Just when I say
"Boy we can't miss
You are golden"
Then you do this
You say this guy is so cool
Snapping his fingers like a fool
One more expensive kiss-off
Who do you think I am
Lord I know you're a special friend
But you don't seem to understand
We got heavy rollers
I think you should know
Try again tomorrow

Can't you see they're laughing at me
Get rid off him
I don't care what you do at home
Would you care to explain

Who is the gaucho amigo
Why is he standing
In your spangled leather poncho
And your elevator shoes
Bodacious cowboys
Such as your friend
Will never be welcome here
High in the Custerdome

What I tell you
Back down the line
I'll scratch your back
You can scratch mine
No he can't sleep on the floor
What do you think I'm yelling for
I'll drop him near the freeway
Doesn't he have a home

Lord I know you're a special friend
But you refuse to understand
You're a nasty schoolboy
With no place to go
Try again tomorrow

Don't tell me he'll wait in the car
Look at you
Holding hands with the man from Rio
Would you care to explain

Who is the gaucho amigo
Why is he standing
In your spangled leather poncho
With the studs that match your eyes
Bodacious cowboys
Such as your friend
Will never be welcome here
High in the Custerdome


Lyrics submitted by AbFab

Gaucho Lyrics as written by Keith Jarett Donald Fagen

Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Gaucho song meanings
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    General Comment

    I actually work in the entertainment industry. I agree with commenters Jason and Kellyal "Gaucho" is a nervous narrator's dismay at his colleague bringing an openly gay (and on top of it aggressive and flamboyant) partner to an important business meeting.

    Where I disagree with both commenters however is where I agree with Nomad: this is a drug transaction.

    The song's "heavy rollers" and Mexican lingo point typically in Steely Danese to the underworld, and my vote would be we're talking some pretty bad, heavy stuff - because Fagen and Becker usually describe pot or cocaine in faintly benign and usually white, upscale, "Glamour Profession" settings, while more illicit substances and activities often invite in a black or Latino element (think implied dangerous characters "Chino and Daddy G" in "My Old School"). So my thought is Donald laid the Latino slang on pretty thick in "Gaucho", and the gay boy is wearing a poncho to try to strike an exotic Mexican pose while visiting, so the "heavy rollers" who say "eh... try again tomorrow" are likely shady Latino go-betweens for a very serious level Mexican drug supplier.

    If you were trying to score a massive amount of something illicit from a person like that, and taking along what you thought was a trusted friend - and then that trusted friend unexpectedly brought along one of those loud and flamboyant "what - OMG ooh LOOK at that BOX" types, what would you say in a very low voice to that friend after quickly leading him out and sitting him inside your car?

    That conversation is the entire lyrics content of "Gaucho".

    Just my humble o.

    heatherferon January 28, 2013   Link

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