Duty Free is arguably the best song from
Ike Reilly's debut release,
Salesmen and Racists - a CD that found its way on to many a reviewer's Top Ten list for 2001.
Reilly has been variously likened to Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and The Clash. In Duty Free he gives reason for all three comparisons. The vocals at the beginning of the track are clearly Dylan inspired as are the lyrical phrasings - but the music is an anthem rocker that comes right out of Springsteen's catalogue. Meanwhile, the lyrical content is a virtual paraphrase of a well-known Clash tune.
While The Clash were bored with the U.S.A. and Springsteen was born in the U.S.A. - in Duty Free Reilly just wants to get outta this place. Or so he says.
Transparently, the first stanza sets this up as a lovesong - with a lover who feels that his cheating partner has committed an act that will be hard to forgive, and he must decide whether to stay, despite the hurt, or leave. This seems pretty standard fare for rock and roll, or country and western music, though it is phrased a bit obliquely.
So the first time the chorus comes around we're a bit bewildered. Duty free shops can be found in airports around the world. And I guess we've all felt the desire at one time or another to just run away from our problems. Still, it seems a bit strange.
The second verse suddenly tells us that this transparent lovesong is a horse of a different color. Corrupt politicians throwing the dog a bone, impending economic collapse, police-state tactics -- these have nothing to do with a broken relationship. The chorus suddenly shifts to an interpretation in line with The Clash. It doesn't take much ingenuity to reinterpret the first stanza to mesh with the second.
The final stanza throws things back up in the air a bit. What is this song really about? Is there one story here or two? Or is there something else we've completely overlooked?
All the while, of course, we're pumping our arms in the air from the sheer energy and rhythym, to lyrics we don't really understand - just as so many Bruce Springsteen fans thought Born In the U.S.A. was a patriotic song because all they knew was the chorus.
I gotta get out of the U S A... or so he says, but he isn't leaving. Sure it would be easier to run away and not face the problems, but he's staying. It's never said, but the implication is clear.
I haven't a lot of confidence in a couple of these lines. I've transcribed them after hundreds of listenings, but there are still a few words that have me (and the rest of my family) guessing.
Update: 3/20/02 - I now have the inside skinny on the line that caused me the most trouble. I managed to see Ike live in Madison, WI over the weekend and after the show asked him what the line was after, "The locals don't know you, they're the ones you want love from." He laughed and said, "comfort for cunts". Amid the noise of the club I couldn't understand what he'd said, so I leaned closer and said, "What?" Smiling he shouted a little louder, "comfort for cunts." Unable or unwilling to understand I asked one more time, causing Ike with a grin to practically scream, "comfort for cunts!" As you might imagine, I was a bit reticent to tell my wife and daughter I'd figured out the lyrics :)
Duty Free
There's some lines
That can't be crossed
But sometimes
Those lines get lost
Should I stay
Or should I cross?
I was crippled
when you weren't faithful I was wasted
Do you need anything from Duty Free?
I gotta get out of this endless day
Do you need anything from Duty Free?
I gotta get out of the U - S -
eh-A eh-A eh-A eh-A eh-A eh A eh-A eh-A A
eh-A eh-A eh-A eh-A eh-A eh A eh-A eh-A A
Keep givin' gifts to the trickers and treaters
Kill 'em with kindness and gifts for the needy
Brinkmen and lawyers are all drinkin' from toilets
Sit on your glasses while your money gets moist
Hide all the nuggets, you'd better hide it from trouble
Smells like the forties, like Europe in rubble
The locals don't know you, they're the ones you want love from
Comfort for cunts - let me check, yeah, I got one
Do you need anything from Duty Free?
I gotta get out of this endless day
Do you need anything from Duty Free?
I gotta get out of the U - S -
eh-A eh-A eh-A eh-A eh-A eh-A eh-A eh-A A
eh-A eh-A eh-A eh-A eh-A eh-A eh-A eh-A A
If I could, I would
Change my name
And get a girl, and
Jump a plane
I overheard them say
They wanna rearrange their faces
And blow out their brains
I was strange while I was wasted
Do you need anything from Duty Free?
I gotta get out of this endless day
Do you need anything from Duty Free?
I gotta get out of the U - S -
eh-A eh-A eh-A eh-A eh-A eh A eh-A eh-A A
eh-A eh-A eh-A eh-A eh-A eh A eh-A eh-A A
eh-A eh-A eh-A eh-A eh-A eh A eh-A eh-A A
I gotta get out of the
U
S
A