| Steel Train – Dakota Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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I think the lyrics start to make more sense when you replace "Dakota" with "Los Angeles" or Hollywood. The stories of drug-using cross dressers and heroin addicts fit perfectly with the LA scene (".... they stabbed him in the arms....he cried for help, and no one came, he died in the rain" .... "rain" is often a part of references to heroin in many songs). If you look back to songwriter Jack Antonoff (guitar/vocals for Steel Train) and some songs on previous albums discuss him going to visit former girlfriend Scarlett Johansson out west, probably during the first few years of her "big break". These visits might be described by the lyrics at the beginning and end of the song "please remember the nights we spent alone in the city where you lay. We were young and nearly famous." If my guess is correct I still think it's cool that they used "Dakota" instead of "LA" or "Los Angeles" in the lyrics, it gives it a more blue-collar rock vibe and the lyrics just seem to fit. I think it perfectly describes LA in the last lines of the song "In Dakota, it's okay to feel a little strange". My interpretation is the song is generally about dealing with the weird fame-obsessed LA scene and coming out the other side still being yourself with your sole intact, while having lots of stories to tell about the messed up stuff you saw along the way. I also think that you could sub other large metropolitan areas with art/music/movie scenes in to this and use the same interpretation, like New York or Seattle. |
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