Virginia Plain

I believe the song is about the whirl and excitement of a new pop band trying to get a record deal and "make the big time".

Robert E. Lee was also the name of Roxy Music's Attorney (they will show their signed and sealed contract to him).

Virginia Plain is a type of tobacco.

"For Your Pleasure" was the motto on the package of a brand of cigarettes.

Oh, God knows.

The last two words are about cigarettes. That much is clear. And words 17-19 are about generals in the American Civil War. The end of verse four contains some cutting satire about conformity in flamingo society. Um.

Basically, all the words mean something. It's just the order they're put into that is less clear. I suspect the idea was for it work on a non-rational level, and it acheives that marvelously; furthermore, Manzanera's solo sounds like he's strangling his guitar with an ostrich, which is sublime.

It's almost certainly about Glamour, of some form.

Song is awesome. Film clip is awesome. Hideous sea hag in the audience. Bryan doing amusing hand movements and Eno looking like a complete girl.

Love it.

The song title was based on lead singer Bryan Ferry's 1964 painting of the same title (he was an art student at the time). It features a huge packet of Virginia Slims cigarettes with a picture of Andy Warhol superstar Baby Jane Holzer on the front, standing in the middle of a plain.

Building on what others above have commented regarding description of glam life style and travel, Robert E Lee's most famous horse was named Traveler. By the way, Lee's last words were, "Strike the tent."

Net net meaning: "The South will rise again -- and party!" Coincidentally, 2 years after this song was released, President Gerald Ford came into power and eventually restored Lee's American citizenship.

i can't believe i'm just the 4th comment, this song is at the top of the list for glam rock.

Rio o o o o o - Hilarious

Great song with one of the coolest endings ever.

The weird thing about this song for me, is that around the time it first came out, I was going out with a girl whose name, believe it or not, was Virginia Plain. Her parents must have been mad.

well put, that bit about the guitar solo. i dont care, i love this song unconditionally.

In my opinion the best Roxy song.

As previously stated, this song is about the glam lifestyles of the young jet-setting rich and fashionable. From travels to Rio and Acapulco, dancing the cha-cha on blue casino floors and then getting bored with it and looking for what's next ("So me and you, just we two got to search for something new").

To quote Zoolander: "Oh yeah? I've never even heard of it. Me and my friends have been been too busy bathing off the southern coast of St. Barts with spider monkeys for the past two weeks. Tripping on acid changed our whole perspective on shit. So, I guess, uh, I guess you can dere-lick my balls, capitan."

And lastly - my guess is that the Robert E Lee thing was a non sequitur not intended to make any sense to anyone.