The Boston Rag

I understand this song very well, even though it is very short on detail - by design. You don't need too much detail with a subject like this... it's about a basic set of circumstances, but moreso the feeling that goes along with it. Obviously it involves drug use and some interpersonal drama between the narrator, Lonnie, and the narrator's girlfriend. Lady Bayside is Walter's reference to ladies with 'tude that come from Bayside in NYC, which is where Walter grew up. So the narrator is caught between Lady Bayside and Lonnie, his friend, the drug kingpin, and surely the person he likes to hang around and do drugs with, and the fact that, and this is important, the party is about to come to an abrupt end. This is precipated by the whole lifestyle but is culminated, as is often the case, by a very real tragedy - Lonnie's overdose due to his overzealousness with the partyin'. This puts the author into a tailspin. He tries to turn to his girlfriend, but she doesn't even care because they're in the middle of a fight... so the bottom really falls out on this guy, especially because he's getting that gnarly depression that comes along with too much drug use immediately followed by the situation where no more stuff is avaialable and the shit is hitting the fan at the same time. A young person doesn't have the goods to handle this kind of turmoil, but many have found themselves faced with it. The narrator is the type who will probably eventually right the ship, and maybe this becomes just another song to him... but for many others they just get taken down for the count. The reference to the Boston Rag is also somewhat vague, but not when you take it in the context of the lyric itself in the chorus... bring back the Boston Rag, as a song the guy is always chanting, has a fairly understandable meaning... especially to me because it's something I've often thought about... it's about nostalgia with a touch of sadness... about the passing of a 'better time'. The feeling that you just want the Boston Rag, that perfect song or perfect time (1920's was when they had all the famous 'rags'... the piano tunes with the jump bass) that you are so nostalgic about, when you could be crazy like you are now, but not feel so worn out and depressed at the same time. And the knowledge, whether it is exactly true or not, that there is no way in hell that you can ever go back... and just that knowledge, right when it hits you... you are suffering a mental breakdown. All hail the Boston Rag. Better days will come down the road, or else (the guitar solo is one of the greatest and tells a lot of the story in itself that the sparse lyrics can't..) Writing sparsely is a real talent, because you still have to make things rhyme... so don't get too stuck on the exact words... it's meant to connect with you on a more simpler, you lived it yourself kind of way..