The Low Spark Of High-Heeled Boys

Here's the thing. Winwood was 16 or 17 yrs. old when he wrote this. In those days, street slang for heroin was 'boy' and for cocaine was 'girl'. High heel boy refers to a mixture of heroin and coke, commonly called a speedball. The 'low spark' is a description of the physical feeling brought on by injecting the speedball.

The man in the suit is the dealer, making profits on the dreams of his customers.

The gun that didn't make any noise is simply a hypodermic syringe.

This is one of the most truly savage songs in history, way deeper than nearly anything else from its era.

How Stevie knew this stuff at such a young age is an interesting question at such a young age is a good question

wowsers. this song's about trust and vulnerability and dangers of becoming jaded. steve winwood's plaintive, haunting voice is perfect for this song.

If you had just a minute to breathe and they granted you one final wish would you ask for something, like another chance.

That was my senior quote in high school - that segment to me means living your life and pursuing your goals so that when you are on your death bed you won't have any regrets. As far as the song i've heard it was written in disillusionment of the music industry - promoting artists who were marketable rather than those who were trying to do something creative.

Anyways I've been fucking off on this website too long I need to get back to work

I love that I really am still not sure about what this song means after 20 years of listening to it. It's about disappointment and regret. It's about a lot of potentially disturbing things. It doesn't give much away, though. Great song. Probably Traffic's best.

This song is just an awesome jam! I don't know the meaning and I was hoping to find more comments on this song. But I will take a stab at it. CuZ ii 3e k3wl

If you see something that looks like a star and it's shooting up out of the ground and your head is spinning from a loud guitar. And you just can't escape from the sound don't worry too much, it'll happen to you We were children once, playing with toys.

This verse I picture being drunk or stoned watching fireworks fucking around carelessly partying jamming

And the thing that you're hearing is only the sound of the low spark of high-heeled boys.

The sound of Upper high class type people that are loud high spirited bad ass rebel guys hanging around?

The percentage you're paying is too high priced while you're living beyond all your means. And the man in the suit has just bought a new car from the profit he's made on your dreams. But today you just swear that the man was shot dead by a gun that didn't make any noise. But it wasn't the bullet that laid him to rest was the low spark of high-heeled boys.

the man in the suit, Maybe the person who signed them to a label? Is reaping more of the benefits off their music?

If you had just a minute to breathe and they granted you one final wish would you ask for something, like another chance. Or something similar as this don't worry too much, it'll happen to you as sure as your sorrows are joys.

I go with bkabbott's take on this. If you were to take your last breath now would you be happy with what you have done and been in this life? Or would you want to do it all over, you honestly only get one chance.

If I gave you everything that I own and asked for nothing in return Would you do the same for me, as I would for you? Or take me for a ride and strip me of everything, including my pride But spirit is something that no one destroys

And this is just blatant.

Would you treat me fairly as I would treat you? Or would you screw me over? And if you did you may hurt my pride but you will never hurt my spirit.... because they are high spirited low sparked rebel bad assed mofo's ;).

sleepnot you/ve got it right except that "boy" and "girl" are backwards. You are also right about "gun." One more addition to this interpretation. One way that dealers had to contend with customers who fell too far behind was to include a fatal addition; hence "the gun that didn't make any noise." This does not mean that he didn't also mean record executives. Lyrics often had multiple layers of meaning, Ian Anderson being a good example of that.

Its so nice to come to this website and discover (sometimes hard to hear) lyrics and peruse various interpretations of songs.

Okay, I see the comments so far on Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys. And I feel more informed knowing them. And I totally buy their validity.

Now, having listened to this song alot without knowing the interpretation(s), I have to say that it has always made me think, and seems to be on that vary topic (making people think), intended to describe a process of awakening or self-discovery.

Okay, here goes (and don't think that I expect everyone to agree, this is "my" interpretation! LOL):

Verse 1: Drugs -- mindaltering, mindblowing. Mellow music soothes the psyche and you are told not to worry. This is part of the plan, part of the process. There is something bigger afoot, a higher power who concerns themselves with whats going on below. "Those who went before", "the universe" or "God" is the source of the spark down on your level.

Verse 2: Back to "real life" or "the rat race" but with a double meaning. Yes, the physical world is a game thats fixed. We do things to wreak our finances, to allow others to take advantage of us. But the implication is that our focus on money and materialism is a superficiality that is like shooting yourself in the foot. Nevertheless, there is justice. In the long run, "the man" gets what he deserves. And it is not the physical reality that does him in, its the fact that there is more to this life than you can ever see on the surface. And working behind the scenes, the "high-heeled boys" are keeping track and "they" do bring about sparks that have heavy consequences, even down on our level.

Verse 3: There they are, the boys looking backwards at you. They are present even in the worst catastrophe, with no hope of recovery. One minute left. And something all-powerful (a Djinni?) says you get one last wish. All of sudden, you would like to try it again, only different this time. (Reincarnation?) But the sound of your wish, your wish coming true is disturbing, you still arent sure how it all works (*or something similar to this). But now as you consider how your life went and with the power to make changes if you had it to do over, you realize you are one of them. And this whole process of life review, self-awareness, motivation to grow is just the sound of someone waking up (again / still). You are stepping out into the universe, but you still spark back down on lower levels.

Verse 4: On the OTHER hand, you could just go the route of taking advantage of others. Screw all the stuff about wanting to change the world, grow, improve things, help others, whatever. The drugs are going to give you a choice to follow a spiral down instead of up. You go around living however you please, no matter who gets hurt. Here is the writer offering himself up to the process, sacrificing himself so that you can learn from those terrible mistakes. [Note: I have always felt the intensity of the line and heard: "But spit it at something that no one destroys". This was not correct, obviously, but still... offering himself as a target of someone's anger or hurt and hate seems to be a possibility here. He will not falter or fail because of your wrongdoing.] But SPIRIT (the upward spiral) is something that cannot be destroyed. So sooner or later you will come around, even if the drugs take you down. And now the process no longer bothers me or confuses me. Because I have become part of the expanding universe, the bodhisatva, the wounded warriors, the low sparking but surefooted in spite of their higher calling, still learning man-boy in a club of like-minded souls.

Wow. I think I did too many myself (not tonight I mean, when I was younger). LOL. What say you?

I know this is not the consensus on what the song means but it made me think of some of the so called "managers" that signed contracts with young musicians and songwriters and often cheated them out of profits from their music.("from the profit he made on your dreams") but the music and musicians went on. When I was in England during the Late 60s some of the cool guys were wearing taps on their heels that would cause a spark if they scraped along the sidewalk s certain way. I think there was even something in the news back then about someone in the business being killed. Since Steve was such a young musician then I though it kind of made sense. Just another way to look at it. The beauty of music is that there are so many different neanings

I appreciate the interpretations I’ve read here of this enigmatic song, they’ve given me a lot to think about as I sing it. It’s been a favorite of mine since it was first released, partly because it leaves so much to subjective interpretation. I don’t fully understand it, yet I feel it deeply. That’s good lyric poetry. While I see everyone crediting Steve Winwood, and he is indeed credited as the song’s co-writer as is often done in musical collaborations, I am disappointed not to see a single reference to Jim Capaldi, who actually wrote the lyrics. Jim was a remarkable songwriter and deserves credit for this and other Traffic songs. I suggest going deeper and learning more about this creative man. Thanks and kind thoughts to you all.

[Edit: Typo]

that one's kind of incorrect, my bad. still traffic's best song though