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URL ??? :-*
Hi, Can anyone tell me the meaning of the lyrics written by Bruce Springsteen and sung by Manfred Manns's Earth Band.  The song is "Blinded by the light."  I can sort of figure out what some of it means but can't really be sure.
If anyone out there knows, I'd appreciate a reply. Thanks
                                                                    Laura
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You think you have figured this song out?  There are entire WEB SITES devoted to this song and they can not seem to agree on the lyrics, let alone their meaning.

What exactly is the meaning of "Little Early Pealy gave my anus curly-wurly" anyway?

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What exactly is the meaning of "Little Early Pealy gave my anus curly-wurly" anyway?
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eh eh, those arent the lyrics...theyre "Little Early Pearly came by in his curly-wurly"...learned that one the hard way...

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eh eh, those arent the lyrics...theyre "Little Early Pearly came by in his curly-wurly"...learned that one the hard way...
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OK then.  What does the "Little Early Pearly came by in his curly-wurly" lyric mean?  What the heck is a curly-wurly anyway (I assume it is something you ride in as opposed to something one has done to one's anus).  :P

If Laurinstr has truly figured out the true meaning of the lyrics to this song, she is either:

1.  A Genius without compare

2.  Sick minded

3.  Way Cool

Heh heh...

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OK then.  What does the "Little Early Pearly came by in his curly-wurly" lyric mean?  What the heck is a curly-wurly anyway (I assume it is something you ride in as opposed to something one has done to one's anus).  :P

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I have no clue what Springsteen meant by the lyrics,  but this is one of the few lines I've always thought might be pretty straight forward, (if it means anything, at all) so I can tell you what I think it means.

This line sets a scene and  introduces a character who stands in sharp contrast to the narrator and in the process, we learn a little more about the narrator.  

"Little early pearly" is an annoyingly perky morning person.  You know the type, up at the crack of dawn, all chatter and smiles, makes too much noise for the rest of us.... when you haven't slept, regardless of *why* you haven't slept, this is the last person on the planet you want to encounter, much less be trapped in a car with.

Dissection:  

"little" -- just a typical snide jab ("I'm really going to miss Netscape, but at least little Billy Gates won't go hungry this winter.")

"early" -- tells us it's morning and that the end of the narrator's evening has overlapped with the beginning of someone else's day.  

"Pearly" shortened slang for "flashing his/her pearly whites" or smiling.  Implies that the guy is in a good mood -- perky, chipper.  


"came by in his curly whirly" --  I haven't heard anyone use it since I was a kid, but "curly whirly" is/was slang for a curly hairstyle or a curly wig -- I associate the term with old-lady hair and toupees in the style of a Brady Bunch fro.  "In" is commonly used to mean "wearing," ("She raised eyebrows by attending the formal function in jeans and a sweatshirt") so I've always assumed this meant that the guy was wearing his curly toupee... in contrast to the narrator who is too young to need a toupee and whose hair (and whole self) is likely unkempt after a long night out.  That he's wearing a toupee tells us that this character is male  *and* given that the characters in the song are carnies, we can safely assume it's a very cheap toupee -- a cheap curly toupee would probably  seem even more ridiculous and annoying than usual to the narrator, at this particular moment in his time.  

"and asked me if I needed a ride" -- means exactly what it says and tells you the narrator is walking.  He's a young carnie,  he and his peers at the carnival are unlikely to own vehicles, so we know that this character is higher up the carnie food-chain than our narrator... given that he's vain enough to wear a toupee, it's unlikely he's a driver/rigger -- so he's probably the owner or manager... this kid's boss.  Double whammy -- he's perky AND he's the boss.

Thus:  The narrator is stumbling back to his place, hasn't been to bed yet, looks like hell and his hangover and/or crash is probably just setting in.  The boss, the last person he's in the mood to see, drives up (probably beeps his horn.)  The boss is all fresh and chipper and he's wearing that ridiculous toupee of his, of course.  He offers our guy a ride.  On the one hand, our guy's done in and would love a ride.  On the other hand, our guy can think of nothing less pleasant than getting into that car and having to pretend to enjoy listening to his annoyingly perky boss prattle on about nothing.  

Note:  I'm probably wrong.  

Quoting:
Um..... like most stuff by Dylan, the Boss was just trying to make the words rhyme.... ;D
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Thanks for giving it a try.

Quoting:


I have no clue what Springsteen meant by the lyrics,  but this is one of the few lines I've always thought might be pretty straight forward, (if it means anything, at all) so I can tell you what I think it means.

This line sets a scene and  introduces a character who stands in sharp contrast to the narrator and in the process, we learn a little more about the narrator.  

"Little early pearly" is an annoyingly perky morning person.  You know the type, up at the crack of dawn, all chatter and smiles, makes too much noise for the rest of us.... when you haven't slept, regardless of *why* you haven't slept, this is the last person on the planet you want to encounter, much less be trapped in a car with.

Dissection:  

"little" -- just a typical snide jab ("I'm really going to miss Netscape, but at least little Billy Gates won't go hungry this winter.")

"early" -- tells us it's morning and that the end of the narrator's evening has overlapped with the beginning of someone else's day.  

"Pearly" shortened slang for "flashing his/her pearly whites" or smiling.  Implies that the guy is in a good mood -- perky, chipper.  


"came by in his curly whirly" --  I haven't heard anyone use it since I was a kid, but "curly whirly" is/was slang for a curly hairstyle or a curly wig -- I associate the term with old-lady hair and toupees in the style of a Brady Bunch fro.  "In" is commonly used to mean "wearing," ("She raised eyebrows by attending the formal function in jeans and a sweatshirt") so I've always assumed this meant that the guy was wearing his curly toupee... in contrast to the narrator who is too young to need a toupee and whose hair (and whole self) is likely unkempt after a long night out.  That he's wearing a toupee tells us that this character is male  *and* given that the characters in the song are carnies, we can safely assume it's a very cheap toupee -- a cheap curly toupee would probably  seem even more ridiculous and annoying than usual to the narrator, at this particular moment in his time.  

"and asked me if I needed a ride" -- means exactly what it says and tells you the narrator is walking.  He's a young carnie,  he and his peers at the carnival are unlikely to own vehicles, so we know that this character is higher up the carnie food-chain than our narrator... given that he's vain enough to wear a toupee, it's unlikely he's a driver/rigger -- so he's probably the owner or manager... this kid's boss.  Double whammy -- he's perky AND he's the boss.

Thus:  The narrator is stumbling back to his place, hasn't been to bed yet, looks like hell and his hangover and/or crash is probably just setting in.  The boss, the last person he's in the mood to see, drives up (probably beeps his horn.)  The boss is all fresh and chipper and he's wearing that ridiculous toupee of his, of course.  He offers our guy a ride.  On the one hand, our guy's done in and would love a ride.  On the other hand, our guy can think of nothing less pleasant than getting into that car and having to pretend to enjoy listening to his annoyingly perky boss prattle on about nothing.  

Note:  I'm probably wrong.  


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