Turn That Heartbeat Over Again

Try this on for size guys,

This song is a smart alec-y response to religion's demands on the common man.

There are three scenarios presented:

1) A petty criminal who turns to crime due to the socio-economic deterioration of his community.

2) A drinker who may be an ex-nazi or refugee from a dictatorial govt, since he just came from Paraguay.

3) Can't figure out which William Wright but he must be the poet, being dead, a partier and perhaps a sort of anti-hero role model for modern artists who are speaking.

Each of them consider themselves "victims of circumstance" so they aren't to blame and they will keep their promises to be good people, only when Saint Michael and Jesus keep their promise to bring them back to eternal life, sort of like a "You go first" deal: thus the irony of "Zombie see and Zombie do"

and we all know Jesus was the first Zombie :)

"He's here with me and you." = a double meaning of Jesus being with us all the time but we also have that debauched William Wright's ghost with us all the time cause that's just who we are as humans.

Whaddaya Think?

I always thought this went down like so: The narrator planned a bank robbery with a close friend (stocking face, gun) and thought of himself as just stealing money (a good clean game), not hurting anyone. But shit goes down, his buddy Michael is shot and he's down on the floor freaking out trying to revive him, which obviously fails. The promise might have been "no one gets hurt" or "we split the money" or "we'll go to South America". He either escapes to South America or the robbery was in South America because he drove straight through. "Turn the light off, keep your shirt on" is to me that he's still on the lam and either talking to himself or whoever else was in on the score who escaped. IE, turn the light off so the cops don't see us, and keep your shit together. I wish I understood the William Wright part. I don't know if "I saw him laid to rest" refers to Wright or Michael, but I sort of hope the latter because it makes more sense to me--he sneaks back to go to the funeral but has his plane ticket to get out of town again before he's caught. Great song.

Agree there's some kind of a spiritual allegory in here that Wally alluded to; Michael is an arch-angel, one of only two mentioned in the bible. He serves Jesus. Sounds like there may have been some kind of spiritual commitment made by the narrator that he's now backing out of because his friend got killed in their crime gone bad. And he claims it wasn't his fault. So he'll yet honor his agreement but only if there's a supernatural giving back of his friend's life as well. Ah well, I tried.

Always thought this was about praying for someone not to die, possibly after getting involved in a violent crime. "turn that heartbeat over again" : the person's heart has stopped, and the protagonist doesn't want to lose him. The first verse leads me to believe that in a state of despair, the two people decided to rob a store in a town that has become run down. As a result, one of them was shot and killed.

I think you hit the nail on the head. And judging by the sad tone by the end of the song, I get the impression that the narrator's friend expired.

Such a great song.

AMAZING song, I just love it. I agree totally with Rainwalk.

I think the song is about a guy wishing to relive his life (from jail) so he wont make the same mistakes (buying a gun and holding up a bank or whatever he did). Love your mama/brother is advice for the listener to not be like him. Light off, shirt on makes me think hes advising to keep you cool. Jag: —noun

1. a period of unrestrained indulgence in an activity; spree; binge: a crying jag; a talking jag.

He possibly blames the devil for his sins "you know im not to blame" "good clean game" He begs to relive his life. Poison = vice: alcohol and "make it a double" Sam possibly the bartender. Paraguay maybe where he would escape to, the distance he would go to get what he wants from Michael/Jesus. William Wright (actor) - "portrayed department store owner and grasping landlord Ben Weaver in several episodes of CBS's The Andy Griffith Show" - wikipedia. This was the William Wright that sounds most likely to be in a Dan song, but there were plenty to choose from... and yeah, that's just my guess...

It has been playing in my head all day. Its one of the greatest ones [I know, they all are].

Ya, but it sounds a bit like incest too. Perhaps it is a song about someone who turned into an abuser himself, and has all that to deal with.

"love your moma, love your brother" - his dad doing it to the family?

In any case, the lyric "Turn that Heartbeat Over Again" is a very intriguing line no matter what it means, a classic. Its like it describes a certain part of the human condition that we otherwise cannot grasp. It could trigger some meaning to you that you have trouble putting into words, or that you never thought about before but you knew you were feeling them.

And when combined with the music, that simple melody on those 5 words, and then the break to sparse instrumentation, then with harmony at the end - you can hear it now, right? Ahhhh, its great.

Hello :),

I think that the song is about a man telling a story of how he murdered his father. I agree with the abusive father theory previously stated. Not so much incest but an abusive, religious, alcoholic father that beats his family ( love your mama, love your brother, love them till they run for cover)... and the narrarator is tired of the father continuing to abuse his mother and brother that still lives with him. So he comes up with a plan to return home and kill his father and make it look like a break in robbery at the package store his father owns (with stocking face I bought a gun). So he goes home to Paraguay to "visit" his family. He notices that mom's cooking isn't as good as he remembered in his youth, probably because she is weary and tired of being abused, and that the package store his father owned is now out of business (now the food here aint so good no more, and they closed the package store). But he proceeds with the plan to kill his father anyway (the plan was set, the plan was done). So one night he comes in the house like a burglar and shoots his father dead. After its done the mother comforts him as he's reacting wildly to what he has done. She tells him to not feel guilty and let it all out to her and to calm down. Then she helps him get out of the house unoticed ( turn the light off, keep your shirt on, cry a jag on me). He runs back to whatever town he lives in and gets a drink at the local bar where he's a regular, a drinker too just like his father ( make mine a double Sam...this road leads from Paraguay and I've just come all the way). (Sam is a reference from the movie Casablanca the bartenders name was Sam and he was friends with Humphrey Bogarts character). The guilt of his crime is eating away at him and he being raised religiously...possibly Catholic needs to cry out to God for what has happened. So, he prays to the Archangel Michael and the Lord Jesus that he is nothing like his father and its not his fault for what he did ( you know I'm not to blame, you know my reputation for playin a good clean game ) and he will keep his promise to never drink or be violent again if they bring his father back to life. Finally he goes back to town for the funeral of his father, the package store owner and sees him laid to rest. He justifies in his mind what has happened by stating he shouldn't have always drank and been abusive. (We warned the corpse of William Wright not to cuss and drink all night). (William Wright-as mentioned in Wally 1047's post played a character of the department store owner on the Andy Griffith Show). With his ticket in hand he returns to his home to continue the legacy of being an abusive drunk just like his father ( But Zombie see and Zombie do, he's here with me and you). And thats my take on it. Thanks

Try this one on for size.

What if Michael is not a biblical reference but is a reference to Becker and Fagan's good friend, running buddy, and longtime musical college Michael McDonald?

To me the song sounds like someone who has been up all night partying but something went wrong and the night ended up in the emergency room. Now at his friend's bedside he is trying to rationalize everything. (I'm no to blame. You know my reputation for playing a good clean game.)

Maybe the friend OD'ed or there was a car wreck. Suddenly the drugs from Paraguay and the booze ("make mine a double, Sam") and the "outlaw" lifestyle (stocking face and a gun) don't look so romantic and fun.

He is exhorting his friend Michael to live, to turn that heartbeat over again. Imagine watching as the doctors use the cardio shock paddles.

There is a certain fatalism in the part about warning the corpse not to cuss and drink all night and seeing him laid to rest ticket in hand.

Zombie see and zombie do. He's saying we've seen this before, other friends dying, we know better and still we do it again. But please, Michael, don't die. I will be a better person, I promise.

Whaddaya think?