this song is amazing from a lyrical standpoint. it's pure poetry.
the first part is about a lady who seems to be high class. she's in a stagecoach and she's dressed like she's rich (pearl handled necktie). Then it's hinted that Jimi is homeless at the moment, living in a box on the street. she pulled up to his "soap box door". She then insults him by asking if she's seen him in hell.
Before Jimi could reply with a sense of humor asking if it was the East or West side of hell, she runs his feet over with her stagecoach and moves on. It hurt his feet physically but even more so emotionally.
"And as they pulled away I could see her words
Stagger and fall on my muddy tent
Well I picked them up, brushed them off,
To see what they say"
This part is about as she's riding away, Jimi translates what she's saying/had said to him. (He picks up her words, brushes them off and see's what they really mean).
and to his surprise, I take it she's a prostitute.
"come around to my room, with the tooth in the middle, And bring along the bottle and a president"
the tooth being the bed, the bottle being a bottle of course, and the president being money. he's surprised at this because she looked so high class. and it's his way of demonstrating that people aren't always as they seem, and the person you really know is yourself.
The chorus is him saying that it's hard when his only friend is himself.
The next part is about him riding through L.A. and running into one of his old friends. the friend comments that he doesn't look as good as he used to (that Jimi looks run down and raggity). Jimi thinks to himself that he just picked up his pride from literally underneath a payphone, in other words he's just thinking "no shit, i'm homeless. i just spent the night in a phone booth" to his buddy's comment.
He then "combs his buddy's breath out of his hair" meaning he just shakes off what his so-called friend had said. but it's still not easy when you're only true friend is yourself. and people aren't what they appear to be.
He then gets out of jail and goes home to see his girlfriend. He's dizzy (drunk/high) so he has to check in the mirror to see if "his friend is still with him" (meaning himself being his only true friend, and if whatever he's on had changed his personality)
He finds her dog laying on his coat and her cat to be hostile towards him (pill box meaning the military bunker. not drugs). This could be a metaphore for her being angry at him. The "sharing lipstick" may imply she's cheating on him, but i'm not sure. He says that he thought that she was his friend too, but now he would put his shadow before her now. And in the end it turns out that he, himself is his only friend.
@FenderTele She didn't run over his feet with the stagecoach, it was the bandwagon, everyone else chiming in on her insult. The rest of your info cleared up a lot for me though, like the pillbox. There's 3 boxes in the song, soapbox, coin box, and pillbox.
@FenderTele She didn't run over his feet with the stagecoach, it was the bandwagon, everyone else chiming in on her insult. The rest of your info cleared up a lot for me though, like the pillbox. There's 3 boxes in the song, soapbox, coin box, and pillbox.
@FenderTele I read the part about picking up her words differently, as humorous and trippy. He's telling this story to some people passing a bottle around. He picks up her words, dusts them off, then he says you wouldn't believe! Like you wanna hear the rest of that story come around to my room with the tooth in the middle, like he's tripping, what you don't see that big tooth in the middle of my room? And bring that bottle, and a president, like maybe a andrew jackson.
@FenderTele I read the part about picking up her words differently, as humorous and trippy. He's telling this story to some people passing a bottle around. He picks up her words, dusts them off, then he says you wouldn't believe! Like you wanna hear the rest of that story come around to my room with the tooth in the middle, like he's tripping, what you don't see that big tooth in the middle of my room? And bring that bottle, and a president, like maybe a andrew jackson.
allthings mustpass. you're a moron.
this song is amazing from a lyrical standpoint. it's pure poetry.
the first part is about a lady who seems to be high class. she's in a stagecoach and she's dressed like she's rich (pearl handled necktie). Then it's hinted that Jimi is homeless at the moment, living in a box on the street. she pulled up to his "soap box door". She then insults him by asking if she's seen him in hell.
Before Jimi could reply with a sense of humor asking if it was the East or West side of hell, she runs his feet over with her stagecoach and moves on. It hurt his feet physically but even more so emotionally.
"And as they pulled away I could see her words Stagger and fall on my muddy tent Well I picked them up, brushed them off, To see what they say"
This part is about as she's riding away, Jimi translates what she's saying/had said to him. (He picks up her words, brushes them off and see's what they really mean).
and to his surprise, I take it she's a prostitute. "come around to my room, with the tooth in the middle, And bring along the bottle and a president"
the tooth being the bed, the bottle being a bottle of course, and the president being money. he's surprised at this because she looked so high class. and it's his way of demonstrating that people aren't always as they seem, and the person you really know is yourself.
The chorus is him saying that it's hard when his only friend is himself.
The next part is about him riding through L.A. and running into one of his old friends. the friend comments that he doesn't look as good as he used to (that Jimi looks run down and raggity). Jimi thinks to himself that he just picked up his pride from literally underneath a payphone, in other words he's just thinking "no shit, i'm homeless. i just spent the night in a phone booth" to his buddy's comment.
He then "combs his buddy's breath out of his hair" meaning he just shakes off what his so-called friend had said. but it's still not easy when you're only true friend is yourself. and people aren't what they appear to be.
He then gets out of jail and goes home to see his girlfriend. He's dizzy (drunk/high) so he has to check in the mirror to see if "his friend is still with him" (meaning himself being his only true friend, and if whatever he's on had changed his personality)
He finds her dog laying on his coat and her cat to be hostile towards him (pill box meaning the military bunker. not drugs). This could be a metaphore for her being angry at him. The "sharing lipstick" may imply she's cheating on him, but i'm not sure. He says that he thought that she was his friend too, but now he would put his shadow before her now. And in the end it turns out that he, himself is his only friend.
@FenderTele Very good analogy. Really enjoyed it. Thanks!
@FenderTele Very good analogy. Really enjoyed it. Thanks!
@FenderTele She didn't run over his feet with the stagecoach, it was the bandwagon, everyone else chiming in on her insult. The rest of your info cleared up a lot for me though, like the pillbox. There's 3 boxes in the song, soapbox, coin box, and pillbox.
@FenderTele She didn't run over his feet with the stagecoach, it was the bandwagon, everyone else chiming in on her insult. The rest of your info cleared up a lot for me though, like the pillbox. There's 3 boxes in the song, soapbox, coin box, and pillbox.
@FenderTele I read the part about picking up her words differently, as humorous and trippy. He's telling this story to some people passing a bottle around. He picks up her words, dusts them off, then he says you wouldn't believe! Like you wanna hear the rest of that story come around to my room with the tooth in the middle, like he's tripping, what you don't see that big tooth in the middle of my room? And bring that bottle, and a president, like maybe a andrew jackson.
@FenderTele I read the part about picking up her words differently, as humorous and trippy. He's telling this story to some people passing a bottle around. He picks up her words, dusts them off, then he says you wouldn't believe! Like you wanna hear the rest of that story come around to my room with the tooth in the middle, like he's tripping, what you don't see that big tooth in the middle of my room? And bring that bottle, and a president, like maybe a andrew jackson.