Tangled Up in Blue

jackslash
Detroit strip clubs
I'm terrible at understanding song lyrics. Usually I have no idea what the song is about or I have the wrong idea. It's like mis-hearing Jimi Hendrix's "Excuse me while I kiss the sky" as "Excuse me while I kiss this guy." My understanding is even worse in most cases.

Today I was listening to a song I've heard for 40 years, Bob Dylan's "Tangled Up in Blue," and for the first time I heard a strip club reference: "She was workin’ in a topless place." I googled the song to make sure I had heard correctly. This is the relevant stanza:

She was workin’ in a topless place
And I stopped in for a beer
I just kept lookin’ at the side of her face
In the spotlight so clear
And later on as the crowd thinned out
I’s just about to do the same
She was standing there in back of my chair
Said to me, “Don’t I know your name?”
I muttered somethin’ underneath my breath
She studied the lines on my face
I must admit I felt a little uneasy
When she bent down to tie the laces of my shoe
Tangled up in blue

Here's the whole song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwSZvHqf…

So are there other well-known songs that are really about strippers but I was oblivious to?

5 comments

Latest

  • Clubber
    •
    9 years ago
    Stripper wise, don't know, but There's a bathroom on the right!

  • JohnSmith69
    •
    9 years ago
    I also am horrible at understanding and comprehending song lyrics. Until I started smoking weed. When high, I now have an amazingly ability to hear, understand, and evaluate the lyrics. I feel like until a year ago I hadn't ever even really heard the words to songs before.

    Using this new found ability, I have been closely listening to Stairway to Heaven to finally figure out what the fuck the song is about. I'll report the meaning sometime later.

    I recall hearing many explicit references to strip clubs and strippers in familiar songs that I never noticed when not high. However these were mostly rap songs and I rarely pay any attention to the title or artists in rap songs. So I can't tell you what they are.

  • rockstar666
    •
    9 years ago
    Lots of people don't realize songwriters don't usually have anything specific in mind when they write lyrics. There are exceptions of course, but if anyone can tell me what "Barracuda" by Heart is about, or even "Surrender" by Cheap Trick, I'm all ears. I think Surrender is about a guy married to a bisexual woman, but is okay with it. I'm lost on Barracuda though.

    I wouldn't dig too deeply into song lyrics, especially when the composer is a noted drug user like Hendrix or the Beatles.
  • rockstar666
    •
    9 years ago
    Oh to answer the question: She Got The Jack by AC/DC and Tila In The House by Midnight Leftovers are 2 I can think of.
  • shadowcat
    •
    9 years ago
    Puff the magic dragon:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFCwtoxX…
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