This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
I decline
To walk the line
They tell me that I'm lazy
Worldly wise
I realize
That everybody's crazy
A woman's voice reminds me
To serve and not to speak
Am I myself or just another freak
Don't you know
There's fire in the hole
And nothing left to burn
I'd like to run out now
There's nowhere left to turn
With a cough
I shake it off
And work around my yellow stripe
Should I hide
And eat my pride
Or wait until it's good and ripe
My life is boiling over
It's happened once before
I wish someone would open up the door
Don't you know
There's fire in the hole
And nothing left to burn
I'd like to run out now
There's nowhere left to turn
To walk the line
They tell me that I'm lazy
Worldly wise
I realize
That everybody's crazy
A woman's voice reminds me
To serve and not to speak
Am I myself or just another freak
Don't you know
There's fire in the hole
And nothing left to burn
I'd like to run out now
There's nowhere left to turn
With a cough
I shake it off
And work around my yellow stripe
Should I hide
And eat my pride
Or wait until it's good and ripe
My life is boiling over
It's happened once before
I wish someone would open up the door
Don't you know
There's fire in the hole
And nothing left to burn
I'd like to run out now
There's nowhere left to turn
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This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
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@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
This song is about being in a public place and needing to pass gas. Think about it: "With a cough I shake it off And work around my yellow stripe" (jeans have yellow stripes) "Should I hide and eat my pride or wait until it's good and ripe" (I'm sure you've heard a fart described as "ripe") "My life is boiling over It's happened once before I wish someone would open up the door" (to bring in a little air so nobody will smell it!). Do I have to yell you what the "hole" is? Yes, "Fire in the hole" was a Vietnam term, but Fagen & Becker are not that direct.
I Honestly feel as if the narrator of this song is in the process of being detained by police." i decline to walk the line " ...has a slight similarity to the " Yellow stripe" Once spoken about. Think about it...When your caught durnk driving..You are usually asked to Walk that yellow line in the street. Yet our narrator doesnt want to do so...Because he knows it will show his drunkeness. " a Womens voice reminds me to serve and not to speak" may have been a female police officer maybe ? he also speaks of WORKING around his yellow stripe. maybe an indication to how intoxicated he may be during his struggle to walk straight! He knows he will be taken to jail.." My life is boiling over...its happend Once before" " I Wish someone would open up the door " Anyone who's been in the back of a police car knows That feeling of finality ! LOL " theres nothing left to burn" Drug Bust ? I dont know...i normally hate when people assume drug references in Dan songs...but then again...Its Quite Possible knowing these Guys....But..that about sums what i got from it in a nutshell. Feel free to add...!!!!!
Ok, that was funny!
Extremely poetic and the tonality/modality sits beneath the lyrics in a way Robert Frost would compose, if he were musically inclined.
Songs mean whatever that squishy fluid floating around your brain tells you they mean! That's beautiful ain't it and that is why I think so many musical artist refuse to tell you what a song really means. Sorry to get on the soap box there but had to get it off my chest.
Here is just my interpretation:
The dude has turned down the offer to conform to society which was handed to him like a steaming turd on a silver platter. He will not walk the "line" layed out for him. So he is accused of just being morally inferior because he is lazy but in reality he is clued in to the fact that it is our society that is crazy and not himself. He is hip to it all (worldly wise). But a women's voice tells him to shut up and serve...just take it boy. It is like his mother or an overzealous corporate cheerleader is egging him on. So he asks if he has his own identity. Is he a human being or just a freak in their eyes.?
The dude is completely worn out at this point. Society has raked his identity over the coals and burned him out. He is at the end of his rope and he has nowhere left to turn. Maybe he was drafted to Vietnam, maybe the rat race drove him crazy, it can mean whatever chips away at you so fill in your OWN blank. The dude has to continue breathing though so he shakes it off and attempts to live a constructive life around the negative label (yellow strip) that people have put on him for not conforming.
The dude (gotta call him or her something but this all equally applies to females) is always kept as an outcast though so he can't really commune with people and be himself at the same time. He is choking because no one will open the door. He feels trapped.
The song takes a punch at society and its pressures with its witty lyrics and the brilliant piano adds to Its class. Long live Steely Dan!
@itwhatyouthink I think your interpretation has a general accuracy to almost everything Steely Dan wrote. Especially refusing the conformity on a hot platter. In all the photos I see of them from the 70’s (especially Fagan) I feel a vibe (in his eyes and his facial posture) of a guy who generally distrusts almost everyone except Becker. He embraced jazz at an early age when most people don’t “feel” music they just hear it, and I feel like he carried a certain disdain for “mainstream” society for not feeling what he felt for jazz. (the part you referenced about him being clued in thats it’s the rest of society with the problem not him) Even the way he would look at the camera in photos when he happened to not be wearing shades, it was an “I don’t trust you or your ignorance” vibe. So to me your interpretation goes beyond just this song and to him in general. Even in those videos where he is with that piano expert dude explaining how he came up with the cords for Peg and Josie, he is so uncomfortable talking on camera and seems only able to conduct the session BECAUSE he gets to lose himself in his music. <br /> <br /> In an interview he talked about having a nervous breakdown sometime after Nightfly was recorded. He also talked about the music industry keeping people out of real life and not even knowing what a mortgage was until he was in his 40’s. I am guessing the “nervous breakdown” came from what’s stated above AND that he wanted his music to be his reality. And when he finally realized it couldn’t be his full reality, and that he needed to have a better acceptance of the rest of society AND maybe society wasn’t as uninformed as he wanted to think….he had to swallow how his life outlook needed to change. And since then if you hear his interviews he seemed less guarded and paranoid. He even pokes fun at himself a little, and there is a SMALL hint that he wishes he had done things just a little different in the 70’s w Steely Dan. He says his favorite SD albums are the most recent cuz they had improved their skills and uses the term “juvenile” in reference to their 70’s music. <br /> <br /> He’s a very complicated dude who has probably simplified himself over the years as a way to better survive. I am guessing he has a SUPER high IQ, and a lot of people like that who are genius in their field end up suicidal (Robin Williams comes to mind) and Fagan “simplifying” his view of society some prolly helped him avoid that. If you watch that live in studio piece he does with Paul Shaffer….he has so much patience for Shaffer’s obnoxiousness that he never would have had in his younger days. <br /> <br /> I enjoyed your interpretation of this song cuz I think it gave me a little more clarity on MY views of him.
I love the piano-solo in this song, each time i hear it i get an orgasm
@mik91 in a hole?
Could be a war song,however I get pretty turned on by the piano solo too.
'Fire in the Hole' was a phrase used by US soldiers in Vietnam when they tossed grenades into VC bunkers - meaning stand clear, there's going to be an explosion. May not be relevant.
@pconl I am sure there is SOME connection between that and the meaning of the song. But like always, figuring that connection out is difficult AND not an exact science. Amd I don’t think he and Becker wanted to help anyone in that regard, because if you figured out exactly what their song lyrics meant, it would help you figure THEM out and they didn’t want that.
agrea with classic but the fire in the hole part is used ib war but it can also be used as a fire pit were the flames are kept inside there boundries hence he wish someone would help make them bigger but hes stuck in that hole cause he is set in his ways
@toast0126 given that they were in a liberal arts college together in the late 60’s it’s almost guaranteed that the song title has SOME Vietnam association.
I think it's coming from someone who is in a dead-end job, like serving in a McDonalds or something, and inside he's full of ideas about what he'd rather be doing; he's seething, but he knows he just has to knuckle down and do the job because he has no other choice.
The first stanza can be about a lot of things--none of which I am sure of!!: A little boy not obeying his mother ("walking the line," as in obeying authority) as his mother scolds him. Or, maybe a young man not taking the correct courses in school to become successful, or maybe even dropping out ("lazy"); hence, the female voice may be that of a teacher. And, it also could be the man is a draft dodger, evading being drafted into the Vietnam War. And, yet another theory: A guy who doesn't want to get married to his girlfriend because she will wear the pants in the family. Who knows? ONLY THE DAN KNOW FOR SURE!
"Fire in the hole" may just be a burning desire inside the person. Yes, 'fire in the hole' refers to a warning to clear out as a explosive device is put into a dug-out hiding area (or, sadly, someone's home).
The second stanza, the narrator shrugs off divisive comments made about him, in this case, cowardice. A "yellow stripe" usually refers to someone being a coward, as in, 'he has a yellow stripe down his back.' Maybe he is wrestling with 'staying low' and not being caught by the military police for being a draft evader (boy, those were scary times, kids!) or should he make his face known by being out on the front protesting the war?
Maybe the song is about a guy's life that is out of control.
well,<br /> This was my song in 1974, I was a high school sophomore. I took it to mean, basically, a guy with alot of potential, but just happens to be in the wrong environment at the time. He's got a fire in the hole, i.e., he's got something going on. But there's nothing left to burn . . . meaning he needs to get out of that bad environment before the fire goes out. " I wish someone would open up the door. Meaning let me outta here!
@ChiTownHustler I find it ironic that the only clueful comment (about the yellow stripe) is downvoted!
It seems to be about the author's experiencing frustration at his 'day job' as he works to support himself and his share of band expenses. The 'to serve and not to speak' is literal and an instruction to him as as a waiter. Perhaps a part time on call sort of job, like serving for a caterer at private dinners.
He told he is lazy because he is not pursuing the standard American dream through a corporate job. Get a degree, get a job, save money, get married, buy a starter home, ... etc. He questions his perspective of him self and his direction. Chooses to let the unspoken message of the work directive go. It is not so much 'do your job right' but the latent message of the person delivering the message. A quiet 'your soup Sir' is not sop bad an infraction or intrusion into the diners experience. But the message given is more; I'm like them, I'm above you, spoken by a person who feel inferior to the customers and takes it out on the 'flunkies', part timers, whose complain won't lodge with anyone. The duality of the song, this specific work experience seems to cross to his life in general. It has happened before. And that is why there is nothing left to burn. Blow up at boss, lose job, get another lame job, cash checks. Practice, create, struggle for gigs, ... So he's mad but there is no reason to speak his mind. Just get through the shift.
I could do a better more detailed job but I've got to go serve and not speak.