Here At The Western World

The lyrics "lately he spends his time here" suggests that this song isn't about the "Lido" anyway. It takes place in a place of prostitution, this is fairly obvious. However, there are some themes that are a bit more vague, but I'll take the first stab here. First off, the mayor and all his friends are here, but no one cares. No one questions the morality of the mayor of being in such a place. The part where it gets deep is the line "In the night you hide from the madman you're longin' to be. But it all comes out on the inside eventually." I believe it is a reference to the fact that many men don't like to face their more perverse sexual desires, but they will make themselves clear to yourself regardless. And you will be powerless of it. Not really suprising that this song doesn't have a whole lot of comments.... great song though.

The Lido Shipyard Sausage Company is a restaurant in Newport Beach, CA.

I think Western World may be referring to the play "The Playboy of the Western World." It could be a loose metaphor for the Playboy mansion in LA, since for a while in the 70's there were two Playboy mansions, the original in Chicago and the one in L.A. called "Playboy Mansion West."

It's hard to imagine Donald Fagen and Walter Becker not going to the Playboy mansion, being huge rock stars in the 1970s.

Ok, this a wonderfully decadent song. It smells of smegma and damp bedsheets. Basically: "The Lido (wherever the heck that is, I'll let you jet-setters argue it out among yourselves–I don't give a rip) may have sausage and beer, and, yeah, it's a pretty cool hang out (some of our regulars have been there), but we got somethin' special here that they don't have, so they've been spending their free time here lately. Even the mayor and all his cronies are here because here nobody will give them up. We're all brothers in crime here, baby. This is where all the sailors go, they wear themselves out on shore leave here because they know this is where they get their money's worth! Welcome to scumbag paradise! And all it takes is two raps with your cane (a coital/phallic metaphor, obviously) to gain egress! It feels nice! 'Deed it do! That's what we're all about, Tex! We got what every swingin' dick wants: yo' skinny girl! She's the decadent obsession of the western world. Take Ruthie here: she'll take you up to the room with the red door and unlock the door to all your slimy dreams! All the sweetness you can imagine for just $20! One andy jackson is all it takes, here at the Western World! Every night you try to deny who you really are; what a waste! You know you want to be the animal, the madman, the beast! You gotta let the beast loose sooner or later, so why not sooner? It all cums out, either inside one of our sweet ruthies or inside your hand! So why not make it worthwhile instead of wanking in the dark all alone?" That's my take. Love this song; makes me want to take a shower! SD

It's about drugs, people. Now, I was searching the Internet for some time (about 5 hours, I guess) and I will post some links so that you may judge for yourselves.

1. Lido - it's a beach in Venice but also in New York. It looks like a common place to have fun (having sausage and beer). I think it's a metaphor of plain life and I guess the beach is just a symbol of that. New York - because they spent lots of time in New York and in San Francisco.

2. "Klaus and the Rooster have been there too" Who is Klaus? Here: funtrivia.com/askft/Question102745.html and here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Lyall The Rooster - drug dealer - LA slang, here: vanderbilt.edu/News/register/Jan24_00/story12.html

3. "Hanging with the mayor and all his friends And nobody cares" Because they are all the same when they do drugs

Now, I will not go into explanation of next couple of strophes in detail, yet I will give you some clues:

knock twice = when somebody taps it's vein rap with your cane = cane it -> consuming excessive amounts of Alcohol and or drugs here: onlineslangdictionary.com/meaning-definition-of/cane skinny girl = syringe Ruthie = wild, crazy girl here: chacha.com/question/what-is-a-ruthie silver key = needle red door = vein Jackson = $20 bill (shot price)

And, this is the link where you may find the best explanation of the song: feverdreams.whatsmykarma.com/etc.htm

If somebody has time and/or will, it would be nice to have us informed if something new is found about other verses. Or, someone may put together the whole story - I just threw some facts.

(And, being that I am not native English speaker, I apologize if something in my writing is not understandable.)

I believe the key to this song is Klaus and the Rooster. Klaus refers to Klaus Barbie and the Rooster refers to Hugo Banzer Suarez, who retained Klaus Barbie as chief of security forces when Suarez took power in Bolivia. By the way, Suarez was known as "a rooster in a military uniform". Of course, both were Nazis and probably enjoyed sausage and beer in the motherland, but lately they're spending their time here (Bolivia). The lines "Where the sailor shuts out the sunrise" and "In the night you hide from the madman" come from a poem by Joseph White entitled The Sailor. Perhaps from this poem "The ship he captains and once loved is the cross he now bears" is a clue to Barbie's impending fate once the regime failed and he went back to stand trial for his role with the Nazis. "In the night you hide from the madman you're longing to be" may also be a reference to Barbie's role as the Butcher of Lyon and subsequent ethnic cleansing of indigenous Mayans while Suarez' security chief. Barbie was also known to be active in the drug trade and crossed paths with Pablo Escobar, hence the second verse and it's heavy drug theme. The chorus then takes on a double meaning: as it relates to the first verse may suggest the secreting of Nazi war criminals from Germany to South America--"feels nice, you're out of the rain" could be escaping the storm of justice. The same chorus echoed against the second verse would seem to suggest previously mentioned steps in shooting up.

Apparently, a description of a place where expats indulge in decadence: food, drink, and sex. It's hard to pin down where: the original Lido is in Venice, but there's a vague sense of a Third World setting.

I heard this song for the first time 3 years back. I was afraid to invest in the CD, because I didn't know if it was good or not. The song is an ode to a popular brothel....come on the mayor is even there. Reminds me of that episode of the Simpsons where they are trying to tear down the local brothel & Mayor Quimby is shown walking out with a grin on his face

Definitely seems like its talking about an expat bar/brothel in a third world country - but the title "Here in the Western World" makes me think its also a Communist one (this song came out during the Cold War) and all of the Western Expats and Party Officials come here for a night of decadence.

I thought "The Lido" it referred to the restaurant in ciudad Guadalajara, Mexico but forget why I was convinced of that.

This song generalizes America. Its an advertisement to move here. We ve got everything you want all for a 20 especially young skinny girls. If you have money and influence hence the mayor reference, nobody will ever say a thing. Thats all it takes is money and everybody turns a blind eye here at the Western World (USA)