A “Chicago Piano” is a nickname for a tommy gun, which is stereotypically associated with mobsters. What I get out of the song is that it’s about a mobster’s conscious, or perhaps the guilt or paranoia that one may feel while living outside the law. I figure the “stern old men” could be politicians, while the “face out of history” could refer to money. Maybe he’s being paid by crooked politicians to kill someone, or maybe he’s trying to pay them off. He’s still very uncertain about everything, sure that he’s going to end up screwed somehow. Of course, this mobster scenario/psychology could just me a metaphor for something similar. Like, perhaps, cheating on a spouse or being corrupt in some way?
A “Chicago Piano” is a nickname for a tommy gun, which is stereotypically associated with mobsters. What I get out of the song is that it’s about a mobster’s conscious, or perhaps the guilt or paranoia that one may feel while living outside the law. I figure the “stern old men” could be politicians, while the “face out of history” could refer to money. Maybe he’s being paid by crooked politicians to kill someone, or maybe he’s trying to pay them off. He’s still very uncertain about everything, sure that he’s going to end up screwed somehow. Of course, this mobster scenario/psychology could just me a metaphor for something similar. Like, perhaps, cheating on a spouse or being corrupt in some way?