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I've seen your picture
Your name in lights above it
This is your big debut
It's like a dream come true
And when you smile for the camera
I know they're love it
I got your pin shot
I keep it with your letter
Done up in blueprint blue
It sure looks good on you
So won't you smile for the camera
I know I'll love you better
Peg
It will come back to you
Peg
It will come back to you
Then the shutter falls
You see it all in 3-D
It's your favorite foreign movie
Your name in lights above it
This is your big debut
It's like a dream come true
And when you smile for the camera
I know they're love it
I got your pin shot
I keep it with your letter
Done up in blueprint blue
It sure looks good on you
So won't you smile for the camera
I know I'll love you better
Peg
It will come back to you
Peg
It will come back to you
Then the shutter falls
You see it all in 3-D
It's your favorite foreign movie
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Then she starts to bowl. She has a good pin shot. She knocks down all the pins, and she smiles, because she can HEAR the pins fall. Then, shock. She's dismayed. She can't find the bowling ball. Peg. It will come back to you! Then, the shutter at the end of the lane falls, and she heals from her blindness, and sees the foreign world in 3-d for the first time, and it's like a movie.
Anyway - I'd love to smoke a bowl with you while listening to random songs and hearing your interpretation of their meanings afterward. From the sound of this one, I could do this for hours!
Thanks for the laugh! That made my night. :)
1. First, we know that the speaker / singer in the song knows Peg or knows of Peg. I believe the folks who said that they may have had a previous relationship are spot on. He very well could be a stalker type fan, but if it's her "big debut", then how could she be famous enough to have a stalker? Nah, she left him to pursue her dream and he's a bit pissy about it.
2. She wrote him a letter, he got her "pin shot" of her in a "blueprint blue" dress and he know's he'll love her better than the public. This adds to the stalker element, but I don't think that's right for the reason I've already stated.
3. I think that the film, very well may be, a porno, but there's really no way of knowing for sure as the nature of the film is a bit obscured. Judging by the time period in which this song was written, (1976/1977 timeframe), it very well could be a porno because at that time it was common to have pornos in more mainstream theaters because of crossover movies like "Debbie Does Dallas" which were mainstream successes and were shown in all sorts of theaters. So, it could be a porn and probably is considering the chorus of the song and the very funky bass groove which was commented on quite a bit and is one element common to most pornos of the time. Porno bass funk to accompany the sex scenes.
4. "Peg, it will come back to you." This could mean a couple of things. It could mean that her actions on screen, if it is a porno, will come back to haunt her, but it could also mean that she is remembering something. Something she has forgotten will come back to her mind. I think that this line is intentionally ambiguous and I think that either of these interpretations are likely depending on what the listener has assumed about the movie.
But, if we look at "It" as being a memory that will come back, why has it gone and what is the memory that will come back? I'm thinking it's the memory of the love she shared with him, the singer or a memory of what the real world is like. At least, that's the only potential thing in the past that is referenced in the song that may "come back" to her. The memory of the man she left. Either interpretation works and they could be working simultaneously as a double entendre of sorts.
5. Okay, the most puzzling part of the song has to be:
"Then the shutter falls, you see it all in 3-D. It's your favorite foreign movie."
This line really hasn't been analyzed as such on this page and it's a very important part of the song. It is, in fact, the summation of the song, the ending of such. "Then the shutter falls" is obviously referring to a camera shutter, most likely a movie camera (although the pin shot camera was also referenced and could also "fall").
Here's where everything comes together. "IT" will come back to Peg, then the shutter falls (meaning the film ends, maybe the movie career ends, the picture is taken, the movie industry (whether porn or legitimate) is done with her or at least done with the movie.
The camera is off "IT" came back to her. The "IT" is kind of the thing here. I think that it is the price of her fame, is to lose touch with the real wold. When this memory comes back to her, the shutter falls, and she sees the "dream come true" for what it is, a 3-D foreign movie. She has been lost in a 3-D dream world that isn't real. The reality is what comes back (or so hopes the singer of the song, I suppose).
That's my take on it at least. I've not seen a better analysis of the "favorite foreign movie" line. I had a dream about this song actually, probably b/c I listen to Steely Dan too much, and the dream seemed to follow along with the above analysis. Peg had forgotten the real world, she was living a dream, but when she finally remembered, it came back to her, and when the movie shoot was done she saw it all for what it really was. A 3-D foreign movie, but one that was (no doubt) her favorite.
What do you think?
This is a classic steely dan technique, the song's style contributes negativly to the meaning. Brilliant..
Well that's what I think anyway.
Sorry about my english I'm from Mexico!