Let Me Be Your Rider Now

This week's Take This Tune is the delightfully double entendre verses of "Red Staggerwing".  Confession time. I love songs filled with double meanings and sly innuendos simply because I love word play.   Let's face it, even Shakespeare dabbled in hints of goings on.  It doesn't matter if it is Bewitched Bothered and Bewildered with the original lyrics rather than the cleaned up variety or this weeks' decidedly R rated song courtesy of Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris.  What can I say except:

Red Staggerwing immediately reminded me of the ex-husband who played guitar and built model airplanes from scratch (no kits).  So I bought him a 12 string and then I designed a plane for him to build.  It was called "The Peregrin" named after the fastest of the hunting birds.  It was bright red and it's wings tapered back similar to a jet aircraft, so our "taperwing" was a scarlet woman from the get to.   It was simply the fastest control line stunt plane ever flown.  Unfortunately, it's design was not meant to do acrobatic stunts at those speeds and it eventually developed stress cracks where the wings joined the body and could no longer fly.  But it was beautiful.  Like the marriage it had it's moments as when he would play Steamroller Blues (another somewhat raunchy song).     When it was bad .... it cracked under stress.

So down below are all the fast and beautiful things that fly, roar, and sing as metaphors for when it's good it's very, very good.



If i was staggerwing plane
A staggerwing painted red
I'd fly over to your house, baby
Buzz you in your bed

If I was a taperwing
A taperwing painted blue
I'd be barrell-rolling over you

If i was a Maserati

A red 300s

I'd ride around to your house, baby

Give you a driving test

If i was a mustang racer

White with a stripe of blue]

You could ride me,baby

Whenever you wanted to

If i was a fender guitar

A fender painted red

You could play me, darlin'

Until your fingers bled

If i was one of them gibsons

Like a '58 or '9

You could plug me in

And play me anytime

If i was a motorcycle

A vincent red rapide

I'd ride around to your house, baby

Get you up to speed

If i was short track racer
I'd be an indian
You could ride me around
And ride me round again

You're gonna need a rider anyhow

Let me be your rider now

Now go have fun.