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Before the Kiss, a Redcap Lyrics
So grab your rose and ring side seat,
We're back home at Conry's bar
The blond girl with her tattoo,
Reds and wine, cokes of course
Oh my suzy, my suzy,
Why did we ever start
It's morning now, you'd never know
The gin, the gin, glows in the dark, glows in the dark
And underneath, the black light,
Underneath it all
Four and forty redheads meet,
Come to doom 'til the dawn
With threats of gas and rose motif
Their lips apart like a swollen rose
Their tongues extend, and then retract
A redcap, a redcap, before the kiss, before the kiss.
Doors like flint and window panes
An endless shadow bar
The owner's boys have gone to work
To stop big deals behind the bar
While outside on the turnpike
They got this new hit tune
Where thrills become as cheap as gas
And gas as cheap as thrills
One thrill and mundane here at last
Expect the cross one more
Lecherous invisible
Beware the limping cat
Whose black teeth grip between loose jaws
Still ripe and fully bloomed
A rose that's not from anywhere
That you would know or I would care
And the owners boys act most cheerfully
Back home at Conry's bar
When their patrons' thoughts at last
Grow too big for their skulls
And awful things are happening
We've let this drama fold
And now the time has come at last
To crush the motif of the rose.
So grab your rose and ring side seat
We're back home at Conry's bar
The blond girl with her tattoo
Reds and wine, cokes of course
Oh my suzy, my suzy
Why did we ever start
It's morning now, you'd never know
The gin, the gin, glows in the dark, glows in the dark
We're back home at Conry's bar
The blond girl with her tattoo,
Reds and wine, cokes of course
Why did we ever start
It's morning now, you'd never know
The gin, the gin, glows in the dark, glows in the dark
Underneath it all
Four and forty redheads meet,
Come to doom 'til the dawn
Their lips apart like a swollen rose
Their tongues extend, and then retract
A redcap, a redcap, before the kiss, before the kiss.
An endless shadow bar
The owner's boys have gone to work
To stop big deals behind the bar
They got this new hit tune
Where thrills become as cheap as gas
And gas as cheap as thrills
Expect the cross one more
Lecherous invisible
Beware the limping cat
Still ripe and fully bloomed
A rose that's not from anywhere
That you would know or I would care
Back home at Conry's bar
When their patrons' thoughts at last
Grow too big for their skulls
We've let this drama fold
And now the time has come at last
To crush the motif of the rose.
We're back home at Conry's bar
The blond girl with her tattoo
Reds and wine, cokes of course
Why did we ever start
It's morning now, you'd never know
The gin, the gin, glows in the dark, glows in the dark
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
If you read some interviews at the time the album came out, this song deals with Conry's Bar west, but also adds the idea that there is a secret organization called "the motif of the rose" there that passes drugs through kisses, in a sort of initiation ritual.
Oh, and "Gin glows in the dark" refers to an event that actually happened at the bar while the band was playing there. Someone spilled a drink and it glowed in the dark.
This song is about a real place 'Conry's Bar' where BOC played as the house band and Sandy Pearlman (lyricist for some BOC songs) witnessed a few unusual events. One of them being the exchange of a "redcap" barbituate between two people via a kiss.
This is one of my all-time favorite BOC songs, a wicked groove and a lyric that is brilliantly cryptic yet totally straightforward once you know the story. For scientific accuracy, it’s that quinine in tonic water in a gin and tonic that glows under a black light, but “the gin glows in the dark” is hella more poetic.
Actually, this song is called "Before the Kiss, A Redcap"
The song seem to me about parting all night with "Suzy" the blond girl. Reds and Wine(Seconal and Wine) cokes(Cocaine) . The Gin glows in the dark - Gin glows under a black-light for some reason and the black light is mentioned in the next line. It sounds like a crazy night of partying till morning!
great song would have been amazing to see them live at conray's bar in the early 70's