| Steely Dan – Bad Sneakers Lyrics | 9 years ago |
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So yeah. Rehab. The ladies are nurses complaining about the drug problem in the area ("the fearsome excavation", c.f. "the ditch in the valley"). "Frozen rain" is methadone, vs. the "Pina Colada", i.e. the real thing. He's in rehab, lamenting his circumstances, and remembering how it all started and wanting to go back to when he had "bad sneakers", starting out in NY, etc. Of course, the good ol' days - when he still had a "large sum of money to spend" - is why he ended up getting popped (i.e. he couldn't "beat the heat") and landed in rehab. Thing is - he knows he's killing himself. He sees the "ditch" out in LA that's being dug for him by the drugs, he hears about it from the nurses, but all he can think about is getting back out there. |
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| Steely Dan – Midnight Cruiser Lyrics | 9 years ago |
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This song is about passing your prime without accomplishing anything. The first verse is really about the singer hoping to rediscover old avenues of fortune and inspiration from his younger days, when he was in his prime and all avenues seemed open to him. The chorus rips on the people who should have been famous for being so artistic and with it and hip all that. The singer self-identifies as one of these "gentlemen losers", with all the posture and none of the necessary substance of action. So he asks to be taken to Harlem or wherever the hip place is now so he can attempt his great reconnection. Last verse is talking about how all the stuff that was going on when it was cool to be doing what the singer is still doing - i.e. that whole world - is gone. The people, the sense of fortune, etc. It wasn't just a matter of the singer choosing to take part in the world, it was about the juxtaposition of the opportunities with the willingness to take them. The coup de gras, the killer line of it all, is: "The time of our time has come and gone/I fear we been waiting too long." Like, literally, the years of the singer's invincibility and inspiration are behind him, and all those doors are closed to him now, and he squandered it because he never thought those doors would close. |
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