I'm Waiting for the Man

Wow, no comments for Lou. I was just rippin this song on my guitar and thinking of him waiting for his connection to score. So New York seventies.

This song is almost unquestionably about the cycle of ups/downs and scoring involved in being a heroin addict with a particular 70s new york H scene twist to it. One of the best things about recreational opiate use is the moment .. when you rapidly shift from hell to heaven .. it's almsot a "perfect day."

He speaks of waiting for his man .. who's always late .. while feeling dirty. Sounds like early withdrawal ... waiting to score.

Then goes on to use words like works (nickname still in use for injecting equipment), and then about how awesome it is .. until tomorrow comes .. when he's gonna have to go see his man again.

If you've ever been a recreational opiate user .. you'll recognise this plain as day. I suspect to others .. it may not be quite so clear .. but I'm sure you still get it.

Loved this song as a kid .. still do .. though perhaps it has more meaning to me these days.

I think that it obviously has to do with scoring drugs, but that the double, and at first, plain as day (at least from the title) meaning of a gay relationship, is/was intentional. Back then it would have been quite bold and controversial to have a song about such subject matter so openly displayed, so Lou doubles down so when it is investigated further, it turns out to be about another controversial talking point, drug dealing.

I am not gay, but have done this song, as a cover song, on stage, over the years, and people's first reaction is usually some form of, "I didn't know you were gay." Hell, even my drummer thought that was what the song was about (and this is after playing it for the last umpteen years) until I explained it to him a couple of months ago, which is hilarious to me. I asked him why he thought, that I, a straight man, would play a gay song all this time, and he said he thought it was because 'it had a pretty good beat'. I almost died laughing.