Composition
Writers Walter Becker and Donald Fagen have stated that the lyrics were loosely inspired by the exploits of the infamous 1960s San Francisco-based LSD chemist Owsley Stanley — although it conflates the core story with numerous other images of the Sixties:
On the hill the stuff was laced with kerosene
But yours was kitchen clean
Everyone stopped to stare at your Technicolor motor home
Every A-frame had your number on the wall
The first two lines draw on the fact that Owsley's acid was famed for its purity, and the third line is likely a reference to the famous psychedelic bus named Further, which was used by the Merry Pranksters, who were supplied their LSD by Owsley himself.
The lyric "You'd go to LA on a dare and you'd go it alone" alludes to a story in The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test about a trip taken by chief Prankster Ken Kesey.
The final verse foreshadows Owsley's eventual bust:
Clean this mess up else we'll all end up in jail
Those test tubes and the scale
Just get it all out of here
Is there gas in the car?
Yes, there's gas in the car
I think the people down the hall know who you are
Owsley and another person were arrested after their car ran out of gas.
The song features a jazz-inflected electric guitar solo by guitarist Larry Carlton. The drum track was played by Bernard "Pretty" Purdie whose long-time session partner, Chuck Rainey, plays the bass.
Read more about this topic: Kid Charlemagne
Famous quotes containing the word composition:
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