That’s a song by Traffic. Can anyone explain exactly WHAT the Low Spark Of High-Heeled Boys is?
According to this site, also a good source of the lyrics in question, Jim Capaldi has said…
(The Pollard in the reference is actor Michael J. Pollard. They were in Morocco trying to make a movie that never actually got made.)
I always thought of it as a free-association sort of flow, and relaxed and enjoyed it as such. Though I have to admit, the lyrics
are seriously haunting.
Great song.
A very good friend of mine, who is something of a genius type flower child but without good hygiene, is convinced that if someone can actually find a coherent meaning in the lines,
“But this morning you read
that the man was shot dead
by a gun that didn’t make any noise
But it wasn’t the bullet that laid him to rest
'twas the low spark of high heeled boys.”
that person will have attained true and lasting enlightenment.
No, he hasn’t figured it out yet either.
I’d had that album in varous media for almost 30 years and it still sounds great, especially the referenced song. I have aways interpreted the “low spark” to be about creativity and the marshalling of the creative process.
Maybe he just got run over by Traffic.
I’ve always interpreted “low spark” as a current occurring south of the border - that is, in one’s general crotchal area. “low spark” = sexual magnetism.
As far as the “gun that didn’t make any noise”, well, I refer you again to the contents of your y-fronts. Of course, I have no idea what the whole passage means.
Makes sense to me…shrug
[Kung Fu voice] Now, Grasshopper, when you can snatch the thread from my computer, you too will achieve perfect mastery as only a perfect master can… [/Kung Fu voice]
Why does it have to mean anything? There no law requiring lyrics to have a meaning. Some are deliberatly written to be evocative, not literal.
It’s amazing how many people can’t seem to understand this.
True enough - just reflect for a minute on the disjointed couplets Hendrix scattered through a lot of his tunes.
So? Just because the artist didn’t have an intended meaning doesn’t mean that there’s nothing to be gained by discussing what meaning (if any) we, as an audience, find for ourselves. Besides, how else can we discuss music we like, especially in an entirely visual medium? Endless lists of “Music I like” and “Music I think sucks” are tedious and usually lack any real discussion of the material. Focusing on trying to divine some meaning from the lyrics at least gives the discussion a shape and focus, even if the conclusions are immaterial.
As to my take on the meaning, I’m with Purd Wurfect on the sexual reading. “High-heeled boys” sounds like transexuals or transvestites, and it sounds like the sex was ultimatly fatal for the protagonist. I smell an AIDS metaphor here.
Well, the song was written well before anyone had heard of AIDS, but a lot of us big-hair Rock’n’Rollers were wearing platform shoes at the time. FWIW.
What’s your point? I don’t understand.
Given the quotation from Jim Capaldi about how “The Low
Spark of High Heeled Boys” meant to him cool dudes who were living the street life, I take the other lyrics
“But this morning you read
that the man was shot dead
by a gun that didn’t make any noise
But it wasn’t the bullet that laid him to rest
'twas the low spark of high heeled boys.”
to mean that although one of these dudes was shot to death, the underlying cause was living that kind of life on the edge.
Doesn’t really even have to mean a gun - just general live fast, die young, leave a good-looking corpse would fit.
*Originally posted by MrVisible *
Though I have to admit, the lyrics
are seriously haunting. Great song.
Personally, the haunting part for me is what follows:
I third the theory put forth by Purd Werfect–I always thought it had to do with sexuality/transvestitism, as well. And the whole image fit well when sung in Steve Winwood’s high-and-delicate-yet-masculine voice.
I mean, think about, say, Springsteen singing that song. Doesn’t work, does it? 
I always took the song as a youth-rebel-counter-culture vs The Establishment kind of a song.
For example, the “…man was shot dead…” verse I saw as metaphor that the cruel, uncaring powers-that-be wouldn’t ever be toppled by violence or force, but by peace 'n love 'n understanding, a gun without noise.
It is the same thing with the “If I gave you everything that I owned…” verse. I saw it as a challenge to government and the powers that, if we the people would make such a sacrifice, would the government trust the people, or just take them for a ride.
That’s my take on the song 
Funny, I never cared what the lyrics to this song meant, and I’ve been singing it for nearly 30 years!
In fact, it wouldn’t matter to me if it was sung in a language unknown to me - I’d love it anyway! It’s the music, the tune, the tone, the rhythm that hooked me.
It is one of my all-time favorite songs.
No, I never got the trannie thing out of this tune. Not that y’all are wrong. Or right.
I think Michele in SoCal is on to a lot of its appeal - it’s the music, man! To (glibly) paraphrase Frank Zappa, it’s not what was written into it, but more so what you get out of it.
Nevertheless, as major theme, I think the rebellion/live fast is what drives it. Androgony was big back then, and this tune never hooked up with that.
Wow I wasn’t even around then and I guarantee you I got the real meaning of the song. Low spark… high heeled boys… 60’s and 70’s long haired hippy rock stars wore high heels and when you spark a joint at a concert or anywhere for that matter do you not hold it low? Like when he speaks of a star shooting up from the ground at a concert when the guitars are playing and your head is spinning? And the rest is yes him letting that music loving artist in him put the business man in him or working for him to death because he didn’t sell out and compromise to corporate pressure and greed. Here endith your lesson in music meaning recognition 101:)
a deeper reality~