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Lather Lyrics

Lather was thirty years old today,
They took away all of his toys.
His mother sent newspaper clippings to him,
About his old friends who'd stopped being boys. (paper dolls)

There was Howard C. Green, just turned thirty-three,
His leather chair waits at the bank. (typewriter clacking and ding)
And Seargent Dow Jones, twenty-seven years old,
Commanding his very own tank. (howitzer firing)

But Lather still finds it a nice thing to do,
To lie about nude in the sand,
Drawing pictures of mountains that look like bumps,
And thrashing the air with his hands.

But wait, oh Lather's productive you know,
He produces the finest of sound,
Putting drumsticks on either side of his nose,
Snorting the best licks in town,
But that's all over...

Lather was thirty years old today,
And Lather came home from his town.
He looked at me eyes-wide and plainly said,
Is it true that I'm no longer young? (Mommy?)

And the children call him famous,
what the old men call insane,
And sometimes he's so nameless,
That he hardly knows what game to play...(backgammon? hari kiri?)
Which words to say...

And I should have told him, "No, you're not old."
And I should have let him go on ... smiling ... babywise.
Song Info
Submitted by
eshtaryus On Feb 04, 2006
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Cover art for Lather lyrics by Jefferson Airplane

Grace wrote it as a composite, based mostly on Spencer Dryden, whom she was having an affair with, because he was so childlike, and Jack Casady and his nude "trip" on the beach playing in the sand. But it's also a poignant look at trying to hold on to innocence and questioning whether, on one level, it's really not so bad to some degree, not living up to society's demands on how one should be at any age.

Thanks, brumus, did not know the detail about Jack Casady being a partial inspiration for this song. What a band they were in those days! Dryden and Casady were arguably the best rhythm section among the SF psychedelic-era (ca. 1965-69) bands, and Jorma K. was (and is) a phenomenal guitarist. Kantner was a stellar singer/songwriter/rhythm guitarist, and Balin's songwriting and aching voice were unique. And then there was Grace with her wonderful voice (before the alcohol and cocaine roughened it).

Not Valid
Cover art for Lather lyrics by Jefferson Airplane

Ha ha - now they are all over sixty and instead of saying, "don't trust anybody over thirty" they are probably saying, "at this point don't trust anybody under sixty!"

Cover art for Lather lyrics by Jefferson Airplane

defenatly about some one who does not want to grow up i think Grace wrote it for one guy cuz he was like 30 still hanging out with the young crowd

He was "hanging out with the young crowd" because he was Spencer Dryden and was the drummer in the band as well as Grace's boyfriend at the time (Grace herself was pushing 30 at the time, born in 1939). Many consider Dryden, (who was a serious jazz musician in L.A. (and Charlie Chaplin's nephew) before crossing over to rock/pop (at first with the L.A. band the Peanut Butter Conspiracy, a folk/psych pop band with a woman with a voice as beautiful and soaring as Grace's (Sandi Robison) which never achieved the commercial success of JA/JS/Starship but was arguably just as...

Not Valid
Cover art for Lather lyrics by Jefferson Airplane

Actually, Grace Slick (born 1939) is past 70, and Spencer Dryden, about whom this song was written in 1968 around the time of his actual 30th birthday, would be 72 if he hadn't died in early 2005, age 66.

Cover art for Lather lyrics by Jefferson Airplane

its interesting how there are many meanings packed together: her boyfriend (turned 30, arrested nude on beach), detachment to material world, keeping the inner child, not trusting people over 30. some people suggested its also bout a retarded or autist boy (foam from his tongue, the old men called him insane, ...). but i dont think jefferson airplane would finger point retarded or socalled mentally ill....but rather mean the innocent, hippie way of life, ...which the old may call insane, but lather's a hero to the youth. some others suggested its contra vietnam war, (seargant ...commanding his tank, trashing air with his hand>>helicopter sound, ...), and about a veteran, which is also possible. its also bout drugs (snorting the best licks in town). then: why is the seargant called dow jones-like the stock index>is she making fun?(anticapitalist) another thing i noticed, since my mother tongue is not english, and its the first time i looked up the lyrics, after knowing the song for so many years, ... grace has a way to prolong and intonate the words, that i used to get the song a bit different (....may this be intended her being on drugs???)...like its a mind expansion when people can play with language, so you hear 2 meanings, ... i dont know if this is the case here, but would anyone agree?: 1- i always heard 13 instead of 30 due to the intonation (would make more sense) 2- leather chair (sounds like lather) 3- mountains that look like bumps (i heard bombs> reference to the war, atomic bomb)

also i had this interpretation of his mother being very dominant, psychopathic (sending newspaper clippings, .... i always associated with the letters psychos write(like for ransome, etc.))- reminding me of my mother. i always thought of myself when i heard this song. a very delicate, freedomloving, fine, artistic soul this lather had, he didnt want to get messed up... in the last part of the song lather talks to grace as if shes the mother now, (is it true that im no longer young-"mommy?" from the off, i should have let him go, ...). but they want to spoil him, maybe some people even want to get him locked up.

the line he hardly knows what game to play, which words to say... refers to the corrupted games of society, where you have to play a role, and say things right, etc....

its a song against establishment definetly.

Cover art for Lather lyrics by Jefferson Airplane

To me, it's about someone who likes doing certain things or doing things a cetrtain way and doesn't want to give that up for what society deems appropriate for those in an adult age group. It's about someone resisting the confinement that age-group labels can bring.

Cover art for Lather lyrics by Jefferson Airplane

The song tells of someone known as Lather who has just turned 30 and, much to his chagrin, is coming to the realisation that he's expected to behave in a fashion that people find appropriate for his age. The song was written for Jefferson Airplane drummer Spencer Dryden on the occasion of his thirtieth birthday.

Cover art for Lather lyrics by Jefferson Airplane

Spencer Dryden, Jack Casady and Grace Slick explain the meaning of Lather in this Jefferson Airplane documentary starting at 30:30 https://youtu.be/9hrfujWd1WA

Spencer Dryden, Jack Casady and Grace Slick explain the meaning of Lather in this Jefferson Airplane documentary starting at 30:30 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hrfujWd1WA&t=878s

Cover art for Lather lyrics by Jefferson Airplane

Having not known the background origins of this song, my interpretation was there is a man-boy character named Lather, who started out unmarred, innocent and ingenuous, was sent off to Vietnam war and saw terrible things, had a psychic break and came back somewhat mentally broken, and went on to do various impulsive things, e.g. nude bathing on the beach, humming with sticks in his nose, etc., and became a known character for his eccentricities.

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Cover art for Lather lyrics by Jefferson Airplane

Fabulously dramatic song. Anti-Vietnam all the way. Like the Doors\' Unknown Soldier; Country Joe\'s Feel Like I\'m Fixin to Die. Same era. In those days, it was all Vietnam, all the time.