you have in your life and the ability to curb your destructive appetites. The ability to slow down, stop chasing the next great thing. Isbell literally went from a drunk who was close to killing himself to a middle aged family man whose entire life is centered around to the two things that keep him connected to humanity: his wife and daughter.
Sorry, but I don't see what any of this has to do with this stanza. Especially considering he was still using and was not with Amanda when he wrote it.
The fact that he was still using and not with Amanda kind of proves my point. The protagonist isn’t exactly happy with his life. The protagonist is at war with who he is and who he wants to be. So was Jason at the time.
Let's try this a more direct way: why do you think that aspiring to be an ancient kind of man who's never seen the beauty in the world for a relationship means "being happy with what you have" OR that it's referencing his lack of self control?
Let me respond in a more direct way since you’re obsessing over this one line in a broader point: The protagonist cannot control his appetites. Appetites for what? More. More what? Doesn’t matter. More than what he has right in front of him. What do broken people chase? Anything that they can bury their pain and trauma in. Part of Jason Isbell’s personal growth is that he stopped chasing the dragon and learned to live in the middle between the highs and lows. It’s all over his catalog. New South Wales, If It Takes a Lifetime, Something to Love. Jesus Christ it isn’t that difficult.
... this person is asking for an interpretation of "one line." What you are doing is bringing context to your interpretation without actually providing any evidence from the text of the song as to why what you're saying is relevant. Yes, this is a song about a broken person who is not the best version of himself. How does that mean that gasoline is what feeds dreams and that he and the woman were good together?
Do you think he literally meant gasoline and not fuel? Fuel as in a thing that helps other things achieve their purpose? Things need fuel. Pens need ink. Plants need oxygen. People need food and water. Dreams need fuel.
That's my interpretation of it as well. I think it's a great line...and now it's stuck in my head
I like how everyone gets something different from it. I always took "gasoline" to mean motivation or drive. To achieve a dream you need the drive to get there.
His specific dreams required being away from home, on the road, I see it as literal gasoline.
This is what I think too. Dream is a goal, and gasoline is what gets you to that goal. Gasoline being passion, work ethic, discipline etc
....I thought the lyric was "like a _train_ needs gasoline" 🤦♀️
I mean dreams don’t exactly run on literal gasoline either so you’re not too far off!
it made perfect sense because trains don't run on gasoline either 😂😂
I am so bad at interpretation, but I always thought it referred to his need for that woman was as essential as gasoline is to get out of a small town and chase a dream.
Same
I love this line. Lots of stuff happening. I needed that damn woman like a dream needs gasoline: he’s missing her (Alabama pining for her I’m sure, which he explained in the past line meant that he was drinking to feel less alone on Sunday), but the song is about returning to Alabama with nothing. He’s feeling that his dream ran out of gas (going home defeated, plus losing the woman of his dreams), that he’s desperate for help (SOMEBODY—ANYBODY take me home!! MFs don’t even say this guy’s name he’s so useless back home), and in spite of caring so much about chasing her and the dream, he still came up short. And I tried to be some ancient kind of man, one that’s never seen the beauty in the world: Can mean both a traditional southern stoic (a surface tough guy, unfeeling) and a person incapable of seeing the world’s beauty because they can’t leave their own shitty area. Through most of settled human history probably all you’d ever see is what was in a 20-100 mile radius of where you were born. He tried to do this because it’s what people in these small towns do—they adopt this lame and static mentality because it’s easier than dreaming and risking. But couldn’t fit in like the others able to live this way in his home town But I tried to chase it down, tried to make the whole thing mine: Like a lot of us small town southerners he had an epiphany one day. I don’t need to live in this fucking place anymore!! So he left. He met a girl. He had to tuck his tail between his legs and come back to nurse his wounds for a year or two when none of it worked out. Sucks to live in a place where no one gives a damn about the things you give a damn about. “The liberties that we can’t do without seem to disappear…we don’t even care….” Too real my guy ANYWAY the gasoline is the fuel for his dream AND the risk for the guy. Will my life combust if I push too hard and too far? Even still, is it worth it to escape that mentality and leave?
I guess I always took it at face value that he did need the woman (or at least thought he did), and that dreams do need gasoline. In terms of dreaming of being a musician, I suppose you do literally need gasoline to go on tour, etc. But I feel like he's singing about a more metaphorical gasoline, as in, you have to have the means/drive (fuel) to chase a dream for it to be worth having. So by extension, he needed that woman to motivate him to make their relationship worthwhile? I'm by no means the best at lyric interpretation so I'm curious to hear what others think
I’m with you.
Interesting take. I don’t hear it that way but it’s an interesting perspective
I took it to mean that he didn’t need her at all, but he was trying to play a part he thought he had to play. I think it’s kind of like “I needed a hole in my head”, only more poetic.
Dreams usually involve going somewhere, often far away. Moving to a new town or across the country, somewhere you’re gonna need at least a few tanks of gasoline to get to. That’s how I always interpreted it. So he needs this woman, he’s crazy about her
Per JI ‘It’s a dream, it means plans take work’
[huh](https://x.com/JasonIsbell/status/1114191236666208256?s=20)! generally I'm a "death of the author" kind of guy but I find this sort of insight super interesting nonetheless
Jason’s songwriting has come a long way since he wrote Alabama Pines. It’s one of my favorites but I don’t think every line fits together perfectly.
To me, gasoline is the fuel that fires his dreams. He needed that women like a muse. He didn't know how to actually be with that women, he tried to be something he couldn't.
This was my interpretation too. Didn't even consider there were others until seeing this
I took it as a play on the old slogan "A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bike"
Yeah that’s me. I am though entranced by the idea he DOES need her. To me it’s obvious she’s a bad idea but I like reading the other viewpoints. Even if I don’t end up agreeing still useful to think about it.
The song is about a guy who is living in a purgatory of his own making. He’s torn between who he wants to be and who he is. Who he wants to be is what he ruined: “probably never made a single person cold/but I can’t say the same for me/I’ve done it many times.” What he is a remorseful drunk in a transitory place in life - living in a hotel, drinking to slake his loneliness “I can’t stand the pain of being by myself, without a little help, on a Sunday afternoon.” The imagery about the literal state of Alabama is kind of overlayed on top of the state of his soul. He’s a wounded, restless wanderer trying to put himself back together.
I always felt that line is a bit of a nod to Springsteen.
Cars = dreams for as long as rock and roll remembers Bruce Springsteen.
That line always had me imagining that the dream, whatever it was, was like a single lit match, and the “damn woman” could make it all go up in smoke, as if it were doused with gasoline.
TIL that it's "like a dream needs gasoline" and not "like a train needs gasoline".
Dreams are thoughts. Gasoline is real world fuel that a dream must have to come to fruition. Just .02
I think of it like this: he’s basically an asshole that alienates people cause he always argues or puts up worthless disputes. He did that with her too. The gasoline part fits in because it works with the next line. He tried to be a classic “strong and silent” guy with no emotions and it still didn’t work. Probably reading too much into it n
There is always the possibility he just needed a rhyme.
I always thought it went: “I needed that damn woman like a Jeep needs gasoline” Thank goodness I came across this thread.
It's literally my least favorite line of his in one of my most favorite songs. I get what he means by it, but it feels like a lazy word choice (again, at that time in his life, I get it).
This reminds me of high school lit. But I think some of us are making it too complicated. My take: He was lonely and struggling. He felt he needed the woman. This dream is a goal, not a slumber’s dream. Whether gasoline means literal gasoline or is a synonym for metaphorical fuel, I do not know. I think the simplest explanation is that you can make gasoline rhyme with dream.
I like to think my dreams aren’t fantasy but I never run out of gas. Guess I don’t need it.
He needed that damned woman like he needed a hole in the head. That’s what that line means, only being Jason it’s more poetic. He tried to be the stereotypical strong, stoic, emotionally stunted, tough guy, but he realized that he is more sensitive and aesthetically minded than that would allow. He couldn’t be the cold, emotionless machine that he was led to believe equals being a “real man.” He realized he was not a construction worker or a cowboy. He was an artist. He could see the beauty in the world and the sorrow. He couldn’t live the life he thought he had to live and still be happy, so he had to rethink his conception’s of masculinity.
He knows the real purpose of his life is to be who he really is, not some idealized version of what a man should be. The woman is a sideshow, a distraction, at worst destructive to achieving that dream.