311 - Beautiful Disaster - Lyrics Meaning

The song is the third single from 311's 1997 album, Transistor. It is about being in a relationship with someone that is on a path to self destruction. The song starts with the singer's resolve to "burn a bridge" and cut ties with a girl he has been dating who does not have her life together. Lead singer, Nick Hexum, refers to her as "a drugstore cowgirl", insinuating that she is a drug user and that she does not want to slow down from the frantic pace of her life. This is not the life for Hexum, so he must end the relationship. The song title is a description of this girl - an attractive and enticing beauty, but with a lot of baggage and trouble.

The song is basically a breakup letter, stating that Hexum could not keep up with the woman's lifestyle and that he must leave to avoid falling into a similar pattern. The singer uses many terms to describe this woman, but the most telling of those is when he calls her a "pretty train crash". Hexum is telling the woman she is both horrible and alluring all at once and it is difficult to look away as the carnage that is her life unfolds.