"The Last Mall"


oleander (GB, 6/11/03):  OK, so it's not about the Rapture. Or, maybe, but I'll buy simple apocalypse, with culturally dead Americans unable to think of anything to do with their last hours but shop. "Gospel morning"--when the trumpets sound. I already talked about how flippin' brilliant the blood orange image is.

Roy.Scam (GB, 6/12/03): I can hear the gospel undertones of "Confide In Me" but this is better. Somehow the end of civilization seems sadder now than it did thirty years ago when I first heard "King of the World".

EMG--week one (GB, 6/17/03): ... funny thing is, if they had waited until after the song they could have gotten all that stuff free when the looting began...

angel (Blue Book, 6/20/03):  Donald mentioned that he and Walter take turns writing the lyrics. He said that his lyrics advance the plot and Walter's are (I don't remember what he said precisely, but they are Walter's). :-)
     I was listening to The Last Mall and this is what came to my mind. I have no idea if it is right, just an impression.
     Roll your cart back up the aisle (Donald)(plot advances)
     Kiss the checkout girls goodbye (Walter)(sounds like something Walter would say)
     Ride the ramp to the freeway (Donald) (plot advances)
     Beneath the blood orange sky (Walter) (Reminds me of "Wine Dark Sea", Walter)

Clas (GB, 7/1/03):  Before I read the lyrics I thought that "The Last Mall" was about one of those bands, coverbands or just, you know, small time musicians who's playing Malls and stuff.
    And now, burned out, they'd decided to bring the meaningless touring to an end (like the Band, see, everything goes around!)
    So what I heard Fagen sing was;
             It’s the last call
             To do our shuffle
             At the last mall
    And while they were rolling their amps down the aisle, they kissed the checkout girls goodbye.

 javi-z:  (8/9/03):  al last thethey recognize that their music is broadcasted in the malls all over the country and ridiculize this fact makin a mall-song, one off this subliminar songs that induce you to buy like there is not another day

Slint (9/21/03):  The lyrics to this song have obviously flown right over your heads.
    I wish you well in Gardening .. :)

Bill (Blue Book, 12/5/03):  ... just dug out a Horace Silver CD from 1997 that I hadn't heard in a while, at least not since EMG came out, and it struck me that the album's title, "A Prescription For The Blues" (with it's pharmaceutical-themed cover artwork) may have influenced a line in The Last Mall.

Anaxagoras Frank (4/28/04): - I was just thinking of the sublime irony of this text, you know, the narrator/mall owner would probably make a lot of money on that Sweetheart Sunset Special - a lot of people would actually go shopping one last time, if they knew the world was going to end in a couple of hours. And whats even more hilarious: a lot of people would actually think of it as an excellent business opportunity. 


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