If It's In You

I think its about a guy who's about to fall and no one really notices and even after he dies he's still hanging there but no one notices thus " Tom was the undergroud hold you tighter so close, yes you are please hold on to the steel rail" "skeleton kissed to the steel rail"

and I guess the dude who could help him well he's too busy wallowing to do anything

"colonel with gloves -draughts leeches he isn't loved on 'Sundays Mail' all the fives crock henrietta she's mean go-getter gotta write her a letter."

I could be wrong though

This song is so funny, he messes up a bit sometimes but doesn't even care and keeps going or re sings it without starting over, haha.

;0; This is su sadddd.

I kind of think that this is a continuation of Octopus. With the steel rail, something you would find on rides in  fair. This carnival imagery is in both songs, and with that I think this song is about people whom dealt Syd his acid. And how he needs to keep a strong relation with these people to keep on getting what he wants.

I got the feeling he made it up as he was going along...

fun fun song, but theres something desperately insane and tragic about(at least when he sings on one syllable). the kind of song that has you laughing in tears when youre on the verge of a breakdown. to me the lyrics seem more like free association with whatever vibe hes got going in his head. possibly a collection of fragments of memory that he sees fits. although some of the lyrics seem intentional and premeditated, especially all the references to the steel rail. whether he made them up on the spot or wrote them before hand, theyre absolutely fantastic, especially the steel rail and gotta write her a letter lines.

The line "she's a mean go-getter" reminds me of the other song, The Beatles' "Mean Mr. Mustard" because there is "she never stops, she's a go-getter", you can read the lyrics. But Syd sings also about Pamela - this name appears in "Mean Mr. Mustard" and "Polythene Pam" (Beatles' songs) as well! Wasn't he influenced by The Beatles?

It's not 'all the fives crock henrietta' it's 'All the guys GROK Henrietta' which is a Robert Heinlein reference. And the mean go getter is from "mean Mr Mustard" by the Beatles, which refers to 'Pam' who here is 'Pamela'. You Grok?

its great in one version I have in the middle he just stops in the middle of "I'M THIINNKKINNG look you know I'll start again I'll start again...its no its just the fact you know going through it I mean if you if we could cut...goes back to singing" I think I will try to find the meaning soon I do enjoy the song but like most Syd songs its a pain in the ass to understand the meaning

I have the sad suspition that Syd was just so fried by this point that he was just looking for words that worked with the melody, but still for some reason it comes out brilliantly!

I like to think of this song as a tongue-in-cheek, absurdist way of getting in one more song to appease the record company. Whatever it means, it's lovely.

I think "steel rail" could refer to the American folksong "Long Steel Rail." It's played on a banjo, which Syd had as a kid.