I thought a lot about the lyrics for this song for quite some time. So mysterious. It finally came to me one day when I was cutting the grass in the back yard,,,
The song is about hobo's. Vagrants, vagrancy.
"Gentlemen, don't get caught" don't get caught and thrown into the clink.
"Boxcars are moving (out of town)" obvious
"Stranger, stranger to these parts" Fellows not from 'round here.
"Reaping Reel" AKA falling off of the train and getting crunched by the train wheel. Reaping = dead. Reels are round like wheels. Reel = Wheel.
"Carnival of sorts" clans of hobo's are much like carnivals. Loose bands of gentlemen traveling about almost without aim. A carnival of sorts traveling place to place. Hobo's tend to be male.
Beyond this premise I think it has something to do with a close encounter with a vagrant. Maybe even sexual in nature.
I thought a lot about the lyrics for this song for quite some time. So mysterious. It finally came to me one day when I was cutting the grass in the back yard,,,
The song is about hobo's. Vagrants, vagrancy.
"Gentlemen, don't get caught" don't get caught and thrown into the clink.
"Boxcars are moving (out of town)" obvious
"Stranger, stranger to these parts" Fellows not from 'round here.
"Reaping Reel" AKA falling off of the train and getting crunched by the train wheel. Reaping = dead. Reels are round like wheels. Reel = Wheel.
"Carnival of sorts" clans of hobo's are much like carnivals. Loose bands of gentlemen traveling about almost without aim. A carnival of sorts traveling place to place. Hobo's tend to be male.
Beyond this premise I think it has something to do with a close encounter with a vagrant. Maybe even sexual in nature.