Lyric discussion by zrated 

Cover art for Dear Mr. Fantasy lyrics by Traffic

i believe the lyric is, "please don't be sad if it was the straight LINE you had".

a "straight line" is a bit in a comic dialog when the stooge, or "straight man" (usually a serious acting individual) feeds lines to his jokster counterpart who twists his words into jokes. bud abbott was a famous straight man.

it makes sense in the context of the song where a straight man may be seen as being made a fool of for the humor of others.

@zrated Thank you.

@zrated Very interesting, wonder if that's true? Hey, Jim Capaldi, do you still have that napkin you doodled on?

@zrated Wow. That\'s pretty deep.