The dictionary defines it as:
something large enough, no matter how small, to cause a noticeable result, a noticeable reaction.
This drops 11 spots, but for those of us that have been abducted, or just afflicted, with a chip under our skin, or a rock under the nose, this one is close.
I don’t have a lot to actually say about this song other than I Love, Love, Love this one! And no, you’ll never ever hear this one live. I’m sure I may very well be alone with that sentiment, and as I’ve said before, when a person creates a list such as this, it would be easy to move songs in, and out of their spots to appease the moment. To make things even harder to justify it though, it’s not easy when the whole band trashes the record. I get it… When you relate to something, from a very bad time in your life, it’s hard to find the good. However, I do like this one right where it’s at.
There are so many bad reviews of the album and song, that at the time this one came out, it was actually hard to just let it play without some kind of preconceived opinion. It was said, not only by the critics, but also members of the band later, that it was unfinished, it was not polished. I don’t know, maybe that’s part of the attraction. It has that original raw edge. They were looking to get back to their roots, that deep blues based type of rock and roll. Personally I think they achieved it, even if they were never in the same room at the same time. This song though, doesn’t quite fit into that mold.
Easy to see the opinions, and even admission, of a drug induced state in the creation of this record, ESPECIALLY, in this song. Joe only co-wrote one song on the whole record, partly due to his own discontent, and largely in part due to his inability to get off the floor. This is NOT that song. It’s been said that it’s about a bad dream that Jack had. Jack co-wrote every song on the record, and thank god for that, because without “The 6th Man in the Band”, I’m not sure the album would have ever got finished.
Written by Jack, and Tom, and Steven, it’s so obscure, it’s so strange that it’s actually difficult to come up with a perceived meaning. Some say it’s a “Bad Trip” on acid. Some say it gets into the UFO phenomena of the time. Maybe a few of you can relate. I think Kary can, maybe that’s why she was all over the floor.
In my opinion this song is not written from the downside of the High. It’s not written from the memory of the drug. It’s not written about addiction. It’s not written about the love of drugs, or the hate of them. The song is written from the state of, and being on the drug. It’s about what one feels, and sees when you’re totally gacked. I think the lyrics paint a perception of an altered state. A state of semi paranoia, and other elevated states of emotion when high on cocaine. Looking at the definition above, and listening to the lyrics, it seems to be crossing the line of when you want more, and when you should have quit. Some of us know that realm well.
“Arriving in boats black hooded coats…”– knowing that they got the cocaine from the mob during this album, and knowing the very large luxury cars that mobsters would drive in the seventies, you can get an idea of who is arriving, and in what kind of car. “Boat” was a term used in the 70s for those super long luxury cars, because when you rode in them, or drove in them, it is was like riding a wave. It didn’t just ride the bumps in the road, the car would never bounce, but it would rise and lower almost pneumatically as if it was on a lake after 4:00 PM…. Think 1972 Cadillac Eldorado…
“Tormentors come into my room…”
– Again knowing that they did not often leave their rooms, and knowing that they often “blew” just to wake up from the high they were on, you can understand the torment.
“The leader she’s small pinned my ass to the wall. For my seeds… or she’d be losin’ her past
“Time after time she’d be readin’ my mind
But she never got feelin’ to last…”
– When you’re that gacked, not even a professional whore can get the feeling to last.
“Now the tallest of two with a brush full of blue
Paints surrealist scenes on the wall
So I tell her for fun that they’re really well done
But he just ain’t listenin’ at all…”
-“Talkin’ ’bout things that nobody cares”. Someone that just can’t stop talking because they’re so frickin’ wired on cocaine, that they can’t even listen to anyone else speak.
“He points to my heart tellin’ me if I’m smart
Practice and phase…”
-Take it easy man, you’re going to have a heart attack. This tells us a side note of where the album got its name; Steven didn’t know when to “Draw The Line”. He couldn’t stop.
“… Out and admit… when the shoe doesn’t fit
And I went screamin’ out down the hall”
– How someone feels when the dealer cuts off their coke, but offers them something they don’t really want. Or maybe it’s the reaction of someone who bought some bad blow.
Just my interpretation…
I love the harmonica lead by Steven on this baby. Love Brad’s work on all guitars. the song takes a bad time period, and has fun with it…
Trippy, trippy song. Love it! Hope you do to.
There’s no official video, so just click and listen. And let’s remember who’s Top 100 this is. Crank it up loud, step back into the era. Watch the the guys drive up in their “Boats”, bringing “The Entertainment”, and “Supplies”.