Steely Dan – Rose Darling

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Rose darling come to me
Snake Mary's gone to bed
All our steaming sounds of love
Cannot disturb her in her night

Or raise her sleeping head
All I ask of you
Is make my wildest dreams come true
No one sees and no one knows

Rose darling come to me
Snake Mary dreams along
I would guess she's in Detroit
With lots of money in the bank

Although I could be wrong
You must know it's right
The spore is on the wind tonight
You won't feel it till it grows

[Chorus]
Rose darling my friend
With only you and what I've found
We'll wear the weary hours down

Rose darling come to me
The clock is close at hand
All my empty words of love
Can never screen the flash I feel

Or make you understand
Honey can't you see
I know it's real it's got to be
Why not chase it where it goes

[Chorus]

Send "Rose Darling" Ringtone to Cell


Lyrics submitted by Lukasa

Track duration: 03:05

"Rose Darling" as written by Walter Carl Becker, Donald Jay Fagen

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Rose Darling song meanings
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11 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:Definitely one of the Dans' best songs.
    Flag mafrandon May 31, 2013   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:Like nearly everything on the first half of 'Katy Lied,' this is a drug song. Yes, the snake is phallic, but it's not a chick he's sneaking out with--he's getting high. This is a song about one appetite pushing another aside, in this case drugs naroticizing the libido. Thus, Rose = his bong, and Snake Mary = his prick. To put it bluntly.

    Think of it as a tale of two pipes.
    Flag Kartoumon January 30, 2013   Link
  • -1
    General Comment:These lyrics bring to mind a catholic school summer camp setting.

    "Snake Mary" - possibly being this wicked old hag of a nun spoken of in the eyes of....yes im going to say it.. elementary school kids!

    When I read this, I picture a young boy discovering his erect penis, and in a lustful panic, is looking to coax Rose darling into attempting sex with him.

    The reason I chose young children, is because in many cases Catholic school ideologies tend to form repressed sexual desires in small children.
    And espescially with lines like. . .

    Make my wildest dreams come true - (every virgin boy has had those)

    You wont feel it till it grows - (basically assuring Rose that she will feel this newly discoverd boner for herself.)


    With only YOU and what I FOUND - (sounds like the youngin knows where that thing belongs.)

    The flash I feel - (Those chills of lust that tingle your boing twink up and down.)

    And after all, does not a rose look like a womens inner Libia ?

    Although I could be wrong...
    Flag EN1GMAon May 24, 2012   Link
    • 2 Replies
  • 0
    General Comment:I agree with magicstephanie, the slightly childish lyrics and references to "Snake Mary" make me think this is written from the perspective of a college kid trying to get it on with his girlfriend in his hostel room, while the night supervisor sleeps.
    I also think he has scored some cocaine and is wanting her to do a line with him i.e. "chase it where it goes", and the reference to "what I've found"...so what did he find?...a little coke methinks.
    Flag Slydeon April 28, 2012   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:What if Snake Mary isn't a real person in this context? Snakes can be symbolic of temptation in general so I'm going to offer an alternative theory that Snake Mary represents the wilder side of the girl he's trying to seduce. She's already given in and agreed to go to bed (with him) and having a great time! (imagery of wealth and luxury)

    All in all, the narrator is trying to turn a big step in their relationship into something off the cuff and spontaneous. Take the conflicting imagery in:
    All I ask of you / is make my wildest dreams come true
    Oh is that all? Just embodying all of the fantasies he's been imagining - totally reasonable

    By the end of the song he's convinced her (or is convinced that he's convinced her) because he stops wheedling and start talking plainly again:
    All my empty words of love / can never hide the flash I feel / or make you understand

    And he's even arrogant enough to take credit for the seduction and the sex:
    With only you and what I found / we'll wear the weary hours down
    Notice the juxtaposition of the pronouns in the chorus. Who exactly is involved (both of them) but who "discovered" this idea (what I found)?

    Sounds like a total sleezeball. :) But that's classic SD storytelling and a fairly creepy background to a smooth sounding and catchy song.
    Flag katiedid15on January 15, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:my interpetation of this song is rose darling come to me/snake marys gone to bed[my old lady is sleeping and out like a light.] all our steaming sounds of love,cannot disturb her in the nite or raise her sleeping head[please lets get it on rose. mary wont hear us.] all i ask of you/is make my wildest dreams come true/no-one sees and no-one knows] he is trying to seduce rose, pleading with her to have sex with him,and know one will ever know specificaly snake mary![rose darling come to me/snake mary dreams along/i would guess shes in detroit/with lots of money in the bank/although i could be wrong] now hes simply explaining that mary is in a deep sleep and dreaming. he speculates that she is dreaming of being in detroit with a lot of cash. mayby cause mary had talked of an ex lover in michagen that she wishes she could have burned for all he was worth and she cant stop regreting it? thus he regards mary as SNAKE. although i could be wrong.[you must know its right/the spore is on the wind tonite/you wont feel it till it grows] just a clever attempt to assure rose that everything is O.K. and only natural. when they become passionate mary will surrender to to the void. the sexual tension will consume rose and then she will finally understand.---CHORUS--rose darling my friend/with only you and what ive found/we-ll way the weary hours down.----he is simply assuring mary that he has what he wants and they can take advantage by having sex through the nite.[rose darling come to me/the clock is close at hand]he is getting desperate. rose is holding out,but if they dont get it on soon,mary will wake up. the time is now.[all my empty words of love can never screen the flash i feel or make you understand.] he realizes all his bullshit cant hide the fact that he just wants a peice of ass. he knows he cant bullshit her.[honey cant you see/i know its real its got to be/why not chase it where it goes?]this is the funniest part. he is now desperate,and realizes she aint going along with this crap. mayby she dont want to betray mary or rose simply is not in the mood? this is typical song writting from steely dan. they said in an interview that they laugh thier asses off writting a lot of songs. they inject humore into thier music while composing music about sensitive subjects and marry the music and lyrics so as the listener has to realy pay attention to get the joke.---example---everything you did from royal scam about a man catching his wife cheating on him.-halarious! and everyones gone to the movies from katy lied. all about a child molester. steely dan r the bomb. thier music is awsome no matter what subject they sing about. thats just my opinon. although i could be wrong
    Flag arvinatoron September 04, 2011   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning:My feeling is that Snake Mary was a dorm mother, and Rose had to sneak out to meet her boyfriend after she had gone to sleep. This is the only thing that totally fits with all the lyrics, IMO. Anyone else agree?
    Flag magicstephanieon July 13, 2011   Link
  • 0
    My Opinion:I think this song is clearly about a man who is cheating on his wife with either one of her realtives or a close family friend who is Rose, that is staying with them. Obviously him and wife don't have a good relationship that is why he's referring to her as a snake. He starts this affair with this woman thats staying with them. They have sex when the wife is sleeping and when she goes out of town. For him its more than sex now and he's falling in love with Rose. He wants to leave his wife Mary and start a relationship with Rose. But, he seems to want this more than Rose because he keeps having to convince her that their doing the right thing. I don't think Rose wants to hurt Mary.
    Flag sweetteachon December 20, 2009   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:i've always taken that the song was about masturbation...You know, the whole rosy palm thing--rose darling--he can't "visit" rose until snake mary (girlfriend, wife) has fallen asleep. masturbation is a way to "make my wildest dreams come true"

    some pretty sick images follow if that's the way you read the lyrics. but maybe i'm wrong.
    Flag fred30on June 06, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Your right,but I thought the lyric was 'St Mary's gone to bed". Or else I could be wrong
    Flag kamakiriadon February 15, 2008   Link

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