Know something about this song or lyrics?
Add it to our wiki.
Down at the Lido they welcome you
With sausage and beer,
Klaus and the Rooster have been there too,
But lately he spends his time here.
Hanging with the mayor and all his friends
And nobody cares,
Where the sailor shuts out the sunrise
Blacked out on the stairs
[Chorus]
Knock twice, rap with your cane
Feels nice, you're out of the rain
We got your skinny girl
Here at the Western World
Ruthie will give you the silver key
To open the red door:
Lay down your Jackson and you will see
The sweetness you've been crying for
In the night you hide from the madman
You're longing to be
But it all comes out on the inside
Eventually
[Chorus]
In the night you hide from the madman
You're longing to be
But it all comes out on the inside
Eventually
[Chorus]
With sausage and beer,
Klaus and the Rooster have been there too,
But lately he spends his time here.
Hanging with the mayor and all his friends
And nobody cares,
Where the sailor shuts out the sunrise
Blacked out on the stairs
[Chorus]
Knock twice, rap with your cane
Feels nice, you're out of the rain
We got your skinny girl
Here at the Western World
Ruthie will give you the silver key
To open the red door:
Lay down your Jackson and you will see
The sweetness you've been crying for
In the night you hide from the madman
You're longing to be
But it all comes out on the inside
Eventually
[Chorus]
In the night you hide from the madman
You're longing to be
But it all comes out on the inside
Eventually
[Chorus]
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
Good ol' Steely Dan!
1. Lido - it's a beach in Venice but also in New York. It looks like a common place to have fun (having sausage and beer). I think it's a metaphor of plain life and I guess the beach is just a symbol of that. New York - because they spent lots of time in New York and in San Francisco.
2. "Klaus and the Rooster have been there too"
Who is Klaus? Here: funtrivia.com/askft/…
and here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/…
The Rooster - drug dealer - LA slang, here:
vanderbilt.edu/News/register/Jan24_00/…
3. "Hanging with the mayor and all his friends
And nobody cares"
Because they are all the same when they do drugs
Now, I will not go into explanation of next couple of strophes in detail, yet I will give you some clues:
knock twice = when somebody taps it's vein
rap with your cane = cane it -> consuming excessive amounts of Alcohol and or drugs
here: onlineslangdictionary.com/meaning-definition-of/…
skinny girl = syringe
Ruthie = wild, crazy girl
here: chacha.com/question/…
silver key = needle
red door = vein
Jackson = $20 bill (shot price)
And, this is the link where you may find the best explanation of the song:
feverdreams.whatsmykarma.com/…
If somebody has time and/or will, it would be nice to have us informed if something new is found about other verses. Or, someone may put together the whole story - I just threw some facts.
(And, being that I am not native English speaker, I apologize if something in my writing is not understandable.)
This is simply one of Steely Dan's most lovely meditations, both lyrically and musically. One of my favourite verses of their entire catalogue is "Ruthie will give you the silver key to open the red door / Lay down your Jackson and you will see the sweetness you've been crying for." Just a wonderful, beautiful, evocative lyric. I have no idea what it means and almost prefer not to.
It reminds me of a certain time in my life that had high highs and low lows.
I think Western World may be referring to the play "The Playboy of the Western World." It could be a loose metaphor for the Playboy mansion in LA, since for a while in the 70's there were two Playboy mansions, the original in Chicago and the one in L.A. called "Playboy Mansion West."
It's hard to imagine Donald Fagen and Walter Becker not going to the Playboy mansion, being huge rock stars in the 1970s.