Make me a deal and make it straight
All signed and sealed, I'll take it
To Robert E. Lee I'll show it
I hope and pray he don't blow it 'cause
We've been around a long time just try try try tryin' to
Make the big time
Take me on a roller coaster
Take me for an airplane ride
Take me for a six days wonder but don't you
Don't you throw my pride aside besides
What's real and make believe
Baby Jane's in Acapulco We are flyin' down to Rio
Throw me a line I'm sinking fast
Clutching at straws can't make it
Havana sound we're trying
hard edge the hipster jiving
Last picture shows down the drive-in
You're so sheer you're so chic
Teenage rebel of the week
Flavours of the mountain steamline
Midnight blue casino floors
Dance the cha-cha through till sunrise
Open up exclusive doors oh wow!
Just like flamingos look the same
So me and you, just we two got to search for something new
Far beyond the pale horizon
Some place near the desert strand
Where my Studebaker takes me
That's where I'll make my stand but wait
Can't you see that Holzer mane?
What's her name Virginia Plain
All signed and sealed, I'll take it
To Robert E. Lee I'll show it
I hope and pray he don't blow it 'cause
We've been around a long time just try try try tryin' to
Make the big time
Take me on a roller coaster
Take me for an airplane ride
Take me for a six days wonder but don't you
Don't you throw my pride aside besides
What's real and make believe
Baby Jane's in Acapulco We are flyin' down to Rio
Throw me a line I'm sinking fast
Clutching at straws can't make it
Havana sound we're trying
hard edge the hipster jiving
Last picture shows down the drive-in
You're so sheer you're so chic
Teenage rebel of the week
Flavours of the mountain steamline
Midnight blue casino floors
Dance the cha-cha through till sunrise
Open up exclusive doors oh wow!
Just like flamingos look the same
So me and you, just we two got to search for something new
Far beyond the pale horizon
Some place near the desert strand
Where my Studebaker takes me
That's where I'll make my stand but wait
Can't you see that Holzer mane?
What's her name Virginia Plain
Lyrics submitted by Forevergreen
"Virginia Plain" as written by Bryan Ferry
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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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.
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.
Love it.
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.
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.