| Steely Dan – Sign in Stranger Lyrics | 3 years ago |
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When I listen to "Sign In Stranger" it's 2:00 in the afternoon, anywhere America, and I hear a recruiter, ex military, maybe CIA, parked at a corner table in a seedy bar, talking some guy just out of the army, navy, maybe marines. The recruiter is pitching "off-the-books" work. The guy is broke, guilt-ridden, maybe heartbroken, and clearly easy to impress. The recruiter knows the right lingo, the right pitch, the right way to state his offer without being specific so as to manipulate this guy into joining the "Dark Services" for mercenary work as this guy has killed before as a soldier and this guy will likely kill again for the right money and the right distraction. The recruiter, for effect, slams his hand on the table, leans over to the guy, stares him in the eyes and says: "You zombie Be born again my friend Won't you sign in stranger". |
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| Steely Dan – BarryTown Lyrics | 3 years ago |
| I agree that BarryTown is about prejudice. The singer is me back in the early 90s, new to San Francisco, and terrified of gay people. For me The Castro was BarryTown and I avoided that neighborhood as much as possible. Still, I thought I was a good progressive person and like a lot of "good progressives", I was a hypocrite. The protagonist in BarryTown knows he\'s wrong and says so several times. None-the-less, on guard he sings: "And though you\'re not my enemy\nI like things like they used to be\nAnd though you\'d like some company\nI\'m standing by myself\nGo play with someone else\nI can see by what you carry that you come from Barrytown". | |
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