Lyrics for Brooklyn as interpreted by AbFab

Brooklyn Lyrics
A race of angels bound with one another
A dish of dollars laid out for all to see
A tower room at Eden Rock, his golf at noon for free
Brooklyn owes the charmer under me
Brooklyn owes the charmer under me

His lady's aching to bring a body down
She daily preaches on where she wants to be
An evening with a movie queen, a face we all have seen
Brooklyn owes the charmer under me
Brooklyn owes the charmer under me

A case of aces done up loose for dealing
A piece of island coolin' in the sea
The whole of time we gain or lose, and power enough to choose
Brooklyn owes the charmer under me
Brooklyn owes the charmer under me

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  • 11 Comments
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kennarae3
04-05-2006

Rated 0 
I have no idea what this song is about. It is such a pretty song, but the meaning drives me crazy every time - I cant figure it out!

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GreyBlueEyes
08-24-2006

Rated 0 
Some people think that the "Charmer" is the devil and somebody knows it's payback time.

Again, "you pay today or pay tomorrow..."

Reminds me of Billy Joel's "Somewhere Along the Line":

"Somewhere along the line,
Well I know it's just a matter of time,
When the fun falls through and the rent comes due,
Somewhere along the line."

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thermo4
10-08-2006

Rated 0 
I read a note about this song somewhere that said it was written by Becker and Fagen while they were living in New York. It was a simple wish of good luck and hope for the guy who lived in the apartment below them...the "charmer under me". Get it?

Eden Roc is a ritzy hotel in Miami, incidentally.

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A_Mick
05-15-2007

Rated 0 
Such a beautiful song woth the slide guitar and all

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moechitlins
08-01-2007

Rated 0 
Eden Rock is in the Carribean..."an island cooling in the sea"...

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pconl
03-24-2008

Rated 0 
Thermo4 is right; Becker wrote the lyric about a downstairs neighbour - the dedication on the LP sleeve is to 'President Street Pete'.

Anyone in Brooklyn know President St?

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appleharvey
04-18-2008

Rated 0 
I have no idea what the lyrics mean, but it's a beautiful song. IMHO, one of the best songs on Can't Buy me a Thrill. The lyrics and the music mesh perfectly. Jeff "Skunk" Baxter's steel guitar is perfection!

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hank rango
12-22-2008

Rated 0 
yep, thermo4 has got it. in fact, i once read an interview with don fagan and he said it was possibly the most literal lyric he has ever written. he took the words from a couple's conversations on the stoop beneath his window in brooklyn at the time they were writing cbat.

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austinbarry
01-10-2009

Rated 0 
Interesting that the version on the "Old Regime" album has a different second verse.

My sentry trembles - He knows the end is coming.
His face is scowling - inside he's on his knees.
If looks and dreams could surely kill - he'd soon be gone from here.
Brooklyn owes the charmer under me.

I assumed that the singer was a drug dealer - who else would have a "sentry" (bodyguard or lookout, scared of something), a dish of dollars, and "aces" done up lose for dealing. I wonder if Fagan "cleaned up" the song by replacing the "sentry", with a movie queen. Then again the "sentry" could simply be a doorman.

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jpana
01-20-2009

Rated 0 
Damn... like many of their songs, it paints enough to get some good images, but not enough to have clarity. Then again, maybe I'm a simpleton, or did too much experimentation in my college daze. 'Brooklyn' is a wonderfully haunting song, but I just can't seem to buy a thrill.

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ZinbobDan
04-10-2009

Rated 0 
To me, this song has no meaning. It's just beautiful. I really can't decipher a meaning for it.

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