"Kings" as written by Walter Carl Becker and Donald Jay Fagen....
Now they lay his body down
Sad old men who run this town
I still recall the way
He led the charge and saved the day
Blue blood and rain
I can hear the bugle playin'
[Chorus:]
We seen the last of Good King Richard
Ring out the past his name lives on
Roll out the bones and raise up your pitcher
Raise up your glass to Good King John
While he plundered far and wide
All his starving children cried
And though we sung his fame
We all went hungry just the same
He meant to shine
To the end of the line
[Chorus:]
We seen the last of Good King Richard
Ring out the past his name lives on
Roll out the bones and raise up your pitcher
Raise up your glass to Good King John
Sad old men who run this town
I still recall the way
He led the charge and saved the day
Blue blood and rain
I can hear the bugle playin'
[Chorus:]
We seen the last of Good King Richard
Ring out the past his name lives on
Roll out the bones and raise up your pitcher
Raise up your glass to Good King John
While he plundered far and wide
All his starving children cried
And though we sung his fame
We all went hungry just the same
He meant to shine
To the end of the line
[Chorus:]
We seen the last of Good King Richard
Ring out the past his name lives on
Roll out the bones and raise up your pitcher
Raise up your glass to Good King John
Lyrics submitted by ponchopunch
"Kings" as written by Walter Carl Becker Donald Jay Fagen
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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...meaning it obviously is.
That disclaimer said I basically agree with what you are saying, except the magna carter was good, it's more of a transitional thing you know this king historians said he was good next king historians said he was bad.
Raise your glass.
Hope that made sense.
It seems to be the recurring theme of Can't Buy A Thrill: life is a grind and unjust to the point where it seems to be not worth living -- and don't you dare even think that ordinary people can change the way the world works. But since you're alive anyway, you may as well deal with it. Raise up your pitcher to the powers that be because they are the power and you have none. NONE!!!!
Nixon promised to get us out of Vietnam. Politically, he played both sides, promising the war protesters he would get us out of the conflict, and promising the anti-communists that he would get us out with dignity or victory. It took him a lot longer than the people expected. But he was re-elected on the same promise and by huge margins. A few months after his re-election he declared an end to the conflict and a deal reached at the Paris Peace Accords. About a year and a half later he resigned rather than face impeachment over the Watergate scandal.
Lyrically to me it alludes to the British saying "The King is Dead, Long Live the King" e.g. the previous king died, so praise the new one. Or as The Who sang "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss". I imagine the speaker here is involved in some kind of political conversation, after Nixon resigned, and sort of commenting on how we/he went from JFK to Nixon.
The references to blue blood, the bugle playing, the sad old men laying his body down has to be, imo, JFK. These are facts: Blue Blood refers to families of high social rank like the Kennedy clan but also all the high ranking politicians at the funeral. It rained the day of JFK's state funeral. There was a bugler who played Taps. And all the sad old men (be they sad at JFK's death, or as I prefer to think sad in the sense that the speaker sees the people who run the town as pathetic) assembled. The only thing it really says about JFK is how he led the charge and saved the day, I presume to be a reference to sending the ships to intercept in a bold showdown with Russian/Soviet Premier Khrushchev to prevent the USSR's nuclear missiles from being deployed in Cuba. So this verse is lament at his passing and some hero worship.
The next verse is some contrast. It references plundering, and children crying, and even though he was praised they went hungry anyway. The praise could refer to the popular support he had in 1972 election, he won by a very big margin and everyone was very happy when he shortly after declared the end to the Vietnam conflict. The plundering could refer to the slush funds used to re-elect, and/or the allegations of financial impropriety and loans surrounding Nixon. Plundering could also refer to war profiteering. The hungry children, I think, refers to a general dissatisfaction at the lack of social and political progress. American youth during Nixon's terms agitated (starving) for a lot of change that never came, thus, leaving them "hungry" (dissatisfied). He meant to shine to the end of the line, Nixon as a man really wanted to do good for the country, - alas he didn't get to the end of the line he had to resign early, muddied and tarnished.
@Shampoo "blue blood and rain... bugle playing" being about JFK ... and the idea that both Nixon and Kennedy are "King Richard" ... that's genius. I hope you're right.
I don't think they liked Nixon all that much. :)
Does anyone know what the official story is?