Linda Blair Was Born Innocent

Also straight from John's mouth: "This is a song about all my friends who died because they took too much speed and heroin."

Straight from John's mouth: "It's about your friends who borrow money from you and they say they can use it to fix the car, but what they're actually gonna do is use it to buy speed."

Reminds me of being a teenager in Independence, Missouri in the mid nineties and breaking into places because there's nothing else to be and because you're eating a lot of drugs and you're tired of staring out the window through the mini blinds for nine hours at a stretch.

My guess is the "tate's methods" line refers to Tatum O'Neal, as they were both child actors in movies at roughly the same time. By the way, I love this song!

Is it also somehow about Sharon Tate? And the Manson Family?

Whatever, I love it when that guy uses the first-person plural.

For some reason, those lines 'You may not like Tate's methods But you've got to admit She's a real nice kid' always get to me.

any chance that tate is a reference to the manson murders?

It possible, the more definite reference is to Born Innocent, starring (you guessed it) Linda Blair (of Exorcist fame.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Born_Innocent

"any chance that tate is a reference to the manson murders?"

"It possible, the more definite reference is to Born Innocent, starring (you guessed it) Linda Blair (of Exorcist fame.)"

Yes, but <cite>Born Innocent</cite> doesn't have a character named Tate; the question about that character remains. No obvious instance of a girl named Tate, who has questionable "methods" but is recognisably "a real nice kid," comes to mind.