| Elton John – Razor Face Lyrics | 12 years ago |
| P.S. And the part about how hard it must be to get by in a world you just can't see through -- imagine an old man adapting to the changing world of the early 70's, especially a penniless old blues musician relying only on the kindness of strangers, perhaps an old man literally unable to see because of glaucoma. So many old bluesmen, especially rural black bluesmen, got screwed out of their royalties and died in poverty at about the time Elton John was writing this. | |
| Elton John – Razor Face Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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First, it shouldn't matter if Razor Face was about a gay relationship, but I agree with the general sentiment that just because a song is by Elton John it doesn't have to be about being gay, no more than a song written by a mother has to be about kids. No need for stereotypes. I am of Elton's generation. I wore out "Madman Across the Water" when the album came out. Unlike young people today who do not have to deeply ponder the meaning of "We Will Never Ever Ever Ever Ever Ever Ever Ever Get Back Together," our generation had the opportunity to be literally overwhelmed by many, many good ballads with poetic depth. And we spent a lot of time pondering the meaning of those songs. I've always imagined the song scenario as a younger man entering a neighborhood tavern asking if anyone has seen ol' Razor Face -- "heard he's back in town -- good Lord, he must be getting up in age, he needs a place to stay and a young man to help him out." I've always imagined Razor Face as a drifter -- not likely a Vietnam Vet, because most Vietnam vets were young men at the time this song came out. "Razor Face" is the sort of name an old blues musician might have. Professor Longhair, at least in his later years, was essentially homeless, and he used to sleep on my husband's buddy's couch. So I've always pictured the young man, represented by Elton John, as someone who looks up to Razor Face as a mentor, and who's heard he is back in town and needs a place to stay. "There's a bottle of booze in the back of my car" is likely a reference to the days when DUI laws didn't allow a driver to have an open container "within reach," so people would often keep their whiskey bottle in the back seat. I imagine the young man wanting to go driving around with Razor Face, re-living old times and passing a paper-bag-wrapped bottle back and forth. In the time when the album came out, the "truck stop inn" would not have been a convenient and clean Super 8 by the interstate ... it would have been a cheap and run-down place where an itinerant person could get a shower and a bed for the night. "Amazing grace protects you like a glove" -- Razor Face, amazingly, has made it to the age he is with no home and little income, through nothing but, well, amazing grace and sheer luck. I would love Razor Face, too, if he were a real person and I knew him -- what stories he must have had to tell. My guess would be that Razor Face is a fictional character and the situation is fictional but representative of countless old men with stories to tell, talent to share -- perhaps a piano riff or a blues lick to pass on to a younger generation -- and young men who admire them, however down on their luck they may be. |
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