Rose darling come to me
Snake Mary's gone to bed
All our steaming sounds of love
Cannot disturb her in her night
Or raise her sleeping head
All I ask of you
Is make my wildest dreams come true
No one sees and no one knows
Rose darling come to me
Snake Mary dreams along
I would guess she's in Detroit
With lots of money in the bank
Although I could be wrong
You must know it's right
The spoor is on the wind tonight
You won't feel it till it grows
[Chorus]
Rose darling my friend
With only you and what I've found
We'll wear the weary hours down
Rose darling come to me
The clock is close at hand
All my empty words of love
Can never screen the flash I feel
Or make you understand
Honey can't you see
I know it's real it's got to be
Why not chase it where it goes
[Chorus]
Snake Mary's gone to bed
All our steaming sounds of love
Cannot disturb her in her night
Or raise her sleeping head
All I ask of you
Is make my wildest dreams come true
No one sees and no one knows
Rose darling come to me
Snake Mary dreams along
I would guess she's in Detroit
With lots of money in the bank
Although I could be wrong
You must know it's right
The spoor is on the wind tonight
You won't feel it till it grows
[Chorus]
Rose darling my friend
With only you and what I've found
We'll wear the weary hours down
Rose darling come to me
The clock is close at hand
All my empty words of love
Can never screen the flash I feel
Or make you understand
Honey can't you see
I know it's real it's got to be
Why not chase it where it goes
[Chorus]
Lyrics submitted by Lukasa, edited by foolwhoknows1
"Rose Darling" as written by Walter Carl Becker Donald Jay Fagen
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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some pretty sick images follow if that's the way you read the lyrics. but maybe i'm wrong.
Based on the lyrics I am convinced this is about a young man in a Catholic orphanage. Mary and Rose are both names associated with Catholicism. "Snake Mary" sounds like "Sister Mary" filtered through adolescent ears and further there is the suggestion she might be poor, consistent with a vow of poverty.
I think "spore on the wind" and "feel it 'till it grows" are both premonitions that Rose will become pregnant from these encounters. 'Till it grows has a double meaning, but the fetus is the main implication. Not that our protagonist actually understands the coming consequence (wow, I can do double meanings too!). "What I've learned" is probably not much more than (1) that masturbation feels good and (2) you are cool if you do it in a girl. Both of which, to adolescents stuck the terminal institutional boredom, would be an irresistible diversion.
Donald Fagan, if you are out there...after 30+ years of adult fandom, I am still maturing into new appreciation of Steely tunes. (Gold Teeth 2, at the moment.) Thank you for giving your all to this art, and condolences at the loss of your alchemical coniunctio.
Something about Steely Dan singing about "steaming sounds of love" makes me giggle.
I also think he has scored some cocaine and is wanting her to do a line with him i.e. "chase it where it goes", and the reference to "what I've found"...so what did he find?...a little coke methinks.
Second, the posted lyric is wrong: it's "the spoor is on the wind tonight" which is a hunting/tracking reference and actually makes sense, as opposed to "spore". (Again, drugs and sex both work with that reference).
And if you listen carefully, he definitely says Snake Mary, not Saint Mary (though that would make sense from a lyric perspective).