Vegas by Sara Bareilles Lyrics Meaning – Chasing Dreams in the City of Lights
Lyrics
‘Cause somebody told me
That’s where dreams would be
Gonna sell my car and go to Vegas
Finally see my name upon the Palace marquis
Gonna quit my job and move to New York
‘Cause somebody told me that’s where
Dreamers should go
I’m gonna quit my job and move to New York
And tattoo my body with every Broadway show
Listen up now honey, you’re gonna be sorry
Can’t get out from under a sky that is falling
And you say
No fame no money I’m nobody
The way I’m running has sure got me down
On my knees
But next stop, Vegas please
I gotta get to Vegas
Can you take me to Vegas?
I’m gonna sell my house and cross the border
‘Cause somebody told me dreams live in Mexico
I’m gonna sell my house I got to lose ten pounds
And cross the border
And make sweet love upon the white sandy shore
Listen up now honey, you’re gonna be sorry
Can’t get out from under a sky that is falling
And you say
No fame no money I’m nobody
The way I’m running has sure got me down
On my knees
But next stop, Vegas please
It’s always just around the corner or you’re
On your way to somewhere
That is bigger or better,
If you could only get there
It’s never your fault you can’t start your
Own winning streak
But I’d hate to lose you to the fortune you seek
I’m gonna lose my mind and sail the ocean
‘Cause somebody told me there were
Cherry blue skies
I’m gonna fix my mind with a final destination
And have a deep sleep upon a sweet dream
I’ll never realize, no
Listen up now honey, you’re gonna be sorry
I can’t get out from under a sky that is falling
And you say
No fame no money I’m nobody
The way I’m running has sure got me down
On my knees
And next stop, Vegas please
Can you take me to Vegas?
I need to see Vegas
Can you take me to Vegas?
In the whirlwind of bright lights and broken dreams, Sara Bareilles’s ‘Vegas’ decrypts the allure of the fabled city that has enticed the hopeful and the dreamer. At the core of its melody lies a narrative that resonates with anyone who has ever yearned for more—a life reimagined under the neon glow.
As the smooth chords unfold, Bareilles weaves a story of escape and the endless quest for reinvention. But what truly underlies the siren call of the city? Let’s dive deep into the thematic brilliance of this hauntingly beautiful tune and unveil its lyrical treasures.
The Thrill of Escapism and the Lure of New Beginnings
Bareilles encapsulates the universal desire to break away from the mundane in ‘Vegas.’ The song’s protagonist is ready to sell their car, quit their job, discard the familiar in pursuit of an illusory tabula rasa. Vegas, with its synonymous reputation for grandeur and opulence, becomes the destination for rebirth. This shedding of the old self for the promise of transformation speaks to the beating heart of listeners everywhere.
Beneath the surface, however, is a commentary on the fickleness of chasing dreams where the house always wins. Bareilles doesn’t just narrate a journey; she paints a psychological landscape of yearning, a profoundly human condition to chase the wind and drink the wild air of places imbued with the hope of ‘making it.’
A Quest Fueled by the What-Ifs: Sara’s Hidden Message
In ‘Vegas,’ Bareilles may ostensibly be singing about the geographical pilgrimage to the City of Sin, but her canvas is much broader. The song stands as a metaphor for the internal gamble that dreamers take. The refrain, ‘Somebody told me, that’s where dreams would be,’ echoes the hearsay and the rumors driving countless souls to gamble on hearsay and the grass-is-greener fallacy.
The heartrending reality is that underneath the pursuit lies uncertainty and fear—an apprehension that the song captures beautifully. In every destination from New York to Mexico, the subject searches not just for a place, but for significance, for validation that is often sought after but seldom caught.
Memorable Lines That Echo the Dreamer’s Ethos
‘No fame, no money, I’m nobody,’ the lines reverberate with a stark nakedness of the self, stripped of pretensions. ‘The way I’m running has sure got me down on my knees,’ confesses the somber realization that the chase itself is wearing. Yet, there’s no loss of tempo—the pilgrimage continues with ‘next stop, Vegas please.’
These lyrics become an earworm not just for their melodic brilliance but for their poignant admission of vulnerability. They strike a chord, pun intended, with anyone who’s ever staked their all on a dream, and found themselves on the precipice of hope and despair.
The Ironic Search for Cherry Blue Skies
Perhaps the most striking of Bareilles’s storytelling elements is the juxtaposition of a ‘sky that is falling’ against the pursuit of ‘cherry blue skies.’ This contrast is less about weather and more a clever symbol of the inner turmoil. For every dreamer knows that with towering ambition comes the shadow of doubt, and so the eternal question arises, ‘can you take me to Vegas?’
The ocean as a place of solace in ‘I’m gonna lose my mind and sail the ocean’ subtly nods to the idea that sometimes the journey is the destination. Maybe the ‘sweet dream I’ll never realize’ is in the sailing, not in the finding; Vegas represents the never-ending quest for fulfillment that might forever shimmer on the horizon, elusive, just out of reach.
A Cautionary Tale Wrapped in a Siren Song
Bareilles is not just a scribe of the dream chaser but plays the siren warning those lured by the Vegas call. ‘It’s never your fault you can’t start your own winning streak,’ she sings. It’s an acknowledgment of how easy it is to feel your failures aren’t your own in a game where luck rules, and how this might just propel you further into the depths of the desert dream.
‘But I’d hate to lose you to the fortune you seek’ may well be Bareilles reaching out through song, a lyrical hand on the shoulder of the reckless gambler within all. It’s a reminder that sometimes the greatest fortunes aren’t found on neon-lined streets or in the seeds of chance we plant in desert soils, but perhaps in the love, the life, the home we leave behind on our quest for something more.
