Time & Perspective Quote by Bob Seger

Seger is doing something clever here: he frames Los Angeles and New York as places you visit for stimulation, not places you inhabit for sanity. The opening concession, "it's really fun", disarms the listener, then the knife slips in with "not grounded" a word that doubles as moral diagnosis and lifestyle preference. In his mouth, "grounded" isn’t about geography; it’s about attention. A culture that constantly bids for it starts to feel unlivable.

The subtext is a musician drawing a boundary around his own machinery of fame. Seger came up in an era when rock stardom was massive but still tethered to touring, regional scenes, and a certain blue-collar authenticity he’s long been associated with. So when he describes "everybody... competing all the time for the limelight", he’s not only critiquing coastal cities; he’s critiquing an ecosystem that turns even artists into full-time brands. The limelight isn’t a perk anymore, it’s a currency, and everyone is hustling for it.

"Too many choices" lands like a consumer complaint, but it’s really about the psychic cost of abundance: endless venues, parties, deals, scenes, and self-reinventions, all demanding micro-decisions that erode focus. "Distracting to me" is the key phrase: modest, subjective, un-preachy. He’s not condemning ambition; he’s protecting the conditions that let him write, live, and stay coherent. In an industry built on being seen, Seger is arguing for the radical value of looking away.