Ive listen to this song for decades, heard lots of rumors and speculations about it.
So here goes my interpretation, subject to a bit of fantasy intermixed with gossip and mystery.
I've got the answers
To all of your questions
If you've got the money
To pay me in gold
I will be living
In old Monte Carlo
And you will be reading
The secrets Iv'e sold
Here Alice establishing his superiority over the common man. He is basically saying I'm light years ahead of all of you.
Daggers and contRacts
And bright shiny limos
I've got a watch
That turns into a lifeboat
Glimmering nightgowns
And poisonous cobras
Silencer under the heel of my shoe
Well, this is a mixed bag of goodies to sort out.
Daggers (danger) and contracts (mob hits)
Bright shiney limos (super wealth)
Now here's a bit of confusion.
When he says glimmering nightgowns, is he saying he wearing one or is he talking about lots of women arround. ..? I preffer to think the latter but remember back in those days ...
And poisonous cobras (ok, women walking arround (hot looking) got poisonous cobra pets maybe...
I got a watch that turns into a life boat. Hey, I wonder if that is possible these days. Maybe some kind of super thin plastic bag that could inflate in case of emergency.
Anyway, so he's saying he's got it all. Money, women, gadgets the works...!!!
But even though he has everything. He fucked his life up.
Here comes the tragedy.
The elegance of China
They sent her to lie here on her back
So he paid to have a Chineese hooker. Probably had her flown over on some white slavery airlines. Complete with Chineese mafia gangsters probably.
But as she deeply moves me
She'd rather shoot me in my tracks
Self explanitory.
And WAS a Middle Asian lady
She really came as no surprise
But I still did destroy her
And I will smash
Halo of flies
Ok, now we get to the meat of the song. So maybe the same woman or a different one came. Another prostitute. But this time he lost it. He killed her, stuffed her in a trunk and burried it out in the yard.
But the stench of the crime was everywhere. All over him. Flies began to swarm arround him from the stench. He grew angrier and angrier. Paranoia was ruling his mind and the stench he could smell would not go away. Flies kept swarming on him all over his face and forming a HALO OF FLIES circling him.
He must smash them. Smash all the flies till there are no more. Till the sin is gone.
I crossed the ocean
Where no one could see
And I put a time-bomb
In your submarine
Now here is where the gossip of the tabloid takes over. Back in the early days they accused Alice of doing subliminal messages.
I crossed the ocean (came from France, I think).
No one would see. ( I sorta picture him swimming like a marine at night espionage).
And I put a time bomb ( a message that would mess you up later in life)
in your submarine (subconcious)
Good bye to old freinds (message messes you up freindshipwise).
Now when I was younger I thought the next line was this
The seaa eee eee crystal man (good people -salt of the earth)
( Biblical refference: Salt of the earth, for whoever should lose his salt he is henceforth cast unto the ground as worthless rubble only to be trampled on by the feet of men).
But others hear it as:
Goodbye to old friends
The secret's in hand
Then I thought the rest went
"Where forming up papers, and contracting plans, you never will understand"
But others hear it as:
With full ream of papers
And fantastic plans
You never will understand
Anyway, for a long time I had it in my head that AC was trying to mess up peoples minds. As the tabloids and pastors would have us believe back then.
Ive listen to this song for decades, heard lots of rumors and speculations about it.
So here goes my interpretation, subject to a bit of fantasy intermixed with gossip and mystery.
I've got the answers To all of your questions If you've got the money To pay me in gold I will be living In old Monte Carlo And you will be reading The secrets Iv'e sold
Here Alice establishing his superiority over the common man. He is basically saying I'm light years ahead of all of you.
Daggers and contRacts And bright shiny limos I've got a watch That turns into a lifeboat Glimmering nightgowns And poisonous cobras Silencer under the heel of my shoe
Well, this is a mixed bag of goodies to sort out. Daggers (danger) and contracts (mob hits) Bright shiney limos (super wealth)
Now here's a bit of confusion. When he says glimmering nightgowns, is he saying he wearing one or is he talking about lots of women arround. ..? I preffer to think the latter but remember back in those days ...
And poisonous cobras (ok, women walking arround (hot looking) got poisonous cobra pets maybe...
I got a watch that turns into a life boat. Hey, I wonder if that is possible these days. Maybe some kind of super thin plastic bag that could inflate in case of emergency.
Anyway, so he's saying he's got it all. Money, women, gadgets the works...!!!
But even though he has everything. He fucked his life up. Here comes the tragedy.
The elegance of China They sent her to lie here on her back
So he paid to have a Chineese hooker. Probably had her flown over on some white slavery airlines. Complete with Chineese mafia gangsters probably.
But as she deeply moves me She'd rather shoot me in my tracks
Self explanitory.
And WAS a Middle Asian lady She really came as no surprise But I still did destroy her And I will smash Halo of flies
Ok, now we get to the meat of the song. So maybe the same woman or a different one came. Another prostitute. But this time he lost it. He killed her, stuffed her in a trunk and burried it out in the yard.
But the stench of the crime was everywhere. All over him. Flies began to swarm arround him from the stench. He grew angrier and angrier. Paranoia was ruling his mind and the stench he could smell would not go away. Flies kept swarming on him all over his face and forming a HALO OF FLIES circling him.
He must smash them. Smash all the flies till there are no more. Till the sin is gone.
I crossed the ocean Where no one could see And I put a time-bomb In your submarine
Now here is where the gossip of the tabloid takes over. Back in the early days they accused Alice of doing subliminal messages.
I crossed the ocean (came from France, I think). No one would see. ( I sorta picture him swimming like a marine at night espionage). And I put a time bomb ( a message that would mess you up later in life) in your submarine (subconcious) Good bye to old freinds (message messes you up freindshipwise).
Now when I was younger I thought the next line was this The seaa eee eee crystal man (good people -salt of the earth) ( Biblical refference: Salt of the earth, for whoever should lose his salt he is henceforth cast unto the ground as worthless rubble only to be trampled on by the feet of men).
But others hear it as:
Goodbye to old friends The secret's in hand
Then I thought the rest went "Where forming up papers, and contracting plans, you never will understand"
But others hear it as:
With full ream of papers And fantastic plans You never will understand
Anyway, for a long time I had it in my head that AC was trying to mess up peoples minds. As the tabloids and pastors would have us believe back then.
But it was still fascinating shit.