Lyrics for Bodhisattva as interpreted by AbFab

Bodhisattva Lyrics
Bodhisattva
Would you take me by the hand
Bodhisattva
Would you take me by the hand
Can you show me
The shine of your Japan
The sparkle of your China
Can you show me
Bodhisattva
Bodhisattva
I'm gonna sell my house in town
Bodhisattva
I'm gonna sell my house in town
And I'll be there
To shine in your Japan
To sparkle in your China
Yes I'll be there
Bodhisattva

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  • 14 Comments
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poohbluesky
07-02-2003

Rated 0 
i love the mix of jazz in this song. the driving beat with guitar and piano in a way only steely could do.

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alucinox
02-17-2005

Rated 0 
A Bodhisattva is some kind of buddhist person.

lol, sorry I couldn't tell you more ;)

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Trout
03-18-2005

Rated 0 
Bodhisattvas are sort of like the "priests" of Mahayana Buddhism: they help others reach nirvana ("would you take me by the hand"). The "shine of your Japan" and "sparkle of your China" parts could relate to nirvana, but I'm not sure. The line about selling the house probably links to the Buddhist teaching of nonattachment and that material properties lead to suffering. It may also imply that the speaker is joining a monastic order.

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MookieBomber
09-17-2005

Rated 0 
The beat of this song is so unique, and it's easily one of Steele Dan's best songs, along with Reelin in the years, Do it Again...

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StreetWorm
02-23-2006

Rated 0 
It kind of sounds to me that the bodhisattva's are hypocrites. The narrator is talking about selling their house and being taken by the hand by the bodhisattva's but they want to see the bodhisattva's china...so maybe the bodhisattva's aren't exactly what they preach in this scenario.

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grenparptar
02-24-2006

Rated 0 
Bodhisattva literally stands for "wisdom-being", i think this song is about a man or woman who is looking for their own enlightenment. "Take me by the hand" (teach me enlightenment), "I'm gonna sell my house in town" (relieving one self of possessions).
I think that "the shine of your japan, the sparkle of china" is most definetely about nirvana, first he says "can you show me" (nirvana), then "and i'll be there" (nirvana)
I also noticed that the man singing seems ancy and in a hurry, don't know if that relates.

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what123ever
05-26-2006

Rated 0 
This song, like 'Aja' is a parody of the West's (and I suspect Californian's in specific) over-simplified fascination with Eastern philosophy. All this poor sucker knows is that his so-called Bodhisattva (who is more likely some self-apointed charlatan) has told him to sell his house, and join the frickin' hare krishnas! ... the fool.

It's a joke.

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The Dog That Ate...
10-15-2006

Rated 0 
Perfect song ! (perfect drums, bass, synths, guitar... incredible) One of the Dan's greatest !
I read somewhere that a journalist had written this song was "semi-religious"... what a fool ! It's a really ironic song. I think you're so right, what123ever. It sort of anticipated the "hype" for Buddha and the Dalai-Lama, I saw it in France 7 or 8 years ago... Fagen is in a total hurry when he sings that, then a man who wants to reach the "nirvana" shouldn't do it so fast, he'd really have to slow down... But that's the Occident : fast sex, fast food, fast music, express philosophy... Like Nobody the Indian would say : "Stupid white men..."

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rikdad
10-30-2006

Rated 0 
Given the default topic of popular music (a man singing to a woman he wants), I have usually heard this song in those terms: A man admires a woman greatly and. In that reading, the Buddhist terminology is just a metaphor: the man sees the woman as already having attained divinity and through her, he will find it himself.

There's nothing compelling about that reading. Taking him by the hand could be spiritual just as well as erotic, selling his house could be divesting himself of materialism just as well as moving (overseas) to be with this woman.

There's a mild pun that doesn't interact much with anything else (it may even be unintended) in "sparkle of your China"... china is, of course, porcelain.

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Gmercy
02-12-2007

Rated 0 
Agree with what123ever. But the joke is quite a dark one, considering the abuses perpetrated on some of the disciples of the eastern religious sects that sprang up during the 70's. Incidentally "the shine of your Japan" is a punning reference to Japan Black, a very shiny laquered paint finish, (ref: rikdads interpretation of China as porcelain).

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rainwalk
03-21-2007

Rated 0 
The protagonist is obsessed with the orient and fancies himself on the path to enlightenment. Like so many clueless Westerners, he figures the Boddhisattva can simply 'take him by the hand' and lead him to enlightenment. He's willing to sell his house and 'be there'. "I'll be there, I'll be there". Yes, he's in a big hurry to reach enlightenment, which means he's FAR FAR FAR from it. The references to shiny japanning and sparkling china are indeed puns, pointing to the superficiality of Westerner's understanding of things that actually take a lifetime to understand deeply. China dishes are not the same as Chinese culture. Ditto for japanning.

It's not about a charlatan trying to rip him off. A Boddhisattva is indeed a person who has reached Buddha-consciousness (boddhicitta) but who has chosen to remain incarnate to help the rest of us find peace. I know what it's like to wish to have a chance to talk to one of these people, but it would be fruitless. The path lies within.

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Nightvoice
09-22-2008

Rated 0 
A commentary on McReligion. 'Nuff said.

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marcus_aurelius
10-12-2008

Rated 0 
This song is about Asian sex workers, according to Chuck Klosterman. (I assume he had a source.)

I gleaned this from the following part of the text: "Chuck Klosterman writes about people getting up to dance to "Bodhisattva" because it has a good (nay, great) beat, and have no idea that they are dancing to a song about Asian sex workers. People are fucking sheep."

The webpage with this text is: http://venicesunlight.blogspot.com/2008/01/i-agree-with-chuck-klosterman-part-ii.html

The part I quoted is down at the very bottom, just above the comments.

To me, it sounds like a very plausible explanation... I assume the interpretation has somehow been confirmed by the band, even if the confirmation took the form of oblique hints.

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thomcat
09-03-2009

Rated 0 
what123ever IS right -- a poke at westerners "ease" into eastern religion, having no authentic understanding of what it is about. Like shamed Governor Mark Sanford saying that he is now "zen-like."

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