Steely Dan Fans...Is "Time out of Mind" about what I think it is?

[Taverner]

That is, shooting heroin?

Tonight when I chase the dragon
The water will change to cherry wine
And the silver will turn to gold
Time out of mind

Seems pretty obvious to me :shrug:

One of my co-workers was convinced it was all about living the "good life." Well that would be the good life, if you were a heroin addict with a connection to Lhasa...

[Terran]

1. I have a different interpretation

Son you better be ready for love
On this glory day
This is your chance to believe
What I’ve got to say
Keep your eyes on the sky
Put a dollar in the kitty
Don’t the moon look pretty

Tonight when I chase the dragon
The water will change to cherry wine
And the silver will turn to gold
Time out of mind

I am holding the mystical sphere
It’s direct from lhasa
Where people are rolling in the snow
Far from the world we know

Children we have it right here
It’s the light in my eyes
It’s perfection and grace
It’s the smile on my face

Tonight when I chase the dragon
The water will change to cherry wine
And the silver will turn to gold
Time out of mind

Children we have it right here
It’s the light in my eyes
It’s perfection and grace
It’s the smile on my face

Tonight when I chase the dragon
The water will change to cherry wine
And the silver will turn to gold
Time out of mind

You know how SD does a lot of their songs in the form of dramatic monologue--a character speaking about himself. I think this speaker is some kind of preacher, a holy roller or revivalist or something analogous, but he's also possibly a fake (the stuff about Lhasa and the mystical sphere are there to impress the audience). So I think his "chasing the dragon" is either metaphorical or he's talking about some other drug that aids him in wowing his audience. But chasing the dragon *does* usually refer to heroin.

On the other hand, maybe it's all just a heroin dream that he likes to have when he's high, a persona that he adopts purely in his imagination; that makes sense too. Maybe you're right!

[Taverner]

2. I was thinking its a dramatic monologue - but from the heroin dealer

And he gets his stuff from Lhasa...the mystical sphere being his fix kit or a test tube with the heroin in it.

But that's just my reading....

The whole thing of water turned to cherry wine reminds me of the scene in Pulp Fiction when Vince is shooting up, and his blood flows into the needle, turning the "water" into "cherry wine". And many heroin users describe being high on heroin is like the world turns to gold.

[Terran]

7. Interesting

I get the preacher interpretation mainly from the line, "Put a dollar in the kitty." But that could just mean, "pay up for your stuff." But also the references to the speaker's "perfection and grace", the "light in my eyes", the "smile on my face", they all seem part of his show.

Steely Dan is pretty dense, it's no wonder nobody agrees what their songs are about!

[LynneSin]

3. Oooo, I can use my new smilie

[Beaverhausen]

4. Yes

[Kire]

5. what's with all the heroin posts today?

Election day causes heroin posts in the lounge. That's my theory.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x4269354

[patcox2]

6. "Chasing the dragon" is unambiguous.

Its not poetry or an image that they thought up, its a flat out drug term for smoking opium.

[Terran]

8. Really?

I always though it referenced heroin. But opmium make sense too, and that's more in line with my original interpretation the song. Basically the speaker gets ready to do his charismatic preacher show by getting high first.

Be nice to ask Becker and Fagan what the hell they were thinking!

[patcox2]

9. Be careful what you ask for.

The answer might be "we heard the phrase, didn't really know what it meant, but it sounded cool."

I personally cannot take seriously anyone associated with the song "Hey Nineteen." Ooohh yeah, what kinda man reads playboy? The same kind who listens to Steely Dan. Disco Stu's makeout music.

[Chan790]

10. Interesting

before my time...but I would have taken the water into cherry wine line as a reference to shooting up. it's a rather vivid image for the mechanics of shooting...first you pull blood into the syringe turning the water-clear heroin or opiate pinkish-red then you shoot the whole mess into your vein.

Note: not a drug user...just know way too many.

[trof]

17. aka "Kick the gong around".

[tigereye]

11. yeah I bet it is

they tend to have a lot of allusions like that. I mean isn't Steely Dan another name for a blow job or something. No wait, that's Brain Salad Surgery (ELP album) ;)


Given their ride on the 70s music scene, it doesn't seem unusual that they encountered a lot of drug use. And a lot of their songs are cryptic if you don't know the slang. So what's Black Friday slang for? (other than the stock market reference) :)

I bet there is an SD website where this kind of thing is discussed ad infinitum.

[redqueen]

13. Steely dan = dildo

And yeah I'm sure there's a website we could check. But why check when you know you're right? ;) :P

[Taverner]

16. Yes...Walter Becker said he wanted to give his group more "thrust"

Seriously!

[tigereye]

18. thanks for clearing that up, RQ!

;)

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

15. "Steely Dan" is a reference to a dildo in Burroughs' "Naked Lunch"

and bizzarely it gets referenced in American Pie: Presents Band Camp.

The passage in question:

Mary is strapping on a rubber penis. "Steely Dan III from Yokohama," she says, caressing the shaft.
"What happened to Steely Dan I?"
"He was torn in two by a bull dyke. She could cave in a lead pipe."
"And Steely Dan II?"
"Chewed to bits by a famished canidru in the Upper Baboons asshole. And don't say 'wheeeeeeee!' this time."

[tigereye]

19. ah, it makes sense that the band had a Burroughs connection!

[redqueen]

12. That's what I always thought...

:shrug:

[SuperWonk]

14. That is what I heard, regarding

the phalis in question!

If I only had a nickel...

[Elidor]

20. Three guesses what 'The Fez' is about

And the first two don't count.

And while we're on the subject, wtf is up with IGY? Spandex for everyone?
:wtf: