Edit

okay...this is going to be wildly unpopular...BUT... Uncle Albert is also the crazy uncle who laughs his way up to a tea party on the ceiling in Mary Poppins. Mary Poppins is one of Regina's favorite movies (along with Sound of Music)...so I think there is a pretty good chance she could be making a reference there as well. And despite the fact that Mary Poppins was my ALL TIME favorite movie as a kid, I probably would NEVER have caught that...except that I listen to Regina Spektor full blast in the minivan to cover up the sound of Mary Poppins on the DVD player in the back seat. That's right...you heard it. Mini-van. Regina Spektor. I'm still cool.

I think the music is about Michael Jackson.

white lines on your mind (refers to his desire of being white) keep it steady you were never ready for the lies...

you don't have no doctor robert / you don't have no uncle albert (Obviously refers to Beatles/Paul songs. But if you remember, MJ bought the rights from some Beatles songs) you don't even have good credit (Children abuse) you can write but you can't edit (Can write his songs, but can´t edit the Beatle's songs)

Of course is this. ;D

I think feelthewaltz has pretty much summed this up. However, I think asteroid also has a valid point. I don't think it's a mistake that this song makes such ambiguous drug references (white lines, keeping it steady, not being ready for the lies, the song doctor robert by the beatles being about a doctor known for supplying celebrities with drugs). Basically, I think it IS about writing, but Regina has incorporated these drug references in there for some reason as well. I don't really know what it is, though.

I think it's about drugs AND writing, but not writing in the pen and paper way....

You're writing the story of your life every day, but you can't go back and change things ("edit").

Call me crazy, but I really think this song is about the Soviet Union. More specifically, it's a message to soviet leaders about their weaknesses against America in the Cold War.

You don't have no Doctor Robert You don't have no Uncle Albert You don't even have good credit You can write, but you can't edit

"Doctor Robert" and "Uncle Albert" are Robert Oppenheimer and Albert Einstein, two history-making scientists, both immensely important figures in the creation of the atomic bomb. "You don't even have good credit" acknowledging the relative poorness of the Soviet Union compared to the US, which proved to ultimately be it's downfall. "You can write, but you can't edit" is a dig at the censorship and propaganda forced on Russian citizens. Soviet leaders can try to write their history, tell their people lies, but they can't change (edit) what really happened

as regina said in a live version of this song, "this is as gangster as i've gotten."

cocaine?

Heh, I've never thought about drugs OR writing when it comes to this song. I've always seen it more as someone with a relationship, and she/he finds out their partner is a liar. About everything; his past, his life, etc. I've taken the "You can write, but you can't edit" lines to mean that he/she can spin their lies fine, but when it comes to backing them up and keeping them straight and believeable that they were bad. They couldn't keep track of all the lies. But I really understand the writing analogy, it makes a lot of sense!

it's not a drug reference. completely about writing.

white lines refer to the lines on paper. doctor robert refers to the beatles song. uncle albert refers to the paul mccartney song.

basically the song is saying "sure, you can write. but you don't have a masterpiece."

I thought the "white lines" were like white grooves on a record that has been played over and over.

I feel like even with the references, it's about someone who's tangled up in lies and pretension, and think they have something really good, but aren't making something that hasn't already been made.

Maybe partly it's about the aftereffects of drugs, and how everything after just turns out half-witted and dull, washed out even if you don't realise it.