Slow Stroke
Greg MacPherson Lyrics

your mama look like carol channing
Your mother has physical features that resemble Carol Channing.

she watch the sunset on an 8" black and white tv
Your mother watches the sunset on an old black and white TV.

she's got a sister in Toronto
Your mother has a sister who lives in Toronto.

you got an old man out in "call me when you're drunk b.c."
You have a father who lives in British Columbia and only wants to be called when he's drunk.

he was the king of corona
Your father was the king of the town of Corona, possibly indicating he was an alcoholic.

dark glasses and a reason not to go back home
Your father wears dark glasses which may be hiding something or he has a problem at home that he does not want to deal with.

she fell in love with the night time
Your mother loves being out at night, possibly because she feels free or more alive.

she fell in love with his fists and his cheap cologne
Your mother fell in love with a man who was violent and had poor taste in cologne.

your mama watch through the window
Your mother watches events happening outside through her window.

she see the trouble through the eyes looking back from the street
Your mother sees trouble in the reflection of the eyes of people on the street.

completely out of proportion
The problems she sees may be exaggerated and not as bad as she thinks.

too old, too faint, too grey, too weak
Your mother may be too old or weak to do anything about the problems she sees.

she sits somewhere over the highway on the edge of town
Your mother sits near the highway on the outskirts of town.

looking back into the noise for the slightest sound
Your mother is trying to hear any signs of trouble or danger.

between the leather and the artificial lights
The setting is in a gritty or seedy area with lots of artificial lighting.

nothing much new down here tonight
There is nothing exciting or new happening in this area tonight.

she says, "I wanna run away and wanna see the world but I probably never will...but I don't wanna know.
Your mother wants to escape her current situation and see the world, but knows she probably never will. She is uncertain about not wanting to know more than what she knows now.

some nights I can sink like a stone, look around me and completely understand...and some nights I don't."
Some nights your mother feels downtrodden and feels like she understands everything that's going on around her, while other nights she doesn't understand anything.

your mama stood in the hallway
Your mother was standing in the hallway.

the cigarette smoke, slow stroke, nerves like steel
The atmosphere is tense, with your mother smoking and moving slowly but surely.

she tell you all about the old times
Your mother reminisces about the past and shares stories about it.

when everything was new more than it was real
In the past, things were new and exciting but not necessarily grounded in reality.

she said, "I never had a friend that would put me down
Your mother has never had a friend who would talk badly about her.

I never knew where all the money'd go until it was gone"
Your mother never knew where all her money went until it was all spent.

between the leather and the artificial lungs
The setting is still in a gritty or seedy area with lots of artificial lighting.

blowing smoke over the things she'd done
As your mother smokes, she reflects on the things she has done in her past.