Stuck In The Middle With You

This is what the song is about- and it comes from the liner notes of RIGHT DOWN THE LINE- the Best of Gerry Rafferty cd. The song is referring to people in the record biz- management people and executives of record labels- they are the clowns and jokers referred to in the lyrics. If you know about Gerry Rafferty you know he has had major issues with the record biz all his life. The band (Stealers Wheel) was signed to their label and attended a signing party at a fancy London restaurant. Rafferty described the scene as like "the Last Supper", with everyone sitting around a long table. The song is about the weasels in the record industry, the guys (band) getting drunk, and trying to get out of the entire thing- which they detested. That is the gist of what the song is about.

This song written by Gerry Rafferty was inspired by the hilarious comedian Billy Connolly, they were in a band together called the Humblebums, and this song is what it was like to be on stage with Billy, and trying to perform while he was making him laugh. Being on stage he couldn't just ignore it.

"I'm so scared in case I fall off my chair, And I'm wondering how I'll get down the stairs, Clowns to the left of me, Jokers to the right, here I am, Stuck in the middle with you."

"It's so hard to keep this smile from my face, Losing control, yeah, I'm all over the place,"

When you think bout it, it makes sense.

i love this song

Well you started out with nothing, And you're proud that you're a self made man, And your friends, they all come crawlin, Slap you on the back and say, Please.... Please.....

could this line be about a drug dealer?

I'm tempted to be smug and say "I liked it before it was in Reservoir Dogs." But I'm fairly young and, ironically, I probably wouldn't have heard it on oldies stations if its use in that movie hadn't caused a resurgence in popularity, thus causing it to re-enter popular consciousness and make it worthwhile for oldies stations to put it back in rotation. So thanks, Q.T., for keeping a good song alive. For the record, though, I still haven't seen the movie.

kayteeoh - A review of the song allmusic.com calls it a "clever corporate snub", so you could be right: You're at a fancy dinner with these bigwigs and suits and snobs and assorted other elites, and you feel awkward ("I don't know why I came here tonight/I got the feelin' that something ain't right") and, in the presence of The Powers That Be, you're terrified of making a bad impression-- "I'm so scared in case I fall off my chair/And I'm wondering how I'll get down the stairs...It's so hard to keep this smile from my face/Losing control, yeah, I'm all over the place." But you spend time with them, and you realize that they're nothing but a pack of assholes--"Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right/Here I am, stuck in the middle with you." This would especially make sense if he was at the dinner with a bandmate and he knew they both felt the same way.

If you interpret it that way, the "started off with nothin'" bridge could be about the guys in the band all psyched that they've finally gone from a no-name group gigging at dives (starting off from nothing) to a decently successful group. But now that they're big, their 'friends' come out of the woodwork, asking for money or connections or what-have-you, slapping you on the back and begging for a hand-out. Maybe it's another "success isn't what I thought it would be" song.

Also, I always thought "And your friends, they all come crawlin'/Slap you on the back and say, 'Please, please,'" was "And your fat old uncle Charlie...".

Damn, no comments? WHY?? This song is amazing. And if you've seen Reservoir Dogs you can appreciate it even more. ;)

Yeah, it's an amazingly awsome song! I love it! And Reservoir Dogs was one hell of a movie, Michael Madsen did a GREAT job at playing Mr. Blonde...

"Do you ever listen to K-Billy's Super Sounds Of The 70's? It's my personal favorite"

"Joe Eagen and Gerry Raferty were a duo known as "Stealers Wheel" when they recorded this Dylinesque, pop, bubble-gum favorite in April of 1974. It topped the charts and still is our number one favorite as K-Billy's Super Sounds Of The 70's continues".

I LOVE THE SONG, AND, I LOVE RESERVOIR DOGS!

When I listen to this song and read the lyrics it makes me think of a guy sitting in a bar and hes pretty much drunk and all the while he is surrounded by drunks and he's just singing to his drink saying that its both of them against the rest of the world, while sitting in this crazy bar......i could be wrong and i jsut wanted to say that i think the use of this song didn't really have to do with explaining the ear cutting scene i think it was jsut to show how sadistic mr. blonde was that hed be dancing around to this "good times" song while torturing someone

I love this song but I heard on "That 70's show" ha ha I love that show and they play part of this song on it occansionaly

StonefaceKeanu i think is closest, although i never been 'trippin' on acid, so i don't know much from that perspective. "Well I don't know why I came here tonight, I got the feeling that something ain't right, I'm so scared in case I fall off my chair, And I'm wondering how I'll get down the stairs, Clowns to the left of me, Jokers to the right, here I am, Stuck in the middle with you." Someone goes go a meeting or conference for their job. this person could be close to being fired or maybe he hates his job, but he has to stay, hence the word 'stuck' 'im so scared in case i fall off my chair' meaning, if he makes another error or mistake he might be fired. He might refer to his co-workers as clowns and jokers because he isn't taken seriously.

A few days before I heard Gerry Rafferty died, I kept humming this tune. I am in the midst of lunatics in a situation of my own making. As I try to escape, I totally understand the difficulty in breaking away from the chaos. This song is the realization of just trying to make sense of it all (all can be whatever you want).