I was the salt of the earth, I was hard, and the last of the independents.Īnd in the breath from my chest I was blowing kerosene, (He was hurt emotionally in a young, teenage romance) I cut my teeth on the stone of a teenage romance. Just goes to show how subtle Fallon's lyrical expertise is. I honestly did not think I would end up writing this much on three lines. The line which follows (I *need* a Caddilac ride, I *need* a soft summer night) expresses his desire to break free from cynicism and the domination of logic. A shot in the dark is the opposite of a logical decision, but it's also more impulse/desperation than emotion. It appears that emotion or impulse wins out in the end, or at least that the protagonist wants it to. Beyond the amazing little structure above are what I consider to be the cause (Old man shoes) and the outcome (a shot in the dark). It's a profound conflict, presented on many levels. Intended or not, this feeds into the idea of Logic being brought in to cure the ills of the Heart. A beaker, however, is also a tool of the medical profession, the purpose of which is to cure illness. I may be digging too deep here, but at the risk of inventing meaning, here's another potential dynamic: fever, in the literal sense, is an illness, and the parallels between the pains of emotion and those of physical sickness have made "fever" as enduring a metaphor as it is. The beaker is obviously a tool and symbol of the scientist. The "fever"/emotion connection is well established, and if this line isn't an intended reference to Bruce Springsteen's song "The Fever," then at least that song shows the tradition Fallon is working off of. "Fever and a beaker" are analogous to "scientist heart" in that there's a conflict (and ambiguous incompatibility) between emotion (heart/fever) and logic (scientist/beaker). This line caries on themes from the one above. Practically, it means the same thing (logic overtaking emotion), but those are two ways of breaking the line down. To say that he's got a "scientist heart" is to say that his heart has either been contorted to something that operates by the rules of cold logic, or that it simply isn't used that he, like a "scientist," has abandoned the heart (emotion) for the brain (logic). To me it seems like, particularly in a creative sense, the poet (and, by extension, the protagonist of almost any song) uses his heart and the scientist uses his brain. He's jaded or disillusioned (over-experience/world-weariness, ie old man's shoes) to the point where his heart, which obviously symbolizes emotion and the counterpoint to logic, has become cold and logical. On the hood of a Dodge on a Saturday night Got a picture of you, Mama, to remind me of home 'Cause I've been dying out here in the cold and the snow I need a Cadillac ride, I need a soft summer night I got a fever and a beaker and a shot in the dark Walkin' in my old man shoes, with my scientist heart I wash my hands like the man with the blood on his teethĪnd I got nothin' for you darlin' but a story to tellĪbout the rain on the pavement and the sound as it fell It's a broken Hallelujah and a pain in my fist I never felt right and never fit in walkin' in my own skinĪnd in the minor chord fall and the fourth and the fifth I'd watch this whole night come down and never miss her again I've had burning through my veins since I first learned to cry I sang the blues like the dogs left too long in the streetĪnd I got half a mind to let it all burn up in this fire My lips and fingertips were stone, I wore my heart on my jeans I cut my teeth on the stone of a teenage romanceĪnd in the breath from my chest I was blowing kerosene
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