Wherefore Art Thou, Elvis?

Here are my thoughts:

Here are my thoughts:

Old man's shoes and scientist heart he's jaded or disillusioned (over-experience/world-weariness, ie old man's shoes) to the point where his heart, which obviously symbolizes emotion and the counterpoint to logic, has become cold and logical. To me it seems like, particularly in a creative sense, the poet (and, by extension, the protagonist of almost any song) uses his heart and the scientist uses his brain. To say that he's got a "scientist heart" is to say that his heart has either been contorted to something that operates by the rules of cold logic, or that it...

Old man's shoes and scientist heart he's jaded or disillusioned (over-experience/world-weariness, ie old man's shoes) to the point where his heart, which obviously symbolizes emotion and the counterpoint to logic, has become cold and logical. To me it seems like, particularly in a creative sense, the poet (and, by extension, the protagonist of almost any song) uses his heart and the scientist uses his brain. To say that he's got a "scientist heart" is to say that his heart has either been contorted to something that operates by the rules of cold logic, or that it simply isn't used; that he, like a "scientist," has abandoned the heart (emotion) for the brain (logic). Practically, it means the same thing (logic overtaking emotion), but those are two ways of breaking the line down.

I got a fever and a beaker This line caries on themes from the one above. "Fever and a beaker" are analogous to "scientist heart" in that there's a conflict (and ambiguous incompatibility) between emotion (heart/fever) and logic (scientist/beaker). The "fever"/emotion connection is well established, and if this line isn't an intended reference to Bruce Springsteen's song "The Fever," then at least that song shows the tradition Fallon is working off of. The beaker is obviously a tool and symbol of the scientist. I may be digging too deep here, but at the risk of inventing meaning, here's another potential dynamic: fever, in the literal sense, is an illness, and the parallels between the pains of emotion and those of physical sickness have made "fever" as enduring a metaphor as it is. A beaker, however, is also a tool of the medical profession, the purpose of which is to cure illness. Intended or not, this feeds into the idea of Logic being brought in to cure the ills of the Heart. It's a profound conflict, presented on many levels.

a shot in the dark, etc That was the easy part. Beyond the amazing little structure above are what I consider to be the cause (Old man shoes) and the outcome (a shot in the dark). It appears that emotion or impulse wins out in the end, or at least that the protagonist wants it to. A shot in the dark is the opposite of a logical decision, but it's also more impulse/desperation than emotion. The line which follows (I need a Caddilac ride, I need a soft summer night) expresses his desire to break free from cynicism and the domination of logic.

I honestly did not think I would end up writing this much on three lines. Just goes to show how subtle Fallon's lyrical expertise is.