Alvin and his older brother Phil Alvin grew up loving Americana, country and blues. In 1979 they formed The Blasters with friends Bill Bateman and John Bazz.
Shortly after leaving the Blasters, Alvin joined X as lead guitarist after the departure of Billy Zoom. Alvin amicably left the group to work on a solo project shortly after the recording sessions for their album See How We Are. Alvin is also a member of country band The Knitters (composed mainly of members of X), appearing on 1987's Poor Little Critter on the Road and the 2005 follow-up, The Modern Sounds of The Knitters.
In the early 1980s Alvin, along with fellow Blasters members Bill Bateman and Steve Berlin, performed on several albums with the Los Angeles punk band The Flesh Eaters. These albums are considered precursors to what is now called "deathrock". Alvin also played with the band The Gun Club briefly, playing guitar on "Eternally Is Here" & "The Stranger in Our Town" from the 1984 album, The Las Vegas Story.
Alvin's first solo album, entitled Romeo's Escape (1987) in the United States and Every Night About This Time in England, added a purer country influence along with a larger side-portion of the blues; while the album was critically well received, it didn't fare well in the marketplace, and Alvin was dropped by his American record label, Columbia. Alvin suffered health problems which sidelined him for a while, except for a wild tour with friends Mojo Nixon and Country Dick Montana as the Pleasure Barons, which was described as "a Las Vegas revue from acts who aren't going to be asked to play Vegas." (A live album was released of a second Pleasure Barons tour in 1993.)
In 1989, Dwight Yoakam scored a hit on the country charts with Alvin's song "Long White Cadillac," and Alvin used the royalties to start work on his second solo set, Blue Blvd. Released by the California-based roots-music label Hightone Records in 1991, Blue Blvd received enthusiastic reviews and sold well enough to re-establish Alvin as a significant artist in the roots rock scene.
After releasing Museum of Heart in 1993, Alvin began to turn his attention to acoustic music with 1994's King of California, and over the next several years Alvin moved back and forth between hard-edged roots rock and more introspective acoustic material that still honored his influences (and allowed him to display a greater range as a vocalist).
In 2000, Alvin recorded a collection of traditional folk and blues classics, Public Domain: Songs From the Wild Land, which earned him a Grammy award for Best Contemporary Folk Album.
In 2011, Alvin released the album Eleven Eleven on Yep Roc Records. The album was a return to Alvin's rock roots. According to Rolling Stone, "Though Alvin has often switched between electric and acoustic, almost everything here is plugged in – above all Alvin, an under-recognized guitar hero."
www.davealvin.net
Bus Station
Dave Alvin Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
He sips his coffee, and he pulls his ring,
and thinks of how she looked years ago
And she curls up, with a blanket, in a yellow, plastic seat
He touches her, and she looks out the window,
at an empty morning street
Chorus:
To end up like this after all he said
He lies to her, she kisses him, gettin' tired of love
Bus station, at sun-up, she reads the ticket, in her hand
It's a different name, for the same old town, and this ain't the life
that they had planned
And so he tries to tell her, it won't be like the, times before
It's a different town, and a brand new start, and he's gonna work a whole lot more.
Chorus
Bus station, at sun-up, another hour, left to blow
He touches her, but she'd like to leave,
and there's no PLACE left to go
Chorus
Well, she musta had a screw loose, in her head
How could she believe all the things he said
She lies to him, he kisses her, gettin' tired of love
Gettin' tired of love, gettin' tired of love
The song "Bus Station" by Dave Alvin talks about a couple who are at the bus station at sun-up, each with their own thoughts about their current situation. The man takes a sip of coffee, touches the woman sitting next to him, and thinks about how she looked years ago. Meanwhile, the woman curls up with a blanket in a yellow plastic seat and looks out the window at the empty morning street. The chorus hints at a past with some lies and possibly broken promises: "Well, he musta had a screw loose, in his head / To end up like this after all he said / He lies to her, she kisses him, gettin' tired of love."
As the song progresses, the woman looks at her ticket with a different name for the same old town, realizing that this is not the life they had planned. The man tries to convince her that it will be different this time, and that it's a new start with a whole lot more work. However, as they wait for their bus, the woman doesn't seem convinced and realizes that there's no place left to go. The final chorus reveals that the woman might have been lying as well, tired of love and tired of believing in the man's words.
Overall, "Bus Station" is a song about a couple who are stuck in a rut, at a crossroads in their lives. They're at a point where they're tired of each other but still can't let go, and are unsure of what their future holds. The song paints a clear picture of despair, regret, and disillusionment.
Line by Line Meaning
Bus station, at sun-up, lookin' for a new, place to go
A man is at a bus station early in the morning, searching for a new destination to travel to
He sips his coffee, and he pulls his ring, and thinks of how she looked years ago
The man drinks coffee and touches his wedding ring while reminiscing about how his wife looked years ago
And she curls up, with a blanket, in a yellow, plastic seat
His wife is curled up with a blanket in a yellow plastic seat
He touches her, and she looks out the window, at an empty morning street
The man touches his wife, who then looks out of the window at the empty street
Chorus: Well, he musta had a screw loose, in his head To end up like this after all he said He lies to her, she kisses him, gettin' tired of love
The chorus suggests that the man was foolish for ending up in his current situation and he lies to his wife, who is beginning to lose interest in their relationship
Bus station, at sun-up, she reads the ticket, in her hand
The man's wife is reading her bus ticket early in the morning
It's a different name, for the same old town, and this ain't the life that they had planned
The bus ticket reveals that they are going to the same old town but under a different name, and this life wasn't what they had planned
And so he tries to tell her, it won't be like the, times before
The man tries to reassure his wife that things will be different this time around
It's a different town, and a brand new start, and he's gonna work a whole lot more.
He explains to her that they are going to a different town and he plans to work harder for a fresh start
Chorus
The chorus repeats, emphasizing the lack of trust in the relationship
Bus station, at sun-up, another hour, left to blow
They have an hour left at the bus station
He touches her, but she'd like to leave, and there's no PLACE left to go
The man tries to touch his wife, but she wants to leave and they have nowhere else to go
Well, she musta had a screw loose, in her head How could she believe all the things he said She lies to him, he kisses her, gettin' tired of love Gettin' tired of love, gettin' tired of love
The chorus plays again, with the roles reversed this time, as the woman begins to lose faith and the man kisses her, both of them becoming tired of love
Contributed by Abigail D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.