I think this is a song about a manager getting fired. It's got the form of a drinking song, and in fact a sort of Oktoberfest German beer-hall tuba punctuation fills it. But as usual with Aimee Mann, the upbeat music acts as an ironic comment on the lyrics.
If you listen to the song with the idea of a boss getting fired, it all makes a lot of sense:
It must be hard, ringing the bells of doors that don't swing wide
Anymore
It must be hard, hearing the sound of voices just inside
Of the door
In other words, the guy was once inside, and doors would fall open for him, but now he's outside, stuck listening to the voices of those who used to be his peers.
And men who couldn't hold your coat
Once hung on every anecdote
So it must be hard watching the fellows gloat
This is why I think it's a boss who's been fired. He used to be surrounded by servile yes-men, the "men who couldn't hold your coat", who "once hung on every anecdote", and these are now gloating at the downfall of their former chief.
Maybe he's done something specific to get himself fired; gotten drunk at a big company do, stood up and said something awful. "It must be tough knowing your stuff can only horrify the elite." In response, he's told everyone to get lost. Another hint that he's been fired is the line "It must be tough getting the same heave-ho". It sounds like a drunk getting tossed out of a bar, but it might mean that our hero is getting fired, just as he has fired others.
When we reach the bridge verse, the theme of ostracism gets even clearer:
The patrons at the bar
In Lexington, Kentucky
Once sprung for every drink you downed
But things the way they are
It's not that kind of party
If what you've got just might be going around
You know how it is when you have bad luck and suddenly no one wants to know you. Obviously now the hero's been fired, the barflies in Lexington aren't paying for any more drinks. "But things the way they are, it's not that kind of party." And bad luck is contagious: "if what you've got just might be going around."
And fat cats won't be getting thin
Seeing the kinda jam you're in
But will angels dance on the head of another pin
Ballantines?
Ballantines
Ballantines!
The other bosses aren't losing sleep, or weight, over the hero's suffering. The song ends with a question, "will angels dance on the head of another pin", or will another miracle happen? Will he get another job? In the meantime, Aimee's oracle answers with the offer of a beer. Not to get too lit student on it, but it's just like the message that finally arrives in the Renaissance epic "Gargantua and Pantagruel", in which the heroes embark on a long adventure to find the legendary Oracle of the Bottle. When they do find it, it gives a simple message: "Trink", drink.
I think this is a song about a manager getting fired. It's got the form of a drinking song, and in fact a sort of Oktoberfest German beer-hall tuba punctuation fills it. But as usual with Aimee Mann, the upbeat music acts as an ironic comment on the lyrics.
If you listen to the song with the idea of a boss getting fired, it all makes a lot of sense:
It must be hard, ringing the bells of doors that don't swing wide Anymore It must be hard, hearing the sound of voices just inside Of the door
In other words, the guy was once inside, and doors would fall open for him, but now he's outside, stuck listening to the voices of those who used to be his peers.
And men who couldn't hold your coat Once hung on every anecdote So it must be hard watching the fellows gloat
This is why I think it's a boss who's been fired. He used to be surrounded by servile yes-men, the "men who couldn't hold your coat", who "once hung on every anecdote", and these are now gloating at the downfall of their former chief.
Maybe he's done something specific to get himself fired; gotten drunk at a big company do, stood up and said something awful. "It must be tough knowing your stuff can only horrify the elite." In response, he's told everyone to get lost. Another hint that he's been fired is the line "It must be tough getting the same heave-ho". It sounds like a drunk getting tossed out of a bar, but it might mean that our hero is getting fired, just as he has fired others.
When we reach the bridge verse, the theme of ostracism gets even clearer:
The patrons at the bar In Lexington, Kentucky Once sprung for every drink you downed But things the way they are It's not that kind of party If what you've got just might be going around
You know how it is when you have bad luck and suddenly no one wants to know you. Obviously now the hero's been fired, the barflies in Lexington aren't paying for any more drinks. "But things the way they are, it's not that kind of party." And bad luck is contagious: "if what you've got just might be going around."
And fat cats won't be getting thin Seeing the kinda jam you're in But will angels dance on the head of another pin Ballantines? Ballantines Ballantines!
The other bosses aren't losing sleep, or weight, over the hero's suffering. The song ends with a question, "will angels dance on the head of another pin", or will another miracle happen? Will he get another job? In the meantime, Aimee's oracle answers with the offer of a beer. Not to get too lit student on it, but it's just like the message that finally arrives in the Renaissance epic "Gargantua and Pantagruel", in which the heroes embark on a long adventure to find the legendary Oracle of the Bottle. When they do find it, it gives a simple message: "Trink", drink.