Desolation Row
Craig Cardiff Lyrics

They're selling postcards of the Hanging, they're painting the passports brown
The government is corrupt and celebrating the deaths of people. They also use unethical methods to identify citizens' identities.

The beauty parlor is filled with sailors, the circus is in town
Desolation Row is a place of chaos and absurdity with unpredictable visitors.

Here comes the blind commissioner, they've got him in a trance One hand is tied to the tight-rope walker, the other is in his pants And the riot squad they're restless, they need somewhere to go
The authorities are so confused that they don't know where they're going or what they're doing.

As Lady and I look out tonight, from Desolation Row
The singer is observing these strange events from the depressing location of Desolation Row.

Cinderella, she seems so easy, "It takes one to know one, " she smiles And puts her hands in her back pockets Bette Davis style And in comes Romeo, he's moaning. "You Belong to Me I Believe" And someone says, "You're in the wrong place, my friend, you'd better leave" And the only sound that's left after the ambulances go Is Cinderella sweeping up on Desolation Row
These characters on Desolation Row are lost and broken, trying to find meaning in their hopeless lives. Their hopes and aspirations are crushed, and they are left sweeping up the broken pieces of their lives.

Now the moon is almost hidden, the stars are beginning to hide The fortune telling lady has even taken all her things inside All except for Cain and Abel and the hunchback of Notre Dame Everybody is making love or else expecting rain And the Good Samaritan, he's dressing, he's getting ready for the show He's going to the carnival tonight on Desolation Row
Desolation Row is a chaotic place where all kinds of people gather to pass their time. There is a mix of pleasure-seekers and those avoiding the oncoming rain while preparing to enjoy the carnival.

Ophelia, she's 'neath the window for her I feel so afraid On her twenty-second birthday she already is an old maid To her, death is quite romantic she wears an iron vest Her profession's her religion, her sin is her lifelessness And though her eyes are fixed upon Noah's great rainbow She spends her time peeking into Desolation Row
Desolation Row is a place of broken dreams where people arrive and leave, never finding the solution to their problems. The singer is afraid for Ophelia and empathizes with her vulnerabilities.

Einstein, disguised as Robin Hood with his memories in a trunk Passed this way an hour ago with his friend, a jealous monk Now he looked so immaculately frightful as he bummed a cigarette And he when off sniffing drainpipes and reciting the alphabet You would not think to look at him, but he was famous long ago For playing the electric violin on Desolation Row
Famous people from the past wander around Desolation Row, trying to make sense of their existence in the present. Einstein is disguised but instantly recognizable and famous for his past achievements, but his present life is lonely, wandering, and aimless.

Dr. Filth, he keeps his world inside of a leather cup But all his sexless patients, they're trying to blow it up Now his nurse, some local loser, she's in charge of the cyanide hole And she also keeps the cards that read, "Have Mercy on His Soul" They all play on the penny whistles, you can hear them blow If you lean your head out far enough from Desolation Row
Dr. Filth is a metaphor for greed and power, with his world of wealth and status enclosed in a leather cup. His patients are repressed by his greed, and in the end, their desperation leads to their downfall.

Across the street they've nailed the Curtains, they're getting ready for the feast The Phantom of the Opera in a perfect image of a priest They are spoon feeding Casanova to get him to feel more assured Then they'll kill him with Self-confidence after poisoning him with words And the Phantom's shouting to skinny Girls, "Get outta here if you don't know" Casanova is just being punished for going to Desolation Row"
Desolation Row is a place of corrupt power struggles where Casanova is being punished for his love affairs. The Phantom of the Opera represents the hypocrisy of those in power, preparing to poison Casanova with their false assurance.

At midnight all the agents and the superhuman crew Come out and round up everyone that knows more than they do Then they bring them to the factory where the heart-attack machine Is strapped across their shoulders and then the kerosene Is brought down from the castles by insurance men who go Check to see that nobody is escaping to Desolation Row
Desolation Row is a place of oppression where the powerful fear those who have knowledge or insight. The heart-attack machine and kerosene are symbols of the oppression and control of the ruling class.

Praise be to Nero's Neptune, the Titanic sails at dawn Everybody's shouting, "Which side are you on?!" And Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot fighting in the captain's tower While calypso singers laugh at them and fishermen hold flowers Between the windows of the sea where lovely mermaids flow And nobody has to think too much about Desolation Row
The last line of this song is like an invocation to all those who will end up at the bottom of the social pile, doomed to inhabit the gloomy Desolation Row, where chaos rules and the powerful oppress the powerless, the sailors drink and the only hope is lost amidst confusion and despair.

Yes, I received your letter Yesterday, about the time the doorknob broke When you asked me how I was doing, was that some kind of joke All these people that you mention, Yes, I know them, they're quite lame I had to rearrange their faces and give them all another name Right now, I can't read too good, don't send me no more letters no Not unless you mail them from Desolation Row
The singer is revealing how people outside of Desolation Row just don't understand the meaning of his experiences. They ask superficial questions and ignore the depth of his pain, reducing the characters he sees to simplistic stereotypes.