Piccadilly Palare Lyrics

Lyric discussion by moznotmoz 

Cover art for Piccadilly Palare lyrics by Morrissey

Rent boys would hang about, leaning on some railings at Piccadilly Circus. This was called 'The Meat Rack'. Hence 'off the rails', 'on the rack' and 'easy meat'

Things that I'm less sure about: 'Exchanging lies and digs (my way)' Digs are a room or apartment so I guess this means he would take the men back to his place (in Earls Court?)

'Cause in a belted coat Oh, I secretly knew' Maybe a belted coat was a secret sign? + Polare was a secret language.

'That I hadn't a clue' The whole song is written in the past tense so I think it's an older man looking back at his wild past.

My Opinion

The Meat Rack was the north side of Piccadilly Circus, between Shaftesbury Avenue and Regents Street, outside Boots. If memory serves there used to be a cafe on the corner of Glassblower Street that was popular with rent boys and that also used to be called this.

“Having a dig” is to criticise. If you were working Piccadilly you wouldn't take someone back to Earl's Court, it's 4 miles away!

Digs is also