The song's about a gold-digger: a girl who marries a much older man for his money and collects when he dies. The silver ring is a literal metaphor for his wealth (in that it tangibly exists but is more representative of something broader).
The "cut his teeth on turquoise harmonicas" is a really brilliant line. New Mexico is famous for these "pueblo huts" (although, technically, puebloan people have historically lived in larger structures as opposed to huts) but also turquoise, mostly with the Zuni tribe. Cutting his teeth on a turquoise harmonica, to me, is a bit of absurdity, and may be poking fun at the sort of ridiculous items that you can find in New Mexico tourist shops with the context that it's a "Native American craft." You see mostly older, white tourists from outside the Southwest buying this garbage. But the line, as a whole, refers to the old man's desire to visit a warmer clime, either to retire or just to travel to.
Wonderful song. It's a new twist on the storytelling of music.
The song's about a gold-digger: a girl who marries a much older man for his money and collects when he dies. The silver ring is a literal metaphor for his wealth (in that it tangibly exists but is more representative of something broader). The "cut his teeth on turquoise harmonicas" is a really brilliant line. New Mexico is famous for these "pueblo huts" (although, technically, puebloan people have historically lived in larger structures as opposed to huts) but also turquoise, mostly with the Zuni tribe. Cutting his teeth on a turquoise harmonica, to me, is a bit of absurdity, and may be poking fun at the sort of ridiculous items that you can find in New Mexico tourist shops with the context that it's a "Native American craft." You see mostly older, white tourists from outside the Southwest buying this garbage. But the line, as a whole, refers to the old man's desire to visit a warmer clime, either to retire or just to travel to. Wonderful song. It's a new twist on the storytelling of music.