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Blues Beach Lyrics
I was scrapin' bottom
Gropin' in the dark
It takes a crusty punk to really beat
The mean streets of Medicine Park
So I shifted left for out of town
Then I clicked my heels and I doubled down to
Blues Beach
I'm frying
Sizzlin' in the merciful rays
And it's the long sad Sunday
Of the early resigned
I went to Central Station
To catch that early bus
They were gassed and runnin' every which way
But unhappily not for us
Here comes Trina -- the child bride
I said hey pretty girl -- can I cop a ride to
Blues Beach
It's rainin'
I'm chillin' at the Manatee Bar
Well it's a stone soul picnic
For the early resigned
We could rent a paranymphic glider
My hypothetical friend
And we could sail
'Til the bending end
Grab Big Dog a blanket
Angel of my heart
Things may get a whole lot worse
Before suddenly falling apart
Give your roommate Yvonne a ring
Cause if she still wants in I gotta pull some strings
On Blues Beach
I'm dying
Freezin' in the merciful rays
And it's the long sad Sunday
Of the early resigned
Gropin' in the dark
It takes a crusty punk to really beat
The mean streets of Medicine Park
So I shifted left for out of town
Then I clicked my heels and I doubled down to
I'm frying
Sizzlin' in the merciful rays
And it's the long sad Sunday
Of the early resigned
To catch that early bus
They were gassed and runnin' every which way
But unhappily not for us
Here comes Trina -- the child bride
I said hey pretty girl -- can I cop a ride to
It's rainin'
I'm chillin' at the Manatee Bar
Well it's a stone soul picnic
For the early resigned
My hypothetical friend
And we could sail
'Til the bending end
Angel of my heart
Things may get a whole lot worse
Before suddenly falling apart
Give your roommate Yvonne a ring
Cause if she still wants in I gotta pull some strings
I'm dying
Freezin' in the merciful rays
And it's the long sad Sunday
Of the early resigned
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This song is completely mystifying.
I am assuming this is a New York song like so many other SD efforts. The only question is Medicine Park which seems to be in Oklahoma, so I don't get that. However, some of the rest is fairly clear. The "early resigned" seems to me to be someone who has lost their job, is "scrapin' bottom" and now has time on their hands in the mean streets. So he decides to head out of town to "Blues Beach" but his luck is so bad he can't even get the bus. He consorts with various other losers on the way, and they can try a few sad distractions like a "paranymphic glider", but basically his luck has run out and he is doomed to a fairly cold, sad existence.
This song is about going into rehab and drug withdrawal (this was pointed out by an astute individual on the fever dreams website - it may be archived somewhere...). The rehab centre - blues beach - is in a warm idyllic-seeming location but you will have to suffer the blues of withdrawal. 'beat the mean streets of Medicine Park' is a way of saying getting off drugs, there are references to chilling, frying, freezing etc. the hot/cold sweats of withdrawal (and needing a 'blanket' to keep warm), the hypothetical friend is only a 'friend' while in rehab (it would be unwise to hook up with him/her on the outside). In the final verse the addict considers going back to his old ways 'pull some strings' is tightening the tourniquet before injecting. Typical Steely Dan genius of setting such dark subject matter to such a bright infectious uplifting song.
I think it's about beach bums, basically. Society drop-outs who hang out on the beaches around Venice; etc. drink, take drugs, and "wander"
It's about retirees, and these young people scurrying about. Unrealized dreams of people who have surrendered to age and irritability. Manatee bar? Sounds like a bar packed with fat old people on the beach haha.
Mr Bergis is right, I think, about the rehab. In the brilliant Vegas taxi ride video promo for Everything Must Go (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dimyNC1BytY&feature=youtu.be), Becker, talking about this song says, 'Down the dark ladder'. That's a quote from Joni Mitchell's song, Cold Blue Steel And Sweet Fire, about James Taylor's heroin addiction (https://jonimitchell.com/music/song.cfm?id=92).