Lyrics for Peg as interpreted by AbFab

Peg Lyrics
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 gonna love it

I like 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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thomcat
08-28-2009

Rated +1 
Perhaps a reference to "Peg" Entwistle -- the 25-year-old starlet who gained fame by jumping to her death from atop the Hollywood sign. After success on Broadway, Peg got her big debut in a 1932 movie that the studio ended up hating, and cutting out most of her part. The letter is her suicide note, published in the LA newspapers, of the pain she'd experienced. When she herself falls, it comes back to her -- seeing as one does all three-dimensions of a tragic ending (as foreign films are more known for ending in tragedy, rather than the happy "Hollywood" endings).

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Jpropps
08-02-2009

Rated 0 
A friend of mine pointed out to me what this song is about a few years ago. The song's narrator is a director of an adult film, circa the late 70's. He is trying to convice or motovate the male actor in the film to go through with the act on film. He is either shy.. or unable to perform.....there is some problem..."It will come back to you"..He's egging him on to get this thing going and get the movie shoot happening. If you listen to the song ...at 3:17 into the recording you can hear the background vocal (which is a man) say "I don't wanna do it"

This is a classic steely dan technique, the song's style contributes negativly to the meaning. Brilliant..

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signx
02-04-2009

Rated 0 
I think it is much simplier than that, I know it is easy for one to think that there must be an obscure reference somewhere, after all, this is Steely Dan, but i think when they talk about a "blueprint blue" they are talking about the photograph, the pin-up shot, as it is common for a pin shot to be printed in cyan(blue) or sepia(brown) for a low budget movie. The song plot is about a guy who probably lost a girl in the past when she decided to go and pursuit an actress career, she probably left him a letter explaining she had to go, but she will always love him. After some years she made it and he recognizes her and thinks all of this to himself. The movie is probably a cheesy horror or murder mistery filmed in 3D in which at the end Peg gets to kill the murderer and we get to see him fall towards the camera "the shooter falls".

Well that's what I think anyway.

Sorry about my english I'm from Mexico!

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mjmmm
11-14-2008

Rated 0 
Love this song.

You guys think too much. It's about a guy who's infatuated with a model. He notices the color of her dress and knows her favorite movie. It's just a song about infatuation.

"I keep it with your letter" makes me think the guy wrote her fan mail and got back a response.

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kvolker
07-27-2008

Rated 0 
Porn films used to be called Blue films and were mostly foreign. This song is about a porn actress, named Peg, which I believe could be personifying a penis, a penis being in the shape of a peg. Think about the chorus part with that in mind. "Peg, it will come back to you...then the shutters fall, you see it all in 3D, its you favorite foreign movie." Shutters fall, eyes closing cause something is coming at you like in 3D movies. A little sick minded I know, but lets be honest here, we are talking about two of the most cynical songwriters of all time. Great song.

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Reginald Edit
12-20-2007

Rated 0 
So won't you smile for the camera - is the in 1st verse.
And when you smile for the camera - is the in 2nd.
AbFab has them reversed above.

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stoolhardy
11-28-2007

Rated 0 
"Obviously that is a far more likely reading of "blueprint" than an obscure, outdated (nonexistant?) film printing process."

Except that Steely Dan is renowned for their obscure and sophomoric lyrics and references. That's why we love the Dan so much! :-)

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Faaip De Oiad
09-27-2007

Rated +1 
Seeing this played live made my life :)

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aic22
08-07-2007

Rated 0 
it is indeed about a woman who stars in porn films. Look at the line:
"It's like a dream come true."

Seems to me she wanted to be a Hollywood actress but instead she is now a porn star so in a way- it's like a dream come true.

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Zeronada
07-24-2007

Rated 0 
I'm pretty sure it' about blue movies as suggested.

It seems to me the guy talking is a "Hollywood" producer/director who got sent photos from a wannabe actress ("I've seen your pin shot, I keep it with your letter"). Now she finds she's been hired for a porn movie, and he is trying to cajole her into being a bit more happy about it ("smile for the camera") and bring back the personality of her sample photos ("it will come back to you").

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b4nt
04-16-2007

Rated 0 
It sounds like the narrator seeing his ex in a porno, the whole lyric with "It will come back to you" sounds like it's referring to the flim, like say she has kids or applies for a job, the fact that she was in a porn film will come back to her, it's going to have consequences.

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rikdad
10-30-2006

Rated 0 
There's a lot of confusion here about "blueprint blue". People suggest that it is rated-x work filmed in black and white but printed in blue. (Does that actually exist?) A less-outlandish reading is that she is wearing a dress that is blue -- the same tint of blue used in blueprints (architectural plans). Obviously that is a far more likely reading of "blueprint" than an obscure, outdated (nonexistant?) film printing process.

The prepositions used argue against the "blue movie" interpretation: it's said that she is done up "in" blueprint blue, and that it looks good "on" her. It's clothing, plain and simple.

A man who used to know a girl watches from afar as she tries to make it in Hollywood. Brilliant juxtaposition: he has a pin(up) shot of her, an artifact of her nascent stardom, that he keeps with a letter from her -- an artifact of their prior association.

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The Dog That Ate...
09-30-2006

Rated 0 
Fabulous pop song !
But I don't see the reference to porn in "Peg". To me, it's about compromising : a young girl coming to Hollywood, trying to rise for fame, and being successful.
The "blue" reference makes me rather think of the innocence of that girl when she put her feet in California's "bowl of confusion". As she's reached her goals, the narrator seems to be asking : on your way to stardom, what have you left ? what have you lost ? That's how I understand "Peg, it will come back to you", repeated twice.
She's become a superficial, empty image :
"And when you smile for the camera
I know they're gonna love it "
What is the price for that ? When he finally says to Peg : "it's your favorite foreign movie", does it mean that she's become a stranger to herself, that she doesn't recognize the girl she used to be in that image on the screen ?
Anyway, that song remains quite unclear to me... Then again, really good song !

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WritingIsMyReligion
08-31-2006

Rated 0 
Some of the best bass ever is here, on "Peg." Three cheers to Chuck Rainey! :>)

As to the actual lyrics, this song seems almost obviously to be about a guy seeing his old lover in a movie, most likely a porn flick, as things that are "inappropriate" are often called "blue." Also, I believe porn flicks were called "foreign" at one point in time.

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truthdecay
08-02-2006

Rated 0 
Interesting 9-minute video clip about the making of this song: http://youtube.com/watch?v=CH0JpBzi68E.

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stoolhardy
04-26-2006

Rated 0 
A lot of comments on the bass in this song. Actually this song has some of the most interesting bass playing I've heard in any song, period. Makes it a very lively song.

The song seems to be about an old lover whom he spotted in a porn video. She's in his past, but now he "loves her better" for her porn pictures to remember her by.

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stoolhardy
04-26-2006

Rated +1 
A lot of comments on the bass in this song. Actually this song has some of the most interesting bass playing I've heard in any song, period. Makes it a very lively song.

The song seems to be about an old lover whom he spotted in a porn video. She's in his past, but now he "loves her better" for her porn pictures to remember her by.

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LuckyJim
09-19-2005

Rated 0 
To expand on that a little. He actually turned facing away from them so that when it came to the chorus he could play it slap, as he knew it would sound better. Becker & Fagen didn't even notice at first. Wonderful

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NJJ
07-30-2005

Rated 0 
I heard that the bass player they used for this tune was into the "slap" style of bass playing at the time. becker & fagan were having none of it though. If you listen to the bass in the chorus section thouhg, the bass player has managed to sneak a slight "slap" in a couple of times though..!

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westhead
04-15-2005

Rated 0 
this song is absoltuely incredible, most feel good song ever, this should go down as one of the best songs ever written seriously

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taosjedi
01-07-2005

Rated 0 
It's about a porn star in those old Stag Films, They used to tint the B&W film blue

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