Originally coming to fame in the mid-1960s singing orchestral pop ballads as the frontman of The Walker Brothers, Walker went on to a solo career balancing a light entertainment/MOR ballad approach with increasing artistic innovations in arrangement and writing. Despite a series of acclaimed albums, a disastrous drop in sales forced him back into straight Middle of the road recordings with little of his own artistic input. This in turn eventually led to a Walker Brothers reunion in the mid-1970s (although the latter eventually moved, by mutual consent, into more avant-garde areas).
From the mid-1980s, Walker revived his solo career while drastically reinventing his artistic and compositional methods, via a series of acclaimed and vividly avant-garde albums. These combined his iconic voice with an unsettling avant-garde approach which owed more to modernist and post-modernist classical composition than to his pop singer past. This change in approach has been compared to "Andy Williams reinventing himself as Stockhausen".
Walker has been a continuing influence on other artists, in particular The Last Shadow Puppets, Marc Almond, Goldfrapp, Douglas Pearce of the band Death in June, Billy MacKenzie of The Associates, David Sylvian, Julian Cope, Antony Hegarty, Thom Yorke, Steven Wilson, David Bowie, Leonard Cohen, Trey Spruance, Perry Blake, Radiohead, Noah Lennox, Mikael Åkerfeldt, and the Divine Comedy/Neil Hannon.
Walker continued to release solo material until his death, and was signed to 4AD Records. As a record producer or guest performer he worked with a number of artists including Pulp, Ute Lemper, Bat For Lashes and Sunn O))).
Bolivia '95
Scott Walker Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Give me a
See
For this
Babaloo
opiate me
With that key doctor
Please
Don't you laugh doc
Manos arriba bien
With springs tickling
Less than two feet
From your chin
Lemon Bloody Cola
Lemon Bloody Cola
Lemon Bloody Cola
gonna sponge you down
Gonna sponge you down
Save the crops and the bodies
From illness
From pestilence hunger and war
I journey each night like a Saint
To stand on this straw floor
Our uniforms are loose
They look flimsy
Night black shadows
Under the peaks of our caps
Shaved up to Augost
I still hear them singing
babaloo
Babaloo
Lemon Bloody Cola
Lemon Bloody Cola
Lemon Bloody Cola
gonna sponge you down
Gonna sponge you down
Hey you
Hey you
This isn't through
Opiate me
Just for
Me
With my
Babaloo
please don't you laugh?
Manos arriba bien
again and again
Again and again
Lemon Bloody Cola
Lemon Bloody Cola
Lemon Bloody Cola
gonna sponge you down
Gonna sponge you down
I journey tonight I'm a saint
To stand on this straw floor
The tiles speckling
Darker and darker
Around my feet
The lyrics to Scott Walker's song Bolivia are cryptic and mysterious, making it open to various interpretations. The song starts with a request from the singer to a doctor to provide him with an opiate to calm him down, and he repeatedly mentions the word "Babaloo," which could be a reference to an incantation or a magical charm. The lyrics then move on to describe the singer's experiences during his travels, where he bats against disease and starvation, and tries to save bodies and crops. The lines "I journey each night like a saint to stand on this straw floor" show that the singer is trying to help people and make a difference in their lives. The song ends with the words "The tiles speckling, darker and darker around my feet," which could refer to the singer's feelings of despair and the bleakness of his situation.
Line by Line Meaning
Doctorie
Asking for a doctor
Give me a
Requesting a solution to the problem
See
Saying that they are aware of the problem
For this
For the current issue at hand
Babaloo
A nonsense phrase
Opiate me
Asking for medication to alleviate the issue
With that key doctor
Requesting for the doctor to provide the appropriate treatment
Please
Requesting in a polite manner
Don't you laugh doc
Asking the doctor not to laugh at the situation
Manos arriba bien
Spanish for 'hands in the air, good'
With springs tickling
Suggesting discomfort and unease
Less than two feet
A measurement of distance
From your chin
Referring to the proximity to the body
Lemon Bloody Cola
A meaningless and absurd phrase
Gonna sponge you down
Referring to a medical treatment or cleaning process
Save the crops and the bodies
A plea to preserve and protect the people and their livelihood
From illness
To avoid harm to the health of the people
From pestilence hunger and war
To avoid harm from various causes of destruction and conflict
I journey each night like a Saint
Comparing oneself to a holy person on a mission
To stand on this straw floor
Referring to a particular location or situation
Our uniforms are loose
Describing the artist's attire
They look flimsy
Suggesting that the uniforms are inadequate
Night black shadows
Describing a dark image
Under the peaks of our caps
Referring to a specific clothing item
Shaved up to Augost
Referring to a specific time period or event
I still hear them singing
Referring to a sound or memory
Hey you
Calling attention to someone
This isn't through
The situation is not yet over
Me
The artist referring to themself
Again and again
Repetition of an action or event
The tiles speckling
Describing the appearance of the flooring
Darker and darker
Describing a change in lighting
Around my feet
Referring to the artist's location
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind