| Steely Dan – Third World Man Lyrics | 1 year ago |
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I think the song is about a present day, young suburban child who instead of playing cowboys and indians or some other relatively benign pretend role, as in the past, is now influenced by the omnipresent lurid news and videos of third world victims of wars and strife and instead pretends he's a "third world man" fighter. In his mind, his playroom is a bunker full of sand. He acts out the role early on a Sunday morning by crouching on the law,n and setting off some fireworks to make his battle seem more real. Thus he wakes up Fagen the rest the neighborhood who think what the hell's going on, and then realize it's that local kid who's obsessed with playing "third world man".In this child's mind, he is battling to make the sidewalks safe for the little guy because that's what he is and the only world he knows is full of sidewalks. The rest of the lyrics are Fagen's usual flare for adding color and mood to his songs by inserting foreign phrases and allusions to cryptic, evocative terms like "Ghana rondo". What really hooks you in this song is Larry Carlton's haunting guitar work. In the end, Fagen is making social commentary on how the non-stop news and focus of our present over the top media and culture has drastically altered the process of being a child and what does this mean going forward. |
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