Lady Cab Driver

The Light of the Past
"Lady Cab Driver" from the album 1999 (1982)

The opening lines to this song:

“Lady cab driver, can you take me for a ride?

Don't know where I'm goin'
'Cuz I don't know where I've been”

Could also be interpreted as “Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it.” In this song the narrator is so lonely that he needs the company of a woman to help him deal with his problems (the cold winds). Since he is telling the lady exactly what he wants we can assume that he has used this coping mechanism before so when trouble or stress arises he returns to it just like we all do. Some of us lash out, self-medicate, shutdown, etc. We all have coping mechanisms and too often they are not healthy for us. Once we develop these behaviors they become automatic reactions. For example when conflict arises with a loved one you might shut down because in the past doing this prevented you from becoming hurt emotionally or made the argument end. All behavior has a reason and the reason here is emotional protection. Unfortunately you are doing the opposite. You are putting up a wall that is cutting you off from having an intimate relationship with your loved one(s) further isolating you and hurting you emotionally. This is the problem with most coping mechanisms they do more harm than good and we delude ourselves into thinking they are helping us when in fact they are harming us. Drug addicts know full well how destructive coping mechanisms can be.

In order for us to get where we are going we have to know where we came from. This true but some people get stuck in the past because we believe — mistakenly, all too often — that the knowledge or insight we will gain from the past will give us what we need to change our behaviors, thoughts and feelings today (Grohol, 2010). The past can only tell us how we go to where we are today it cannot give us the insight to change present behavior. Our past is merely a light that illuminates the pathways on the map that is our life. Once we know where we are on that map we can change our behavior. For instance if a person realizes that every time they drink they end up blacked out or doing something that puts their life at risk. They have acknowledged their past, “When I drink I lose control.” That knowledge will not change their future but they now see that there is a huge cliff in front of them on their life map and they can either continue to walk over the edge or change their direction. Without knowing where we are we will not know where we are going. The narrator in this song has that epiphany at the end of the song, Prince sings:

Not knowing where I'm going
This galaxy's better than not having a place to go
And now I know
(I know)

Indeed not having a place to go is an awful feeling because humans are communal by nature. Our maps will guide us to where we need and want to be, in loving relationships with others but if we never find out where we are on that map (thanks to the light of the past) we will be looking for a Lady Cab Driver to protect us from the cold winds.

Reference
Grohol, J. M. (2010, July 3). How Your Past Can Help Guide Your Future. Retrieved May 18, 2015, from http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2010/07/03/how-your-past-can-help-guide-your-future/ 

Copyright Aaron C. Anderson 2015