This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
I've seen your picture
Your name in lights above it
This is your big debut
It's like a dream come true
So won't you smile for the camera
I know they're gonna love it, Peg
I like your pin shot
I keep it with your letter
Done up in blueprint blue
It sure looks good on you
And when you smile for the camera
I know I'll love you better
Peg
It will come back to you
Peg
It will come back to you
Then the shutter falls
You see it all in 3D
It's your favorite foreign movie
I like your pin shot
I keep it with your letter
Done up in blueprint blue
It sure looks good on you
And when you smile for the camera
I know I'll love you better
Peg
It will come back to you
Peg
It will come back to you
Then the shutter falls
You see it all in 3D
It's your favorite foreign movie
Peg
It will come back to you
Peg
It will come back to you
Then the shutter falls
You see it all in 3D
It's your favorite foreign movie
Peg
It will come back to you
Peg
It will come back to you
Then the shutter falls
You see it all in 3D
It's your favorite foreign movie
Peg
It will come back to you
Peg
It will come back to you
Then the shutter falls
You see it all in 3D
It's your favorite foreign movie
Your name in lights above it
This is your big debut
It's like a dream come true
So won't you smile for the camera
I know they're gonna love it, Peg
I like your pin shot
I keep it with your letter
Done up in blueprint blue
It sure looks good on you
And when you smile for the camera
I know I'll love you better
Peg
It will come back to you
Peg
It will come back to you
Then the shutter falls
You see it all in 3D
It's your favorite foreign movie
I like your pin shot
I keep it with your letter
Done up in blueprint blue
It sure looks good on you
And when you smile for the camera
I know I'll love you better
Peg
It will come back to you
Peg
It will come back to you
Then the shutter falls
You see it all in 3D
It's your favorite foreign movie
Peg
It will come back to you
Peg
It will come back to you
Then the shutter falls
You see it all in 3D
It's your favorite foreign movie
Peg
It will come back to you
Peg
It will come back to you
Then the shutter falls
You see it all in 3D
It's your favorite foreign movie
Peg
It will come back to you
Peg
It will come back to you
Then the shutter falls
You see it all in 3D
It's your favorite foreign movie
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Hayalperest
Hayalperest
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
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Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Okay, this one's not really that hard, but it seems like some of the previous posters are over analyzing, reading into, and also quoting incorrect lyrics. Therefore, I will over-analyze it as well, but I'll be spelling out why I believe my interpretation to be pretty close based on the actual lyrics, song history, etc.
First, we know that the speaker / singer in the song knows Peg or knows of Peg. I believe the folks who said that they may have had a previous relationship are spot on. He very well could be a stalker type fan, but if it's her "big debut", then how could she be famous enough to have a stalker? Nah, she left him to pursue her dream and he's a bit pissy about it.
She wrote him a letter, he got her "pin shot" of her in a "blueprint blue" dress and he know's he'll love her better than the public. This adds to the stalker element, but I don't think that's right for the reason I've already stated.
I think that the film, very well may be, a porno, but there's really no way of knowing for sure as the nature of the film is a bit obscured. Judging by the time period in which this song was written, (1976/1977 timeframe), it very well could be a porno because at that time it was common to have pornos in more mainstream theaters because of crossover movies like "Debbie Does Dallas" which were mainstream successes and were shown in all sorts of theaters. So, it could be a porn and probably is considering the chorus of the song and the very funky bass groove which was commented on quite a bit and is one element common to most pornos of the time. Porno bass funk to accompany the sex scenes.
"Peg, it will come back to you." This could mean a couple of things. It could mean that her actions on screen, if it is a porno, will come back to haunt her, but it could also mean that she is remembering something. Something she has forgotten will come back to her mind. I think that this line is intentionally ambiguous and I think that either of these interpretations are likely depending on what the listener has assumed about the movie.
But, if we look at "It" as being a memory that will come back, why has it gone and what is the memory that will come back? I'm thinking it's the memory of the love she shared with him, the singer or a memory of what the real world is like. At least, that's the only potential thing in the past that is referenced in the song that may "come back" to her. The memory of the man she left. Either interpretation works and they could be working simultaneously as a double entendre of sorts.
"Then the shutter falls, you see it all in 3-D. It's your favorite foreign movie."
This line really hasn't been analyzed as such on this page and it's a very important part of the song. It is, in fact, the summation of the song, the ending of such. "Then the shutter falls" is obviously referring to a camera shutter, most likely a movie camera (although the pin shot camera was also referenced and could also "fall").
Here's where everything comes together. "IT" will come back to Peg, then the shutter falls (meaning the film ends, maybe the movie career ends, the picture is taken, the movie industry (whether porn or legitimate) is done with her or at least done with the movie.
The camera is off "IT" came back to her. The "IT" is kind of the thing here. I think that it is the price of her fame, is to lose touch with the real wold. When this memory comes back to her, the shutter falls, and she sees the "dream come true" for what it is, a 3-D foreign movie. She has been lost in a 3-D dream world that isn't real. The reality is what comes back (or so hopes the singer of the song, I suppose).
That's my take on it at least. I've not seen a better analysis of the "favorite foreign movie" line. I had a dream about this song actually, probably b/c I listen to Steely Dan too much, and the dream seemed to follow along with the above analysis. Peg had forgotten the real world, she was living a dream, but when she finally remembered, it came back to her, and when the movie shoot was done she saw it all for what it really was. A 3-D foreign movie, but one that was (no doubt) her favorite.
What do you think?
jankout, your analysis of Peg extremely well thought-out. Excellent. I have to agree 100& with your perception.
I've always been trouble by the last verse, "...the shutter falls, you see it all in 3-D, it's your favorite foreign movie." This interpretation seems to pull it all together. Thanks!
@jankout Don't buy your interpretation of the bass line in the chorus inferring a porn movie. The slap bass technique employed by Chuck Rainey was a hot topic at the time it was recorded. In the Aja documentary, Rainey even says he had to sneak the slap element in as the band didn't want him to use it.
@jankout, I agree with you with everything except the bass referring to it being a porno, although I believe it could be a porno peg is in. I don’t follow the bowling thing at all. The 3-d foreign movie had me stumped too, the only thing that makes sense is that her real life is the 3-d foreign movie. Bravo! I couldn’t figure that out. I don’t believe the peg entwhistle thing either, because there is only one picture of her that has been colored with a green pencil or crayon, so there is no blue print blue dress. And they didn’t have 3-d movies in the early 30’s when Entwhistle was an actress. The whole bowling analogy sounds like a bad acid trip/nightmarish dream. Now we have to find an old 70’s porn where the actress’s real name is peg and she’s in a blue outfit of some kind. Although peg could be a made up name for someone in real life., so look for someone in “blueprint blue” in a movie poster for a mainstream like Debbie does Dallas. “Deb” “peg”?
@jankout , I actually ASKED Donald Fagen what this song was about and who Peg is/was on iMessenger. Doubt I get an answer, but it was worth a shot. You never know.