"Well, Annie's pretty neat, she always eats her meat
Joe is awful strong, bet your life he's putting us on"
(Joe is secretly bisexual but puts on a tough guy act to throw people off, but hey, he's at this party, this chick Annie is kinda neat, so he will play the part and dance with her)
"John, I'm only dancing
She turns me on, but I'm only dancing"
(Joe wants John, who is his secret lover, to know that he is only dancing with Annie, although she does turn him on because he is bisexual and he has heard she is a sure thing because she ALWAYS eats her meat)
"Oh shadow love was quick and clean, life's a well-thumbed machine
I saw you watching from the stairs, you're everyone that ever cared"
(Joe explains how their love-making has to be in the shadows and kept a secret, and that they have to be quick and clean about it, leaving no evidence of their meetings. Well-thumbed means frequent handling so this tells me that they make love frequently and have gotten very good at keeping their secret. Joe sees John watching him dance with Annie from the stairs and reassures Joe that he values their relationship above all others as he feels John is the only one to have really ever cared for him.)
"Well, Annie's pretty neat, she always eats her meat Joe is awful strong, bet your life he's putting us on" (Joe is secretly bisexual but puts on a tough guy act to throw people off, but hey, he's at this party, this chick Annie is kinda neat, so he will play the part and dance with her)
"John, I'm only dancing She turns me on, but I'm only dancing" (Joe wants John, who is his secret lover, to know that he is only dancing with Annie, although she does turn him on because he is bisexual and he has heard she is a sure thing because she ALWAYS eats her meat)
"Oh shadow love was quick and clean, life's a well-thumbed machine I saw you watching from the stairs, you're everyone that ever cared" (Joe explains how their love-making has to be in the shadows and kept a secret, and that they have to be quick and clean about it, leaving no evidence of their meetings. Well-thumbed means frequent handling so this tells me that they make love frequently and have gotten very good at keeping their secret. Joe sees John watching him dance with Annie from the stairs and reassures Joe that he values their relationship above all others as he feels John is the only one to have really ever cared for him.)