Talk:Radar Love

Possible Alternate Meaning of the Song

Reading through the lyrics, it seems as though the song could be about a man committing suicide to meet his dead wife. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.98.90.38 (talk) 20:05, 18 April 2011 (UTC)

Different Possible Alternate Meaning of the Song

Most of the people I have talked to about the song, about four out of the five or six I have talked to, agree with me that the song is about a _truck-driver_ coming home to his significant other, not someone driving a car. He might also be retiring, rather than simply returning from a long trip. In that case, the story-line is the same as "Eighteen Miles and a Dozen Roses" 65.79.173.135 (talk) 16:32, 1 June 2012 (UTC)Will in New Haven65.79.173.135 (talk) 16:32, 1 June 2012 (UTC)

This may be the most un-informative article I've ever seen on Wikipedia. I came here because I recently had a thought regarding an "alternate meaning." When you REALLY think about the last verse, I think the "Radar-lover" crashes (NOT intentionally, as mentioned elsewhere on this talk page) and DIES.

"No more speed, I'm almost there

Gotta be cool now, gotta take care, (why I say "not intentionally")

Last car to pass, here I go,

A line of cars going down the road slow (or "that slow road," maybe: This is because the narrator has crashed in passing that "last car.")

And the radio plays that forgotten song,

Brenda Lee's comin' on strong

And the newsman sings his same song,

'One more Radar-Lover is GONE!'" (as in, "dead")

Of course, this is just my POV (with SOME possibly scrambled lyrics), and definitely not for inclusion, unless we add a "Theories on meaning" or somesuch section. Like I said, I came to check others thoughts on this matter, and am a bit disappointed in the brevity and complete lack of any meaningful entry on this song. And just BTW, it STILL has a White Lion infobox. WHY? Not signed in, on a borrowed computer. Regards. Jororo05 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 199.248.185.22 (talk) 19:06, 23 November 2016 (UTC)

A song can mean whatever a person wants it to mean, the only person who can ever say for 100% is the person who wrote it. Everything else is just various interpretations. I have heard that his girl is alive, she is dead, he is dead, he dies, shes an alien, hes a car driver, hes a truck driver. Whichever one you like best, go with that. But since the are dozens of different ways to interpret the lyrics, in the absence of any solid facts (testimony from the song writer or other members of the band), the is little point in puttin all these various theories down, since they will be nothing but speculation and probably half of them blatant OR. If you can fidn some published author advocating your interpretation you might make a claim for it. But I would submit that in the era the song was written, saying "one more radar lover is gone" actually means that he is leaving the rest in the dust. Real gone, man, can ya dig it? He giving a sequence of snapshots of his hectic drive: no faster, gotta take care, or I won't make it. Last car to pass, here we go! A line of slow cars, passing them all at speed. The radio is playing an old forgotten song, apparently by Brenda Lee. Now the news reader is on, speaking news reader speak. That's one more radar lover gone, baby! (to the wondering witnesses seeing him blasting past at 120mph at 4 AM) See ya.

I personally thought the song made more sense when I still thought it was "Redeye Love". I thought that was a much more appropriate label for a song about a guy who drives relentlessly all night to see his woman who is a long way away. I assumed it was a song about a long distance relationship, or a man working far from home, who would drive these crazy drives, staying awake with adrenaline, coffee and speed for 2,000 miles just to spend some time with his baby. Mostly because I never really listened to the lyrics. I thought of 'radar love' but dismissed it as a ridiculous name that didn't mean anything, even with the bit suggesting radio waves. But obviously I ws mistaken.

64.223.165.215 (talk) 17:54, 11 January 2021 (UTC)

Theme music for an Australian TV current affairs show?

The guitar solo and drum solo in this track was used as the opening theme music for an Australian current affairs TV show on the ABC in the 1970's called 4 Corners.

The closing credits used to close the show was the final drumming and bass heard after the solo but befoe the verse.

Mmm, povvy povness!

This ain't no article, it's a review!

Lyrically, "Radar Love" is a tale of late-night driving and ESP; the real attraction is the non-stop parade of musical invention, from the aforementioned intro and drum solo to the twin guitar responses to each vocal line in the last verse to the cascading synthesizers that crash the tune to a close.

Mmm, povvy povness! --63.25.112.122 02:12, 29 September 2007 (UTC)

Agreed; some might counter that the real attraction is that it isn't audible at this particular moment. -- Gyrofrog (talk) 14:04, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

It's been almost two years since the original comment, and over one year since my own. I'm removing the sentence in question. -- Gyrofrog (talk) 19:57, 26 August 2009 (UTC)

White Lion

Why does this have the White Lion info at the bottom? Since this page is refering to the original and not the WL cover, shouldn't it be Golden Earring info, if any at all? 75.67.203.246 (talk) 18:19, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

Trivia Breakup

I moved most of the Trivia section into the new Radar Love#Notable Song Appearances section. I thought that the dated list format seems a bit more "encyclopedic," and solves the problem of the deprecated trivia. The remainder went into a couple of other sections. Comments are welcome on my talk page. --Eliyahu S ^Talk 20:18, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

??White Lion?? yet again

Why is there a White Lion info box on this title's page? If at all, should it not be Golden Earring's band line-up at the time of the song's recording and possibly more about the album it appeared on together with follow-up single (if that existed), predecessing and successing albums and some such? Also see comment above. If noone cares to explain the box's purpose I will probably remove it without substitution anytime. Regards, --93.196.247.76 (talk) 16:48, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

Hendrix Cover?

How could this song have been 'covered' by Jimi Hendrix?? Is there a version prior to Golden Earring's? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.169.119.96 (talk) 05:21, 24 August 2010 (UTC)

Subject

Now I know that the article has been covered by every rock band on the planet, and every pack of stray dogs in greater cities seems to howl it at night. Quite interesting. If one could find now what this is all about? If that one:

Lyrically, "Radar Love" is a tale of late-night driving and ESP; the real attraction is the non-stop parade of musical invention, from the aforementioned intro and drum solo to the twin guitar responses to each vocal line in the last verse to the cascading synthesizers that crash the tune to a close.

...had any sourcing, it would be a hell lot of improvement to the article that mentions about everything you got to know about the song rather than what it's about musically and lyrically. Did Golden Earring say something about that, or did they leave the interpretation to the listener (or cover band) - which would in itself be something to write about?

This here is a husk.--93.222.208.30 (talk) 23:14, 5 February 2011 (UTC)

Trivia - which cover? also, support White Lion "box"

I support the box for White Lion because their version charted. In my opinion the article is about the song itself, not just Golden Earring's original recording. Given that, however, I have a question. In all of the trivia appearances, which used the Golden Earring version vs. the White Lion vs other cover versions? Ukrpickaxe (talk) 17:25, 24 November 2013 (UTC)

Ken Burns' Baseball

This song was also used as part of the soundtrack for the Ninth Inning of Ken Burns' Baseball. It was part of the background music underneath the segment Some Kind of a Game, which concerns the 1975 Cincinnati Reds-Boston Red Sox World Series. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.100.37.212 (talk) 16:53, 30 June 2018 (UTC)

what's a movement?

The intro starts with a guitar riff in four movements.

Can three or five notes make a movement? How about "four separated phrases"? —Tamfang (talk) 13:21, 16 December 2020 (UTC)

Reading stuff into the lyrics that's just not there

The cited source (footnote 6) does, at the time I'm typing this, state that the song's lyricist (Barry Hay) says the driver died. However, that's just what Hay says the lyrics say. That's NOT what the lyrics say. The driver is passing a long line of slower-moving cars, while taking care not to speed (the lyrics say as much), and as he passes each car (or maybe as he passes only the last car) he says "One more radar-lover gone", which could mean "I passed another one" or "I'm another radar lover going past them". There is nothing in the song that gives the SLIGHTEST indication that an accident has occurred or that the narrator has died. Not the SLIGHTEST. Authors lie about what their works mean all the time. People would ask Picasso "Did your painting mean THIS?" and he'd say "Oh yeah, it did". I read a lot of The Beatles discussing their own writing of their own songs. Nothing matches up. But an English word really means what it means and "gone" means "dead" only if there's enough context IN THE SONG (not in the opinion of the lyricist) for "gone" to mean "dead".2600:1700:6759:B000:B82F:221B:764C:4BB3 (talk) 07:16, 2 February 2024 (UTC)Christopher Lawrence Simpson