"It's now obvious to me that the song is about a drug dealer. Realizing this has kind of bummed me out, because why write a great song about a drug dealer? Reading the Wikipedia explanation, it's about this guy Owsley Stanley. He didn't deserve a great song."

Care to elaborate? Don't tell me you think he "didn't deserve a great song" just because he dealt acid...

I just started listening to Steely Dan again and re-heard this one. What a great song. I always knew it was about a drug dealer but didn't realize it was about Owsely Stanley and that he was a direct descendant (great.....great grandson) of King Charlemagne - who I once wrote a history report about.

These lyrics:"Now your patrons have all left you in the red...Your low rent friends are dead
This life can be very strange...All those dayglow freaks who used to paint the face
They've joined the human race...Some things will never change...Son you were mistaken...You are obsolete...Look at all the white men on the street"

Its amazing that a direct descendant of King Charlemagne intially started producing LSD (while still legal and then after it became illegal) as one of the primary suppliers of LSD to the counter-culture movement in San Francisco, Bereley, and then across the US. A great book by Scully "Living with the Dead" describes his life with the Grateful Dead and how Owsley Stanley funded the Dead with money from LSD sales and how they initially lived with him in his home where he produced this LSD and they were constantly exposed to LSD and forced to eat only meat by Owsely Stanely (who believed that Carbohydrates were very bad for you).

I wonder if the above lyrics refer to how Owsely must have felt after he went to jail for drug possession and the people he funded and provided LSD to went on with their lives as he returned. "Now your patrons have all left you in the red...Your low rent friends are dead
This life can be very strange...All those dayglow freaks who used to paint the face
They've joined the human race...Some things will never change..."

Further, the lyrics "Son you were mistaken...You are obsolete...Look at all the white men on the street" Is this King Charlemange talking to his great grandson telling him he was mistaken. Are all "the white men" on the street all of the homeless that were prevelant in the Bay Area in the late 60's and early 70's who did way to much LSD and other drugs.

I find it fascinating (6 degrees of separation) that a direct descendant of King Charlemange (who unified Europe in the middle ages and defenden Europe against Moores (the muslims)), great grandson supplied LSD to the counter-culture movement of the 60's which made the US a much more liberal county (huge amounts of academic literature go over how LSD unified and enhanced the counter-culture movement especially at the Univeristy level (Berkley, etc.) -- like it or not (I think its a good thing). Without the counter-culture movement and the liberalization of the would Barrack Obama be president (descendant of a Muslim) ? I don't know. What a great song. "This Life can be very strange"