The Bad Doctor Lyrics
you saw it swing open and you heard the moon roar
trying to yank herself right out of her orbit
the whole natural world,
painted red, just like a target
with low clouds standing in the way
and the stars jockeying for position
on the slow thick morning of the death-dealing physician
(oh yeah) x4
a wide smile and perfect hair
he had complete control of the rising tides
and a medicine bag hanging at his side
with low clouds standing in the way
and the stars jockeying for position
in the flowing blue world of the death-dealing physician
(oh yeah) x4
i saw him at the crossroads, but i never saw him cross it,
one minute he was on this side,
and the next he was be over on the other.
so went his rounds, one sad patient after another.
with low clouds standing in the way
and the stars jockeying for position
in the crushed velvet world of the death-dealing physician
(oh yeah) x4
it was a cold dark day
with low clouds standing in the way
and the stars jockeying for position
in the impossibly large office of the death-dealing physician
(oh yeah) x4
Nah, I think the doctor is Death himself. Okay, it starts off and he shows up, and the moon recoils in horror. It colors the world red, everybody lit up like a target for our doctor to knock off. Whenever he shows up it's cold and dark. This line is especially telling:
I saw him at the crossroads, but I never saw him cross it, one minute he was on this side, and the next he was be over on the other. so went his rounds, one sad patient after another.
The crossroads is the line between life and death. When the narrator sees him in the land of the living, the next thing he knows he's on 'the other side,' without really knowing what happened. So Death goes on, one after another.
Anyway, I adore this song. I love how the end of the chorus changes each time, from "the slow thick morning" to "the flowing blue world" to "the crushed velvet world" to "the impossibly large office"...it still makes me think that Death is slowly gaining more and more territory, moving faster and faster until he's got us all crushed. At the same time...it is in past tense. Delightful, oh yeah.
John explained the meaning of the song at the Swedish American Hall in San Francisco in 2012:
"I stopped playing this song because people thought it was about Jack Kevorkian, which it is not. It's about a malevolent force that runs around dispensing death in the guise of medicine — actual widespread death, not the merciful death of Jack Kevorkian."
one of my favorite mg songs i think it is about a doctor who has the job of "pulling the plug" on helpless people and how the world perceives this man through metaphors such as the whole natural world painted red like a target
I always saw interpreted the "Bad Doctor" as being an abortion Doctor. In the opening
"if you were anywhere near his door you saw it swing open and you heard the moon roar trying to yank herself right out of her orbit the whole natural world, painted red, just like a target"
The "natural" flow of things and the world is rebelling and thrown off by what he is doing. That goes along with the "painted red" statements, and even "the stars jockeying for position" (Nature trying to take it's control back).
"he had complete control of the Rising Tide"
He has complete control over pregnancy and life.
"and the rain came down like water from a faucet i saw him at the crossroads, but i never saw him cross it, one minute he was on this side, and the next he was be over on the other. so went his rounds, one sad patient after another."
I believe this is referencing the actual "procedure" and how fast and simple it is. Plus the symbolism of "water from a faucet". His "sad patients" are the fetuses.
In closing this may be sung as one of John's "Characters" who have different opinions than him because I know John is very Pro-Choice. I am as well and am just posting my analysis of the song not my "opinion" at all.
-Richard
I think it's a metaphor for drug use. But I guess that's the easiest interpretation.
Does anyone think that John could be talking about Dr Jack Kevorkian?