As usual, several people have f**ked up interpretations, among other relevant facts, such as the song writer. Allow me to elaborate. Jack Clement wrote the song. The one on the right ended up being a bank tell, which makes sense, as he is the conservative one. The one in the middle drove the truck. He has a steady job like a conservative, but is a rebel and free on the road, as a liberal. The one on the left ended up working as an all-night DJ, like drifters often do.
They were a great folk band, but they fought because of different political views. The three in the front fought, the one in the rear, presumably the drummer, was an idiot. He burned his drivers licence. This is comical, as people were known to burn their draft cards. The drummer, being an idiot, made a mistake.
The night of the brawl on stage, during the fight, the guy in the rear said "Oh, dear!" Johnny says this in an effeminate voice, the type of voice often associated with being a gay man. The joke here is that the drummer, on top of f**king up and not knowing where he really stands or what to do, is gay, which at the time of this song was a political statement on its own. So not only does he avoid the fight, as an effeminate gay man might be more inclined to do, he reacts to it like a woman, saying, "Oh, dear!"
The point of the entire song is not that politics and music shouldn't mix. It is that drummers are idiots. Case in point: Ringo Starr, John Bonham, Keith Moon, John Densmore, Mick Fleetwood, Don Henley, and Phil Collins.
As usual, several people have f**ked up interpretations, among other relevant facts, such as the song writer. Allow me to elaborate. Jack Clement wrote the song. The one on the right ended up being a bank tell, which makes sense, as he is the conservative one. The one in the middle drove the truck. He has a steady job like a conservative, but is a rebel and free on the road, as a liberal. The one on the left ended up working as an all-night DJ, like drifters often do.
They were a great folk band, but they fought because of different political views. The three in the front fought, the one in the rear, presumably the drummer, was an idiot. He burned his drivers licence. This is comical, as people were known to burn their draft cards. The drummer, being an idiot, made a mistake.
The night of the brawl on stage, during the fight, the guy in the rear said "Oh, dear!" Johnny says this in an effeminate voice, the type of voice often associated with being a gay man. The joke here is that the drummer, on top of f**king up and not knowing where he really stands or what to do, is gay, which at the time of this song was a political statement on its own. So not only does he avoid the fight, as an effeminate gay man might be more inclined to do, he reacts to it like a woman, saying, "Oh, dear!"
The point of the entire song is not that politics and music shouldn't mix. It is that drummers are idiots. Case in point: Ringo Starr, John Bonham, Keith Moon, John Densmore, Mick Fleetwood, Don Henley, and Phil Collins.