This is, like a lot of the other tracks on Terror Twilight, a typical song that has a lot of additional lyrical BS added in there. It’s about someone being the light, also known as the calm in the day. There’s a cool outro.
[Verse 1]
Tangled in the midst of all the trust
The way you pissed inside
The brain file technology drives
Show me your dots now
[Pre-Chorus]
Who was it that said the world was mania, divorces, and spare change?
Let's lethalize our slingshots and swallow propane
[Chorus]
You are the light
The calm in the day
You are the light
The calm in the day
[Verse 2]
Senior year abroad
I ripped the pea out of the pod
In store for three months of exile in Spain
Where was the danger?
[Pre-Chorus]
Watch out for the gypsy children in electric dresses, they're insane
I hear they live in crematoriums and smoke your remains
[Chorus]
You are the light
The calm in the day
You are the light
The calm in the day
Yeah
[Instrumental Break]
[Outro]
I drive stick
Gotta love it, automatic
Oh, everybody's gotta ride in something
High life, live
Comatosed him, bring it on in
Oh, I hope it arrives by Monday
Dry ice, skid
Button the strippers and quarantine nippers and
Oh, I have to die on Sunday
Irate kid
Laundromat spinners and let's act like winners and
Oh, who rolls with the Isolator?
Gotta roll, 'cause I am the Isolator
You Are a Light was written by Stephen Malkmus.
You Are a Light was produced by Nigel Godrich.
Pavement released You Are a Light on Tue Jun 08 1999.