This is a song about the death of the Old West, in the tradition of the movies Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, or more famously, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
The protaganist, "the Doctor" is a snake oil salesman. The narrator is his straight man and banjo player.
The narrator tells us that his troupe was generally mediocre or worse: "we was going through the motions ‘til the doctor came along". But there's no show without a good snake oil salesman (who puts the do-re-mi [dough$] in our pockets...?")
The narrator tells us how the Doctor sells the mostly-alcohol snake oil - by engaging the crowd with jokes ("he gets the chumps all laughing"), false promises ("when the monkeyshine is flying"), sounding smart (speaking French, "la maladie d'amour"), etc.
The song transitions to a whorehouse in West Helena (probably Montana, though perhaps Arkansas) where the Travelling Show's band, flush with dough, is drinking: "Now the band will blow their moolah, like sailor's gone ashore...." There follows a series of toasts: (1) here's to beefsteak when you're hungry... (2) here's mud in your eye (3) here's to all the gals you ever want...
Why then do I say that this song is a metaphor for the death of the Old West? Well, the "big cheese with a cigar ... wants to get the doctor pitching on the radio." Since commercial radio wasn't popular until the mid-1920s, there were few Old West places left - Montana being one. The narrator, realizing that their days are numbered, offers the song's final and most haunting toast "Here's to absent friends" (if ever a friend of yours has died, especially a friend you consider a Stand Up Guy, you know what I mean), again, a metaphor for the passing of a way of life.
The song is a political metaphor just like "Don't crash the ambulance". The doctor is the political leader brought in to advance the political ideology, the "Snake Oil Salesman". This relates directly to the war on Terror and the two principal figures, Osama and George Bush. The first reference is to Osama is the line about "Here's to all the gals you ever want and heaven when you die" referring to the virgins in heaven for martyrs. Another line is directed toward Bush and the loss of life during the war on Terror - "Here's to...
The song is a political metaphor just like "Don't crash the ambulance". The doctor is the political leader brought in to advance the political ideology, the "Snake Oil Salesman". This relates directly to the war on Terror and the two principal figures, Osama and George Bush. The first reference is to Osama is the line about "Here's to all the gals you ever want and heaven when you die" referring to the virgins in heaven for martyrs. Another line is directed toward Bush and the loss of life during the war on Terror - "Here's to absent friends All these bottles Dead soldiers in the end"
This is a song about the death of the Old West, in the tradition of the movies Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, or more famously, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
The protaganist, "the Doctor" is a snake oil salesman. The narrator is his straight man and banjo player.
The narrator tells us that his troupe was generally mediocre or worse: "we was going through the motions ‘til the doctor came along". But there's no show without a good snake oil salesman (who puts the do-re-mi [dough$] in our pockets...?")
The narrator tells us how the Doctor sells the mostly-alcohol snake oil - by engaging the crowd with jokes ("he gets the chumps all laughing"), false promises ("when the monkeyshine is flying"), sounding smart (speaking French, "la maladie d'amour"), etc.
The song transitions to a whorehouse in West Helena (probably Montana, though perhaps Arkansas) where the Travelling Show's band, flush with dough, is drinking: "Now the band will blow their moolah, like sailor's gone ashore...." There follows a series of toasts: (1) here's to beefsteak when you're hungry... (2) here's mud in your eye (3) here's to all the gals you ever want...
Why then do I say that this song is a metaphor for the death of the Old West? Well, the "big cheese with a cigar ... wants to get the doctor pitching on the radio." Since commercial radio wasn't popular until the mid-1920s, there were few Old West places left - Montana being one. The narrator, realizing that their days are numbered, offers the song's final and most haunting toast "Here's to absent friends" (if ever a friend of yours has died, especially a friend you consider a Stand Up Guy, you know what I mean), again, a metaphor for the passing of a way of life.
The song is a political metaphor just like "Don't crash the ambulance". The doctor is the political leader brought in to advance the political ideology, the "Snake Oil Salesman". This relates directly to the war on Terror and the two principal figures, Osama and George Bush. The first reference is to Osama is the line about "Here's to all the gals you ever want and heaven when you die" referring to the virgins in heaven for martyrs. Another line is directed toward Bush and the loss of life during the war on Terror - "Here's to...
The song is a political metaphor just like "Don't crash the ambulance". The doctor is the political leader brought in to advance the political ideology, the "Snake Oil Salesman". This relates directly to the war on Terror and the two principal figures, Osama and George Bush. The first reference is to Osama is the line about "Here's to all the gals you ever want and heaven when you die" referring to the virgins in heaven for martyrs. Another line is directed toward Bush and the loss of life during the war on Terror - "Here's to absent friends All these bottles Dead soldiers in the end"