Lyric discussion by hoojeebo 

Cover art for Sleeping Gas lyrics by Teardrop Explodes, The

I thought he was saying "you can watch rafferty turn into a serial", but that still doesn't tell me what the hell it means! Anybody care to share what a "rafferty" may be, in this instance? Is it a British thing...?

Interesting as I've long been a fan of "Kilimanjaro" and have never known this myself. The answer is at http://www.headheritage.co.uk/headtohead/unsung/topic/16381/threaded/176712 .

@hoojeebo yes it was a tv show but only one series with Patrick from The Prisoner https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rafferty_(TV_series)