| Supertramp – Asylum Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Many of the elements of the song can be explained as references to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. "Will he take a sailboat ride?" The principle character takes the ward on a deep sea fishing trip in one part. |
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| Elliott Smith – Pretty Mary K (The Infirmary) (Figure 8 version) Lyrics | 19 years ago |
| "Pretty Mary K" is probably a novel metaphor for Ketamine. Ketamine is a dissociative hallucinogen, a drug, capable of imparting a profound sensation of religious or philosophical "understanding" or epiphany, which would explain the delirious, though mellow, tone and the fantastical lyrics. Although Ketamine has become notorious as an illicit substance, the drug is still approved (and indicated for) for anesthesia for humans in certain situations, when typical opioids are contraindicated; at even these low therapeutic doses, administration produces the obvious side-effects of delirium and euphoria. It is possible that he is relating an observation of such a doped patient at a hospital or is perhaps re-telling the anecdote of an acquaintance. But more likely, the lyrics are a conceit, conjured while he was experimenting with the drug himself (cf., Beatles, "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"). | |
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