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Home At Last Lyrics
I know this super highway
This bright familiar sun
I guess that I'm the lucky one
Who wrote that tired sea song
Set on this peaceful shore
You think you've heard this one before.
CHORUS:
Well the danger on the rocks is surely past
Still I remain tied to the mast
Could it be that I have found my home at last
Home at last
She serves the smooth retsina
She keeps me safe and warm
It's just the calm before the storm
Call in my reservation
So long hey thanks my friend
I guess I'll try my luck again
CHORUS
This bright familiar sun
I guess that I'm the lucky one
Who wrote that tired sea song
Set on this peaceful shore
You think you've heard this one before.
Well the danger on the rocks is surely past
Still I remain tied to the mast
Could it be that I have found my home at last
Home at last
She keeps me safe and warm
It's just the calm before the storm
Call in my reservation
So long hey thanks my friend
I guess I'll try my luck again
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I think this song is parallelling the life of any man on the road to that of Odysseus in the Oddysey. The allusion to the Sirens is very evident, and I think it somehow turns into a man who doesn't really want to settle down, but finds himself sticking around one town for some reason. A misses, I'm guessing.
The protagonist is definatly Odysseus, coz the chorus is simply 2 references to arguably the worst troubles he and his crew encountered in the Odyssey, i.e. "danger on the rocks", Scylla and Charybdis, and remaining tied to the mast past the sirens. Also, verse 2 is Odysseus talking about his time captured with Calypso, with the last two lines probably a reference to the bag of winds granted to him by Aeolus, which his crew opened, subsequently leading to several more tormenting years out at sea. The first verse may be thoughts during his time with Calypso, or maybe his sight of Ithaca for the first time in 20 years. :):):)
Or he's married to a wench that he's in love with and no matter how much effort he puts into making her life better, she still abuses him.
Yet...he's in love with her as evidenced by the "sun" and the "safe and warm" imagery.
This is a relationship, folks. Plain and simple--it's the good and the bad.
And that's alright with him.
I see the "superhighway" as the boring old routine of familiarity you get with a long relationship.
@GreyBlueEyes I have been a Steely Dan fan since their early days (I'm 68). And just ending a 5 year relationship with an "abusive wench" who I still love horribly-- hate it-- i'm embarrassed by it but I can't help it. I've never EVER been in anything like this before in my life. I have loved her since I first saw her in 1965. I have heard this song many-many times. But it all came clear to me-- it's meaning-- when I was in the throes of leaving her-- then being drawn back-- over and over. Now I sing it in my head. I...
@GreyBlueEyes I have been a Steely Dan fan since their early days (I'm 68). And just ending a 5 year relationship with an "abusive wench" who I still love horribly-- hate it-- i'm embarrassed by it but I can't help it. I've never EVER been in anything like this before in my life. I have loved her since I first saw her in 1965. I have heard this song many-many times. But it all came clear to me-- it's meaning-- when I was in the throes of leaving her-- then being drawn back-- over and over. Now I sing it in my head. I know the words forward and backward.
Sorry to hear, robert1499. Sadly, these situations are all too common. I dated a bit before I met my current husband, and never before had I met so many broken men who still pined after those nasty women who broke their hearts. It's hard to trust again, but the thing you have to remember is that nobody deserves to be mistreated in a relationship, no matter how desirable the abuser seems. The last four letters of "abuser" are "user." YOU deserve better.
Sorry to hear, robert1499. Sadly, these situations are all too common. I dated a bit before I met my current husband, and never before had I met so many broken men who still pined after those nasty women who broke their hearts. It's hard to trust again, but the thing you have to remember is that nobody deserves to be mistreated in a relationship, no matter how desirable the abuser seems. The last four letters of "abuser" are "user." YOU deserve better.
GreyBlue guy - I think you are onto something with the love theme. Perhaps about a sexually abused girlfriend who can't get close to him, waiting for her to come around, not being able to leave...
Good lyrics can allow the reader to relate their lives to those words, as if it were written for them, and this one is hitting the nail on the head for me so thats why I see it this way.
"I know this super highway," - is love, which scoops you up and takes you along, you don't seem to have a choice. We have all been there before {"This Bright familiar sun"} but he isn't so sure about how the girl is responding, the whole thing is confused {"I~~ guess that I'm the... lucky one"}.
"this peaceful shore" - again, is love, as has been going on forever and ever in humans...but not quite like this {"you THINK you heard this one before"}
But even as time passes and she learns to trust him {"the danger on the rocks has surely past"}, he can neither leave nor progress to real intimacy with her [not just just about sex, btw]
She is nice to him {"smooth retsina" } but she has a bit of anger in her... {"calm before the storm"} because most abused women have those outbursts.
Calling in the reservation is the commitment to loving her, maybe marriage. He has been married before. He will try his luck again.
I wonder if she ever warmed up to him? And was it Becker or Fagan that knew the sexually abused girl? I bet they both knew more than one, since it is so common.
this is right on. However i also look at this song as metaphor for life as a musician, like being a famous musician is a super highway... His life is the one who writes the tired sea song. It's a blessing, but also kind of a curse- so he remains tied to the mast, on a wild ride that is his life, but all his monetary fears are gone (the danger has passed) and this crazy life is his home. super good job of tying his own life and homer's into one, one epic life, and it is home.
this is right on. However i also look at this song as metaphor for life as a musician, like being a famous musician is a super highway... His life is the one who writes the tired sea song. It's a blessing, but also kind of a curse- so he remains tied to the mast, on a wild ride that is his life, but all his monetary fears are gone (the danger has passed) and this crazy life is his home. super good job of tying his own life and homer's into one, one epic life, and it is home.
I see the connection, but Odysseus knew and was prepared for his arrival at (whatever the name of his home island is -- i forget) for some time, so the whole idea of "Could it be that I have found my home at last" doesn't fit. However, if "found" really means reached, than it makes sense, as Odysseus at one point was minutes away from his island before being blown off course again.
I watched the classic albums making of Aja. Fagen called it a blues about Odyessus but I think it's just an allegory and a simplified explanation of the overall meaning of the song.
I watched the classic albums making of Aja. Fagen called it a blues about Odyessus but I think it's just an allegory and a simplified explanation of the overall meaning of the song.
The aldergador is 100% correct. It is simply about Walter and Donald wanting to get out of LA. I counldnt imagine why!!LOL!! people from Ca are pompous asses. They are new yorkers;and Walter iam surprised at you living so long in hawaii. Yeah ask the boys how they feel when they play at the Beacon In the Big Apple. At least Donald lives upstate!! I wonder Donald how much dope you were shooting in your time! Thank God for Rehab!!
I heard interview with Fagen and he said this song was written in LA - homesick for NYC
I heard interview with Fagen and he said this song was written in LA - homesick for NYC
@mrsagfly They said as much in interview :-)
@mrsagfly They said as much in interview :-)
at first he's in a relationship and he's gotten to where he feels comfortable and he thinks well maybe this is how i'll spend the rest of my life. then she turns into a real bitch and he leaves,and he eventually starts to feel comfortable with being single again so he thinks well maybe THIS is how i'll spend the rest of my life. and the pattern continues...
The protagonist has gone through the most temptation in his life, and reflects now that he's happy at home with his one true love. He's past the sirens of temptation, and still remains 'tied to the mast'... i.e. happily married. 'you think you've heard this one before'... meaning you think you're going to hear about a long oddysey.. but the protagonist never made the whole odyssey, because he knows he's happy where he is. "So long hey thanks my friend", bidding farewell to his friends who still 'play'....
Just to prick all you Greek historian balloons, but I've always liked to think that it was one of the first odes to the Internet (they've used the term "superhighway" more than once, for example 'IGY' (where I'm pretty certain that's exactly what it meant)); but 1977 is probably a bit too early...
Darn them Fagen 'n Becker boys.
God I love the chorus of this song