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Brooklyn (Owes the Charmer Under Me) Lyrics
A race of angels bound with one another
A dish of dollars laid out for all to see
A tower room at Eden Roc
His golf at noon for free
Brooklyn owes the charmer under me
Brooklyn owes the charmer under me
His lady's aching to bring a body down
She daily preaches on where she wants to be
An evening with a movie queen
A face we all have seen
Brooklyn owes the charmer under me
Brooklyn owes the charmer under me
A case of aces done up loose for dealing
A piece of island cooling in the sea
The whole of time we gain or lose
And power enough to choose
Brooklyn owes the charmer under me
Brooklyn owes the charmer under me
Yeah, Brooklyn owes the charmer under me
Brooklyn owes the charmer under me
A dish of dollars laid out for all to see
A tower room at Eden Roc
His golf at noon for free
Brooklyn owes the charmer under me
She daily preaches on where she wants to be
An evening with a movie queen
A face we all have seen
Brooklyn owes the charmer under me
A piece of island cooling in the sea
The whole of time we gain or lose
And power enough to choose
Brooklyn owes the charmer under me
Brooklyn owes the charmer under me
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Makes sense it's about their downstairs neightbors (of course, because it's what they said it's about lol.) But I get a more unfriendly meaning - calling the neighbor a "Charmer" I take as being sarcastic label for a jerk who thinks the world owes him something. The song is about a guy who thinks Brooklyn and the world owes him something. Fagen and Becker aren't wishing this guy good things - they're making fun of him.
After all, does any amount of suffering really mean you deserve your golf for free?
Classic Steely Dan humor. Love this song.
Yes, I think this interpretation likely comes closest. To reinforce that the Eden Rock is a well known apartment building in the Bensonhurst neighbourhood of Brooklyn. So the Tower Room will be an apartment on one of the upper floors of this 7 story building.
Yes, I think this interpretation likely comes closest. To reinforce that the Eden Rock is a well known apartment building in the Bensonhurst neighbourhood of Brooklyn. So the Tower Room will be an apartment on one of the upper floors of this 7 story building.
According to http://www.granatino.com/sdresource/9lyrics.htm
WB: Well, the charmer was a guy who lived under Donald's apartment when we were in Brooklyn. And the song is just a bunch of things that the guy and his wife had coming to them, you know, for the indignities that they suffered living in Brooklyn, sitting on the stoop and just shooting the shit about the Mets and that kind of thing for 20 years. So, you see, the song does yield to a valid interpretation.
Lots of other cool Steely Dan lyric explations from WB and DF there.
I agree, except I think the guy's wife was part of the indignity he had to suffer,,hence the line,,"His lady's aching to bring a body down,,she daily preaches where she wants to be" sounds like she nags him a lot, so Brooklyn owes the charmer "an evening with a beauty queen, a face we all have seen".
I agree, except I think the guy's wife was part of the indignity he had to suffer,,hence the line,,"His lady's aching to bring a body down,,she daily preaches where she wants to be" sounds like she nags him a lot, so Brooklyn owes the charmer "an evening with a beauty queen, a face we all have seen".
A song about a socialite in the big city [a race of angels] got jilted, took a fall from grace?
Now I will go read that amazing link to the interview.
Hauntingly great pedal steel, have loved this tune for decades. As far as I'm concerned this tune has the world of the strip club written all over it. Race of angels -- stripper sorority, Bound with one another -- Their shared profession, dish of dollars laid out for all to see -- ever seen their leg band and/or the stage floor? As far as the male figure in this lyric (tower room at Eden Rock, golf at noon) I'd be willing to bet that Fagan and friends were watching some one fairly prominent's (Steely D was at the top of their game at this time and living large) wife/girl friend riding the pole while he was on the back nine. I'd also go as far as to say that she's possibly someone that's been on the screen (TV/movies) "a face we all have seen". The refrain "Brooklyn owes the charmer under me" is brilliant play on phrase --- Brooklyn (knows) (owes) -- in other words this woman was possibly known from that area and was also corrupted by the street there (hence the borough "owes" her) and "charmer under me" (I would say he was doing her after she seduced him). Daily preaching where she wants to be -- Don't most strippers long for something better? Case of aces -- her pocketbook full of singles. Whole time we gain or lose and power to choose -- I believe was his philosophical conundrum with his/her plight (theme of the album-- Can't buy a thrill) Or maybe I'm just too drunk and full of shit. Thanks for reading.
This is one of my favorite SD songs and I think your interpretation is fantastic!
This is one of my favorite SD songs and I think your interpretation is fantastic!
@UncleNeal I think this is the best interpretation yet because I enjoyed reading it so much.
@UncleNeal I think this is the best interpretation yet because I enjoyed reading it so much.
If this song is really just about the longings of their downstairs neighbors in Brooklyn...would people griping about their lot in life really be sophisticated enough to want to stay in a tower room in an exotic locale and hobnob with celebrities? I don't think so...
If this song is really just about the longings of their downstairs neighbors in Brooklyn...would people griping about their lot in life really be sophisticated enough to want to stay in a tower room in an exotic locale and hobnob with celebrities? I don't think so...
Let's back off from the stripper analogy for a minute to something similar but different..."a race of angels bound with one another" -- I think this describes the groupies that surround a successful rock band. See the...
Let's back off from the stripper analogy for a minute to something similar but different..."a race of angels bound with one another" -- I think this describes the groupies that surround a successful rock band. See the movie "Almost Famous" set in the early 70s (with a very cute Kate Hudson). "The charmer under me" could picture one of the groupies he is sleeping with. Brooklyn "owes" her in the sense she fled her humble beginnings in search of bigger and better things. She is pressuring him to take her on an exotic Caribbean vacation at Eden Rock in St. Barth's -- this elegant resort was built in the 1950s, unlike Miami it can be described as "a piece of island cooling in the sea" and of course golf would be included. "An evening with a movie queen"... the girl is not the movie queen, she wants to do some social climbing. I think the dish of dollars and the case of aces are references to casino gambling which of course you would find in a resort in the French Caribbean.
Being a rockstar (or a groupie attached to a rockstar) is a "gain or lose" proposition, but all that remuneration gives you "power enough to choose".
@UncleNeal - A brilliant analysis! Your insight into this one proves you are one sharp cookie - drunk or sober....
@UncleNeal - A brilliant analysis! Your insight into this one proves you are one sharp cookie - drunk or sober....
I have no idea what this song is about. It is such a pretty song, but the meaning drives me crazy every time - I cant figure it out!
Yes - me too! Many of their songs have that effect on me! I listen and listen but never get any closer to grasping the ultimate meaning....
Yes - me too! Many of their songs have that effect on me! I listen and listen but never get any closer to grasping the ultimate meaning....
@kennarae3 get a clue
@kennarae3 get a clue
@kennarae3 Ahh but this is the beauty of listening to SD songs - they make you ponder every line and put one's imagination into high gear, whilst being plowed under with some of the most amazing music ever produced...
@kennarae3 Ahh but this is the beauty of listening to SD songs - they make you ponder every line and put one's imagination into high gear, whilst being plowed under with some of the most amazing music ever produced...
Some people think that the "Charmer" is the devil and somebody knows it's payback time.
Again, "you pay today or pay tomorrow..."
Reminds me of Billy Joel's "Somewhere Along the Line":
"Somewhere along the line, Well I know it's just a matter of time, When the fun falls through and the rent comes due, Somewhere along the line."
I read a note about this song somewhere that said it was written by Becker and Fagen while they were living in New York. It was a simple wish of good luck and hope for the guy who lived in the apartment below them...the "charmer under me". Get it?
Eden Roc is a ritzy hotel in Miami, incidentally.
@thermo4 https://www.apartments.com/eden-roc-brooklyn-ny/sxlc7m6/
@thermo4 https://www.apartments.com/eden-roc-brooklyn-ny/sxlc7m6/
@thermo4: Which one is Fagan?\r\nBrooklyn (Owes the Charmer Under Me)\r\nWritten by: SHAWN CARTER, SHAWN C CARTER, L. GRANT, JOHN JACKSON, JOHN DAVID JACKSON, ANDREW ROETTGER, TUPAC AMARU SHAKUR, CHRISTOPHER WALLACE\r\nLyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
@thermo4: Which one is Fagan?\r\nBrooklyn (Owes the Charmer Under Me)\r\nWritten by: SHAWN CARTER, SHAWN C CARTER, L. GRANT, JOHN JACKSON, JOHN DAVID JACKSON, ANDREW ROETTGER, TUPAC AMARU SHAKUR, CHRISTOPHER WALLACE\r\nLyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
@thermo4: Which one is Fagan?\r\nBrooklyn (Owes the Charmer Under Me)\r\nWritten by: SHAWN CARTER, SHAWN C CARTER, L. GRANT, JOHN JACKSON, JOHN DAVID JACKSON, ANDREW ROETTGER, TUPAC AMARU SHAKUR, CHRISTOPHER WALLACE\r\nLyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
@thermo4: Which one is Fagan?\r\nBrooklyn (Owes the Charmer Under Me)\r\nWritten by: SHAWN CARTER, SHAWN C CARTER, L. GRANT, JOHN JACKSON, JOHN DAVID JACKSON, ANDREW ROETTGER, TUPAC AMARU SHAKUR, CHRISTOPHER WALLACE\r\nLyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Thermo4 is right; Becker wrote the lyric about a downstairs neighbour - the dedication on the LP sleeve is to 'President Street Pete'.
Anyone in Brooklyn know President St?
Yes, President Street is a now very expensive street in tony Park Slope. In 1972, though, it was a rough area with Puerto Rican drug dealers on the corners.
Yes, President Street is a now very expensive street in tony Park Slope. In 1972, though, it was a rough area with Puerto Rican drug dealers on the corners.
Interesting that the version on the "Old Regime" album has a different second verse.
My sentry trembles - He knows the end is coming. His face is scowling - inside he's on his knees. If looks and dreams could surely kill - he'd soon be gone from here. Brooklyn owes the charmer under me.
I assumed that the singer was a drug dealer - who else would have a "sentry" (bodyguard or lookout, scared of something), a dish of dollars, and "aces" done up lose for dealing. I wonder if Fagan "cleaned up" the song by replacing the "sentry", with a movie queen. Then again the "sentry" could simply be a doorman.
@austinbarry thanks for sharing that verse. I also heard it on the best of Walter and Don album.
@austinbarry thanks for sharing that verse. I also heard it on the best of Walter and Don album.
@austinbarry thanks for sharing that verse. I also heard it on the best of Walter and Don album.
@austinbarry thanks for sharing that verse. I also heard it on the best of Walter and Don album.
Cryptic meets haunting melody in a flight of falling angels over Brooklyn.