Putting Down

Just a wild guess here: I think he is in Santa Monica California staying at "Shutters On The Beach" which is a hotel that is between the boardwalk and Appian Way. I think he is going to bed for the night after a show most likely at the House Of Blues on sunset blvd were he had planty of colorful people to document for song ideas. Also, plenty of women over there that could hold a bird's egg between thier breasts. All in all I think he is saying that he is really tired and needs to go to bed for the night.

So I think this song can be divided into three parts, with a twist.

In the first verse, Gord is giving a lacklustre account of how on the road you can at least enjoy painting and sketching "the indigenous," which in this verse means the local flora and fauna.

The second verse describes touring in the US, where he describes as a “state of ricochet.” This captures both the coast-to-coast travelling, but also a place where high roller opportunities (“diamond files, the corporate raves”) are contrasted with feeling unsafe ("you'd practically kill not to be afraid,” which sums up reasons for prevalent gun ownership). This experience leads Gord to feel out of his depth or hypocritical ("I'm starting to choke on the things I say").

Repeating “putting down” in the first chorus likens the uninspired “putting down” of local wildlife on paint and paper to songwriting on the road when he knows he will “choke” on his words.

The third verse is a play on the first verse, where each line kinda sounds like the corresponding line from the first verse. The key twist is that now "to document the indigenous" is not painting and sketching birds' eggs; it's the colonial history of documenting Indigenous people (“the documented indigenous civilization flipped its desk”). "Browbeaten out from underneath your dress" I believe refers to the banning of traditional ceremonial dress. "You know the rest, there is no rest" probably communicates the same feeling developed later in Now The Struggle Has A Name, where Gord laments that the struggle continues for Indigenous people even though it is presented as a past, historical problem. “I’m starting to fail to know what’s best” introduces the final chorus, indicating that now “putting down” is the general process of Gord turning the things he sees into song lyrics, even though he is starting to doubt that he knows what to say.