| Steely Dan – West of Hollywood Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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This is story of lost love told to a friend (or shrink) by a man in the TV industry, which is based in Culver City, California The speaker, the man, who is and has always been emotionally inhibited, talks about a torrid affair with an actress who was older than he was, a wildly uninhibited one, that burnt out. The reasons are obscure, but the reference to a Dr. Warren Kruger, indicates that it was medical -- possibly the actress's death from cancer (a real cancer doctor) or a drug overdose (it doesn't really matter). The speaker indicates that the woman was thawing him out emotionally, possibly by drugs (he says he was "Kid Clean): she brought him close to a "Cosmic Wow!" -- but not all the way there. Now that she's out of his life, he's depressed. He knows that his life in television is empty, that trends ("crests of waves") in TV production are vapid "nothing special", but it's his job. So, now his social life is limited to gazing at hot chicks in bars and restaurants, who are easy to pick up but do nothing to inject a sense of meaning or personal fulfillment to his life. (I read "Hooterie" as sexual dalliances). Port Blanc is white port wine, very sweet desert wine. It is a metaphor for the empty sweetness of sex without love, with someone who can never be your soul mate. The "tryanny of the disallowed" is the brutal finality of being closed off by death or breakup from a deeply meaningful relationship. |
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| Steely Dan – Black Cow Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| The speaker WAS in love with the woman, but she only caused him pain and heartache, and he's signalling that he's truly over her and wants nothing more do with her. He's bitter about it, though, because he still feels the pain she caused him. | |
| Steely Dan – Black Cow Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| The speaker has no desire for the woman's drugs. He's referring to how the drugs can make her forget for a while how miserable she is. | |
| Steely Dan – Black Cow Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| Nope. The Big Black Cow is a reference to a soda fountain concoction, made with root beer, vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup. It's a drink of innocence, compared to the booze and drugs the former girlfriend is addicted to. | |
| Steely Dan – Black Cow Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| Sorry, this is strictly about a heterosexual relationship. The Black Cow is non-alcoholic -- the girl is revisiting an old hangout where drugs were not part of the scene. | |
| Steely Dan – Black Cow Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| This is about a guy and the girl he's just broken up with. She's a drug addict and alcoholic and had trouble being faithful. She's become a hooker now to feed her drug habit. She drifts into an old hangout -- Rudy's -- where they serve a New York soda fountain drink, made with root beer, vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup. He's with his friends, and they all see her. She knows she's an outcast with the group. The speaker thinks back about how he always came back to her after being gone for a few days. He thinks she's come back to try to hook up with him, and reconfirms in his own mind that he's done with her and doesn't care if he never sees her again because she caused him too much pain. | |
| Donald Fagen – The Nightfly Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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Patton's Kiss and Tell is a cosmetics product. The commercial foreshadows Lester's thoughts about his lost love, so it's ironic. The entire song is ironic, because it's clear that Lester is barely making a living, playing music he loves at a time when almost no one is listening except insomniacs with their own problems and delusions. The song is similar in meaning and story line to Piano Man by Billy Joel, where an extremely talented piano player and singer works in a bar that's a dive, frequented by losers and low-lifes, which is a reflection on the pitiful life the piano player leads. |
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| Donald Fagen – The Nightfly Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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Father Oblivion: It's a commercial Lester the DJ has to recite. |
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| Steely Dan – Bad Sneakers Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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I mostly agree with shanef, but can offer some clarification. The scenario is a native New Yorker who's living and working in LA, in drug rehab, homesick, and sick of his lifestyle in southern California. The five names are the original members of the Steely Dan Band, some of whom are no longer part of the band. sthe references are to the music business scene in LA and some of the original band members no longer part of Steely Dan. He's talking to Walter Becker. The chorus describes a vision of himself back home, when he didn't spend money on fancy shoes (so he's wearing "bad sneakers," maybe worn-out Converse high-tops) but roamed around Manhattan and bought drugs carefree. Magnolia Boulevard is in North Hollywood, and the site of a number of medical offices, including more than one rehab clinic. The ladies are prostitutes, street-walkers who aren't making as much money, or not enough to feed their drug habits. The "fearsome excavation" is some construction site. The "ditch" in the valley is a metaphor for a career dead-end he fears music company executives will force him into, as well as the grave he might be buried in if he continues to rely on drugs to deal with his stress and creative unhappiness. |
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