Borrowed Time

Album: Please and Thank You (2009)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • What is a stair lift? It's the same as an American chair lift - and not the sort skiers use to get uphill. The chair lift in this song is the mechanical device that helps people in wheelchairs get up and down the stairs. And this song, confesses singer Steve Adams, is "about two old people getting it on on a chairlift." He breaks into a laugh and says, "That's really nice, if you end up in an old people's home together, you'd probably still want to..."

    On a deeper level, though, Steve clarifies, "It's a song about sometimes in a relationship you feel like you're rushing headlong towards everything, and you're panicking. I suppose it's a song about saying, 'We don't have to panic anymore. We've got years ahead of us, but we still have to be nice to each other.' And have sex on a chairlift." (quotes from a Songfacts interview with Adams)
  • In a shout-out to John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival, Steve Adams used the word "chooglin'" in one of the verses here, which surprised even him. "I thought I hardly ever used any Americanisms when I was singing in American," he explains, talking about how their first records were recorded using an "American accent." "There's probably about half a dozen throughout all of our records. And then this one record that we've just done is like the most English phrasing. I think it's particularly English in its topics and scope and everything. And I thought it would be hilarious (laughing) to put 'chooglin' in the middle of it."

    He's not really clear on what the word means, but interprets it as a style of guitar playing. He says, "Somebody had mentioned that even though we stopped doing country music, the rhythm guitar still does that stuff – chooglin' – like John Fogerty does, maybe."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Julian Lennon

Julian LennonSongwriter Interviews

Julian tells the stories behind his hits "Valotte" and "Too Late for Goodbyes," and fills us in on his many non-musical pursuits. Also: what MTV meant to his career.

Eric Burdon

Eric BurdonSongwriter Interviews

The renown rock singer talks about "The House of the Rising Sun" and "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood."

Does Jimmy Page Worship The Devil? A Look at Satanism in Rock

Does Jimmy Page Worship The Devil? A Look at Satanism in RockSong Writing

We ring the Hell's Bells to see what songs and rockers are sincere in their Satanism, and how much of it is an act.

Mike Scott of The Waterboys - "Fisherman's Blues"

Mike Scott of The Waterboys - "Fisherman's Blues"They're Playing My Song

Armed with a childhood spent devouring books, Mike Scott's heart was stolen by the punk rock scene of 1977. Not surprisingly, he would go on to become the most literate of rockers.

Paul Stanley of Kiss, Soul Station

Paul Stanley of Kiss, Soul StationSongwriter Interviews

Paul Stanley on his soul music project, the Kiss songs with the biggest soul influence, and the non-make-up era of the band.

Phone Booth Songs

Phone Booth SongsSong Writing

Phone booths are nearly extinct, but they provided storylines for some of the most profound songs of the pre-cell phone era.