# Explain this Rolling Stones lyrics **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 25, 2001, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-rolling-stones-lyrics/51653 "2001-01-25T02:09:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2001, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-rolling-stones-lyrics/51653/21 "2001-01-26T02:46:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Thief \* > \*\*What does Rod Stewart mean when he sings “…running on the end of a helicopter blade” > > That’s a lyric I’ll never figure out. \*\* Pretty straight forward stuff. Imagine being out at the end of a helicopter blade running in place, skipping from blade tip to blade tip as the rotor spins. A euphemism for “getting nowhere fast”, I would imagine. Never even heard the song myself. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Thief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cab0a1/32.png) [@The\_Thief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Thief)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2001, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-rolling-stones-lyrics/51653/22 "2001-01-26T03:11:56Z")
ooops my mistake. The lyric goes like this _Running under cover of a helicopter blade_ from the song Rhythm of My Heart. But your translation kinda made sense anyways. The cocaine goes straight to your brain if you use the left nostril…if you use the right nostril it mostly goes down your throat. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2001, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-rolling-stones-lyrics/51653/23 "2001-01-26T03:35:15Z")
We should seriously set up a lyrics analyzing thread… ---
**Author:** ![ThisYearsGirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@ThisYearsGirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisYearsGirl)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2001, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-rolling-stones-lyrics/51653/24 "2001-01-26T04:24:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dolores Claiborne \* > \*\*I always took it to mean “she was a barroom queen in Memphis” (older lady) and he was just a snot-nosed kid. “she blew my nose” just means he was a lot younger than her, “and then she blew my mind” means she may be old but she still gave real good sex… Just my WAG. > \*\* Now this is very clever–so far, I think this is my favorite interpretation. ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2001, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-rolling-stones-lyrics/51653/25 "2001-01-26T05:04:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Thief \* > \*\*…The lyric goes like this _Running under cover of a helicopter blade_ from the song Rhythm of My Heart. \*\* This would seem to indicate seeking haven in a dangerous place. Sort of like sheltering from a thunderstorm underneath a lone tall tree in the middle of field. ---
**Author:** ![ThreeLeggedBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b4bc9f/32.png) [@ThreeLeggedBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThreeLeggedBob)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2001, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-rolling-stones-lyrics/51653/26 "2001-01-27T01:04:03Z")
You’re not gong to believe this, but… In Britain, a nose is also called a “tonk”. (As in “Pete Townshend has a big tonk.”) When you blow your nose (“tonk”), it makes a “honky” sound. So a “honky tonk woman” is someone who blows her nose a lot. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2001, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-rolling-stones-lyrics/51653/27 "2001-01-27T01:13:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Nocturne \* > \*\*“Come Together” is supposedly about Timothy Leary. > \*\* Well, to quote Lennon himself: “It’s gobbledygook.‘Come Together’ was an expression that Tim Leary had come up with for (possibly running for the governorship of California against Reagan), and he asked me to write a campaign song. I tried and tried, but I couldn’t come up with one. But I came up with _this_, ‘Come Together’, which would have been no good to him…” - _Playboy Interview_, 9/80 ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2001, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-rolling-stones-lyrics/51653/28 "2001-01-27T02:49:06Z")
Before we get too involved let’s just remember that this is the same band that said they could “suck a duck”. I swear, rock and roll lyrics are often best when viewed at a distance, filmed through gauze, and played on a scratchy Victrola without that big ol’ megaphone thing. Know what I’m sayin’? ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2001, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-rolling-stones-lyrics/51653/29 "2001-01-27T07:58:26Z")
You are looking at this without a UK perspective. The singer is going through rites of passage from being a boy to being a man which in song tems means losing yor virginity. ‘She blew my nose and the she blew my mind’ is a referance to an adult making child to clean its snotty runny nose by holding the handerchief in place and saying ‘Blow into this dear’ There is a saying over here when you have to do almost everthing for someone because they are useless or incompetant, ‘Do you want me to blow your nose for you as well…’(as everything else - this last unspoken but implied) ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2001, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-rolling-stones-lyrics/51653/30 "2001-01-29T13:27:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by casdave \* > \*\*You are looking at this without a UK perspective. > > The singer is going through rites of passage from being a boy to being a man which in song tems means losing yor virginity. > > ‘She blew my nose and the she blew my mind’ is a referance to an adult making child to clean its snotty runny nose by holding the handerchief in place and saying ‘Blow into this dear’ > > There is a saying over here when you have to do almost everthing for someone because they are useless or incompetant, > ‘Do you want me to blow your nose for you as well…’(as everything else - this last unspoken but implied) > > \*\* That is not necessarily a UK interpretation. The expression is used here in the States as well… And if you look above this is my guess, too. ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2001, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-rolling-stones-lyrics/51653/31 "2001-01-29T14:48:50Z")
\<…Mick/Keef…\> Yew know man, I can’t remember but I fink I like **Delores’s** vibe. I mean, it makes sense man. Know wot I mean ? \ummm\ \ \<…Mick/Keef…\> ‘Painted Black’ – not a reference to his heart ? (Black heart, eyes are the windows, etc…??) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2001, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-rolling-stones-lyrics/51653/32 "2001-01-29T15:07:03Z")
The dude’s wasted, man. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/explain-this-rolling-stones-lyrics/51653.md?page=1)