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Same Old Song and Dance Lyrics

Get yourself a cooler, lay yourself low
Coincidental murder with nothing to show
With the judge's constipation will go to his head
And his wife's aggravation you're soon enough dead

It's the same old story
Same old song and dance, my friend
It's the same old story
Same old song and dance, my friend

Gotcha with the cocaine they found with your gun
No smoothy-face lawyer to getcha undone
Say love ain't the same on the south side of town
You could look but you ain't gonna find it around

It's the same old story
Same old song and dance, my friend
It's the same old story
Same old story, same old song and dance

Fate comes a knockin'
Doors start lockin'
Your old-time connection
Change your direction
You ain't gonna change it
Can't rearrange it
Can't stand the pain when
It's all the same to you, my friend

When you're low down and dirty from walkin' the street
With your old hurdy-gurdy and no one to meet
Say love ain't the same on the south side of town
You could look but you ain't gonna find it around

It's the same old story
Same old song and dance, my friend
It's the same old story...same old story
Same old song and dance...yeah
8 Meanings

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Cover art for Same Old Song and Dance lyrics by Aerosmith

Someone from the rough part of town has been imprisoned (a cooler = jail cell) and falsely accused of murder (coincidental murder), based on some sketchy evidence (coke & gun doesn’t mean murder). He doesn’t have the means to hire a lawyer to properly defend him. His life is on the line before an impatient and arrogant judge. And if you think this is a rare situation, no man, it happens all the time. It’s the same old story.

My Interpretation
Cover art for Same Old Song and Dance lyrics by Aerosmith

It's a story about people who make fucked up choices...if you don't change your ways, life's never going to change for you. It's the same old story, the same old song and dance.

Cover art for Same Old Song and Dance lyrics by Aerosmith

I think KingJPW is spot on but I'd like to expand on this a little.

I think this is specifically about a black guy, possibly falling for a white woman, (love ain't the same on south side of town) that has been set-up and wrongfully convicted.

This was written when the civil rights movement was still going on pretty heavy and minorities usually didn't share the same part of town as the whites. I think it's an anthem to knock the crap off.

Cocaine dealing among the blacks was rampant around that time as a means to an end, too. It would be all too easy to set a guy up with some coke and a gun and get them convicted.

So I am guessing full story- Black man falls for white woman > somebody doesn't like it> black man gets set-up with gun and coke so he goes away and stops the relationship> can't afford a good attorney or even one at all> gets wrongfully convicted> goes to jail.

This stuff happened a lot back then so it was literally the same old story....

Cover art for Same Old Song and Dance lyrics by Aerosmith

you reli cant put it better than that can ya? not one of Aerosmiths better songs but very low deep rocking a relative serious song from the usually lighthearted aerosmith, probably because it was inspired by steve the lips drug addiction problems

Cover art for Same Old Song and Dance lyrics by Aerosmith

i cant believe only 3 people commented on this song. in my personal opinion, its one of the best aerosmith songs

Cover art for Same Old Song and Dance lyrics by Aerosmith

This song is definitely about how the court system is designed AGAINST poor people.

"love ain't the same on the south side of town"

being the least obvious line about this.

Cover art for Same Old Song and Dance lyrics by Aerosmith

The court system is designed against poor people?

"Gotcha with the cocaine they found with your gun" ...sounds more like it's designed against dirtbags, according to these lyrics.

Or maybe it's a reference to the fact that a lot of times police would plant evidence on people to make it easier to convict them of a crime. Police corruption and whatnot.

I remember my father told me a story when he was working in a certain part of the US as a security guard at night, the cops there told him that they would carry an unregistered firearm to plant on the victim. A lot of people say that would be corruption, and in many cases it's true, but on the other hand, when you're working in...

Or maybe it's a reference to the fact that a lot of times police would plant evidence on people to make it easier to convict them of a crime. Police corruption and whatnot.

I remember my father told me a story when he was working in a certain part of the US as a security guard at night, the cops there told him that they would carry an unregistered firearm to plant on the victim. A lot of people say that would be corruption, and in many cases it's true, but on the other hand, when you're working in...

Gotcha with the cocaine they found with your gun No smoothy face lawyer to getcha undone

This is a reference to Richie Supa, a friend of Steven's who got busted for dealing. Richie wrote Chip Away the Stone.

Cover art for Same Old Song and Dance lyrics by Aerosmith

i agree 100% with King JpW

falsely accused of murder because of sketchy evidence

cant afford a lawyer

judge is bias

and same old song and dance means its nothing new it happens all the time

 
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