This is a fantstic song. The guitar work made it on the list of top 100 guitar solos of all time as voted by Guitar World magazine readers. I'm surprised that no one has contributed as to what they think the song means. Ok, this is what i think the song means. My comments are in brackets.
Your everlasting summer
You can see it fading fast
(The writer of this song is writing this song for a girl whom he loves but the girl has chosen someone else. The first two lines in about how the girl can feel that she is aging. "Summer" here refers to the prime of our life, i.e. 15-30 years of age. The girl here is, perhaps, fast approaching her 30s.)
So you grab a piece of something
That you think is gonna last
(The girl quickly grabs on to a man whom she thinks she would be able to spend the rest of her life with.)
You wouldn't know a diamond
If you held it in your hand
(Here the writer of the song refers to himself as a diamond, how he believes that he is the best person or her, but she doesn't know shit. She wouldn't know the material value of a wad of cash or a diamond if hit her in the face, just as she doesn't know how good the song writer is for her.)
The things you think are precious
I can't understand
(The song writer disagrees with the man she has chosen and doesn't understand what he sees in him.)
CHORUS:
Are you Reelin' In The Years?
Stowin' away the time
(The chorus here is basically the song writier asking the girl whether years of partying and making the wrong choices have taken their toll on the girl.)
Are you gatherin' up the tears?
Have you had enough of mine?
(Here the song writer is asking if she looks back proudly at the hearts she's borken, at the number of man who were crazy for her. It also asks her if she had enough of the attention and love he showered on her, and the tears he cried for her.)
You been tellin' me you're a genius
Since you were seventeen
In all the time I've known you
I still don't know what you mean
The weekend at the college
Didn't turn out like you planned
The things that pass for knowledge
I can't understand
(Here the song writer is generally critical of the girl, of her self-assured wisdom. Crudely-speakng, he thinks the girl is full of herself, thinks that she is smart, but that is quite far from the truth. It also hints that all the ideals that she has during her younger years (college, seventeen) have turned to dust.)
I spend a lot of money
And I spent a lot of time
The trip we made in Hollywood
Is etched upon my mind
After all the things we've done and seen
You find another man
The things you think are useless
I can't understand
(This part is the song writer's reminisences on the good times that he and the girl spent, the things that they have gone through, the memories that would forever be in his mind). Those memories are now corrupted by what the song writer thinks is the wrong man chosen by the girl.)
Overall, this song is quite straight forward. This is my take on it. Hope to see some other interpretations of this song.
@SRV Blues I agree with that, but furthermore I think it's about the guy's own confusion and self-delusion. He can't understand or accept that she prefers someone else, and he can't see that it's because he's a controlling and over-critical asshole.
@SRV Blues I agree with that, but furthermore I think it's about the guy's own confusion and self-delusion. He can't understand or accept that she prefers someone else, and he can't see that it's because he's a controlling and over-critical asshole.
@SRV Blues Very good interpretation. To take it one level deeper, consider that this song is much like Led Zepplin's Stairway to Heaven. It is about Christ and his bride, so the voice of the singer is Jesus... and that is very hard for a lot of people to take, but it is the reason you can listen to such songs over, and over and over again. See www.inthatdayteachings.com for such insight. Christ-in-You calls to everyone, you know?
@SRV Blues Very good interpretation. To take it one level deeper, consider that this song is much like Led Zepplin's Stairway to Heaven. It is about Christ and his bride, so the voice of the singer is Jesus... and that is very hard for a lot of people to take, but it is the reason you can listen to such songs over, and over and over again. See www.inthatdayteachings.com for such insight. Christ-in-You calls to everyone, you know?
@SRV Blues @losttango eh, gotta disagree with you losttango. Sure the line about wasting money on the girl is a little past entitled, but the line about "things passing for knowledge I don't understand" settles the point for me that he wasn't somebody who was conditioned by this idea that the things he told he should do in life are what's right for a lot of people.
@SRV Blues @losttango eh, gotta disagree with you losttango. Sure the line about wasting money on the girl is a little past entitled, but the line about "things passing for knowledge I don't understand" settles the point for me that he wasn't somebody who was conditioned by this idea that the things he told he should do in life are what's right for a lot of people.
He's out there making music and found success doing what he's passionate about as opposed to this idea that he should "go to college; be responsible; get a family; be an...
He's out there making music and found success doing what he's passionate about as opposed to this idea that he should "go to college; be responsible; get a family; be an engineer, etc." And instead of searching for other alternatives besides college that's going to give her meaning in life, she tries to find that meaning in another man.
He finds that she's fallen under the narrative that things will work out, but now that she fears she may not be sexually viable for a man she wants because age is fast approaching her, she makes an irrational decision to be with a man who instead isn't truly compatible with her on a deeper level. She doesn't understand the disconnect so when she's older this realization will be too painful for her when she realized she made a mistake.
I don't find this song to be some sort of revenge against the girl he once loved; it's possible he still most definitely has feelings for her. The song is a catharsis for the fact that what's happened is irreversible because the connection between them has been torn apart.
@SRV Blues Wow, all these years and you have shone a fresh new light on this toon... it amuses me how SD can create such a jolly, dance-tune with such heartbreaking lyrics. All those chumps tripping the light fantastic oblivious that the gal they are dancing with might just be like our gal in the song... me included. I played her their records countless times but she only saw the happy pop. Maybe that guy they sing about truly did turn out to be "the one".... our poor guy just had to face up to those "years" being gone and...
@SRV Blues Wow, all these years and you have shone a fresh new light on this toon... it amuses me how SD can create such a jolly, dance-tune with such heartbreaking lyrics. All those chumps tripping the light fantastic oblivious that the gal they are dancing with might just be like our gal in the song... me included. I played her their records countless times but she only saw the happy pop. Maybe that guy they sing about truly did turn out to be "the one".... our poor guy just had to face up to those "years" being gone and find someone who appreciates his view of life. Twinges of jealousy there perhaps?
@aspiringmusician It depends, I suppose, on whether you think Fagen is singing as himself or as a character/unreliable narrator. I tend to think the latter, and that he does so in other Dan songs as well as this one.
@aspiringmusician It depends, I suppose, on whether you think Fagen is singing as himself or as a character/unreliable narrator. I tend to think the latter, and that he does so in other Dan songs as well as this one.
This is a fantstic song. The guitar work made it on the list of top 100 guitar solos of all time as voted by Guitar World magazine readers. I'm surprised that no one has contributed as to what they think the song means. Ok, this is what i think the song means. My comments are in brackets.
Your everlasting summer You can see it fading fast
(The writer of this song is writing this song for a girl whom he loves but the girl has chosen someone else. The first two lines in about how the girl can feel that she is aging. "Summer" here refers to the prime of our life, i.e. 15-30 years of age. The girl here is, perhaps, fast approaching her 30s.)
So you grab a piece of something That you think is gonna last
(The girl quickly grabs on to a man whom she thinks she would be able to spend the rest of her life with.)
You wouldn't know a diamond If you held it in your hand
(Here the writer of the song refers to himself as a diamond, how he believes that he is the best person or her, but she doesn't know shit. She wouldn't know the material value of a wad of cash or a diamond if hit her in the face, just as she doesn't know how good the song writer is for her.)
The things you think are precious I can't understand
(The song writer disagrees with the man she has chosen and doesn't understand what he sees in him.)
CHORUS: Are you Reelin' In The Years? Stowin' away the time
(The chorus here is basically the song writier asking the girl whether years of partying and making the wrong choices have taken their toll on the girl.)
Are you gatherin' up the tears? Have you had enough of mine?
(Here the song writer is asking if she looks back proudly at the hearts she's borken, at the number of man who were crazy for her. It also asks her if she had enough of the attention and love he showered on her, and the tears he cried for her.)
You been tellin' me you're a genius Since you were seventeen In all the time I've known you I still don't know what you mean The weekend at the college Didn't turn out like you planned The things that pass for knowledge I can't understand
(Here the song writer is generally critical of the girl, of her self-assured wisdom. Crudely-speakng, he thinks the girl is full of herself, thinks that she is smart, but that is quite far from the truth. It also hints that all the ideals that she has during her younger years (college, seventeen) have turned to dust.)
I spend a lot of money And I spent a lot of time The trip we made in Hollywood Is etched upon my mind After all the things we've done and seen You find another man The things you think are useless I can't understand
(This part is the song writer's reminisences on the good times that he and the girl spent, the things that they have gone through, the memories that would forever be in his mind). Those memories are now corrupted by what the song writer thinks is the wrong man chosen by the girl.)
Overall, this song is quite straight forward. This is my take on it. Hope to see some other interpretations of this song.
@SRV Blues I agree with that, but furthermore I think it's about the guy's own confusion and self-delusion. He can't understand or accept that she prefers someone else, and he can't see that it's because he's a controlling and over-critical asshole.
@SRV Blues I agree with that, but furthermore I think it's about the guy's own confusion and self-delusion. He can't understand or accept that she prefers someone else, and he can't see that it's because he's a controlling and over-critical asshole.
@SRV Blues Very good interpretation. To take it one level deeper, consider that this song is much like Led Zepplin's Stairway to Heaven. It is about Christ and his bride, so the voice of the singer is Jesus... and that is very hard for a lot of people to take, but it is the reason you can listen to such songs over, and over and over again. See www.inthatdayteachings.com for such insight. Christ-in-You calls to everyone, you know?
@SRV Blues Very good interpretation. To take it one level deeper, consider that this song is much like Led Zepplin's Stairway to Heaven. It is about Christ and his bride, so the voice of the singer is Jesus... and that is very hard for a lot of people to take, but it is the reason you can listen to such songs over, and over and over again. See www.inthatdayteachings.com for such insight. Christ-in-You calls to everyone, you know?
@SRV Blues @losttango eh, gotta disagree with you losttango. Sure the line about wasting money on the girl is a little past entitled, but the line about "things passing for knowledge I don't understand" settles the point for me that he wasn't somebody who was conditioned by this idea that the things he told he should do in life are what's right for a lot of people.
@SRV Blues @losttango eh, gotta disagree with you losttango. Sure the line about wasting money on the girl is a little past entitled, but the line about "things passing for knowledge I don't understand" settles the point for me that he wasn't somebody who was conditioned by this idea that the things he told he should do in life are what's right for a lot of people.
He's out there making music and found success doing what he's passionate about as opposed to this idea that he should "go to college; be responsible; get a family; be an...
He's out there making music and found success doing what he's passionate about as opposed to this idea that he should "go to college; be responsible; get a family; be an engineer, etc." And instead of searching for other alternatives besides college that's going to give her meaning in life, she tries to find that meaning in another man.
He finds that she's fallen under the narrative that things will work out, but now that she fears she may not be sexually viable for a man she wants because age is fast approaching her, she makes an irrational decision to be with a man who instead isn't truly compatible with her on a deeper level. She doesn't understand the disconnect so when she's older this realization will be too painful for her when she realized she made a mistake.
I don't find this song to be some sort of revenge against the girl he once loved; it's possible he still most definitely has feelings for her. The song is a catharsis for the fact that what's happened is irreversible because the connection between them has been torn apart.
That's my two cents.
@SRV Blues ah those borken hearts
@SRV Blues ah those borken hearts
@SRV Blues Wow, all these years and you have shone a fresh new light on this toon... it amuses me how SD can create such a jolly, dance-tune with such heartbreaking lyrics. All those chumps tripping the light fantastic oblivious that the gal they are dancing with might just be like our gal in the song... me included. I played her their records countless times but she only saw the happy pop. Maybe that guy they sing about truly did turn out to be "the one".... our poor guy just had to face up to those "years" being gone and...
@SRV Blues Wow, all these years and you have shone a fresh new light on this toon... it amuses me how SD can create such a jolly, dance-tune with such heartbreaking lyrics. All those chumps tripping the light fantastic oblivious that the gal they are dancing with might just be like our gal in the song... me included. I played her their records countless times but she only saw the happy pop. Maybe that guy they sing about truly did turn out to be "the one".... our poor guy just had to face up to those "years" being gone and find someone who appreciates his view of life. Twinges of jealousy there perhaps?
@aspiringmusician It depends, I suppose, on whether you think Fagen is singing as himself or as a character/unreliable narrator. I tend to think the latter, and that he does so in other Dan songs as well as this one.
@aspiringmusician It depends, I suppose, on whether you think Fagen is singing as himself or as a character/unreliable narrator. I tend to think the latter, and that he does so in other Dan songs as well as this one.