What do you think the lyrics mean?

03-18-2003, 11:10 PM

Daylight katy is a beautiful song but I'm not really sure what the song is about.
I'm not known for my intelligence, but I think it's about a cheating wife, is it?

03-18-2003, 11:10 PM

Daylight katy is a beautiful song but I'm not really sure what the song is about.
I'm not known for my intelligence, but I think it's about a cheating wife, is it?

03-19-2003, 12:47 AM

I'm not an expert on this song so my interpretation could be argued by some of the
other people who use this site.
I do NOT think Katy is a cheating wife because I think her husband is a dead sailor.
The song makes many referances to the sea, but the lyrics make the sea a dark and dismal
place instead of a tranquil and beautiful one. The lyrics also say her old man is asleep.
"If you can't follow me down,Daylight Katy come home" I think this means if your not at the bottom of the sea with me, you need to be at home. Instead she hangs out with her Highheeled friends and probably does not live a life of virtue.
I percieve it as a song about a dead sailor who's ghost still loves his wife. His spirit is crying out to her.

03-19-2003, 12:47 AM

I'm not an expert on this song so my interpretation could be argued by some of the
other people who use this site.
I do NOT think Katy is a cheating wife because I think her husband is a dead sailor.
The song makes many referances to the sea, but the lyrics make the sea a dark and dismal
place instead of a tranquil and beautiful one. The lyrics also say her old man is asleep.
"If you can't follow me down,Daylight Katy come home" I think this means if your not at the bottom of the sea with me, you need to be at home. Instead she hangs out with her Highheeled friends and probably does not live a life of virtue.
I percieve it as a song about a dead sailor who's ghost still loves his wife. His spirit is crying out to her.

Steve DeRosa · 03-19-2003, 11:15 AM

Interesting interpretation, Titan. I had it in my mind that Katy was a cheating wife or a "lady of the night".

Oma · 03-19-2003, 11:15 AM

Interesting interpretation, Titan. I had it in my mind that Katy was a cheating wife or a "lady of the night".

TheWatchman · 03-19-2003, 12:20 PM

I agree. I have always said to many peoples dislike that "Katy" is a whore. Some disagree but that's what I think.

BrightSide · 03-19-2003, 02:29 PM

Gee, I hate to bring up what might be a downer for some folks...especially those who have profound interpretations of this lovely little ditty...but I think "Daylight Katy" was probably one of Gord's many "long goodbye" songs about Cathy Evelyn Smith (later infamous for John Belushi's death). If it was written in about 1976, as I suspect, she was living with (and getting drugs for) Richard Manuel of The Band on the beach near LA.

At that time I was a much bigger fan of The Band than Gord, and I remember wondering why he was not at The Last Waltz on November 25, 1976. They had Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, and Gord's old buddy Ronnie Hawkins as nods to their roots, and Gord certainly was (and is) the Big Kahuna of Canuck singer/songwriters. It even would have fit in with his tour schedule, as posted on Wayne Francis's "Lightfoot!" site. Then I learned about Cathy Smith and that little mystery was solved. (She also was with Band drummer Levon Helm in the late 60s--before her romance with GL--and had a child with LH that she later put up for adoption.)

MaryEllen · 03-19-2003, 02:29 PM

Gee, I hate to bring up what might be a downer for some folks...especially those who have profound interpretations of this lovely little ditty...but I think "Daylight Katy" was probably one of Gord's many "long goodbye" songs about Cathy Evelyn Smith (later infamous for John Belushi's death). If it was written in about 1976, as I suspect, she was living with (and getting drugs for) Richard Manuel of The Band on the beach near LA.

At that time I was a much bigger fan of The Band than Gord, and I remember wondering why he was not at The Last Waltz on November 25, 1976. They had Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, and Gord's old buddy Ronnie Hawkins as nods to their roots, and Gord certainly was (and is) the Big Kahuna of Canuck singer/songwriters. It even would have fit in with his tour schedule, as posted on Wayne Francis's "Lightfoot!" site. Then I learned about Cathy Smith and that little mystery was solved. (She also was with Band drummer Levon Helm in the late 60s--before her romance with GL--and had a child with LH that she later put up for adoption.)

BrightSide · 03-19-2003, 02:51 PM

Titan, "If you can't follow me down" probably is a reference to the old blues song "Baby, Let Me Follow You Down"--one of Bob Dylan's favorites when he was performing with The Band (he did it twice at The Last Waltz).

"Follow you down" is a regular ol' blues euphemism--"let me be with you," in all the various permutations of what that can mean.

Also, Richard Manuel was a junkie; he would have been asleep much of the time. Tragically, he committed suicide in 1986 by hanging himself. One of the saddest stories in rock and roll.

[This message has been edited by MaryEllen (edited March 19, 2003).]

MaryEllen · 03-19-2003, 02:51 PM

Titan, "If you can't follow me down" probably is a reference to the old blues song "Baby, Let Me Follow You Down"--one of Bob Dylan's favorites when he was performing with The Band (he did it twice at The Last Waltz).

"Follow you down" is a regular ol' blues euphemism--"let me be with you," in all the various permutations of what that can mean.

Also, Richard Manuel was a junkie; he would have been asleep much of the time. Tragically, he committed suicide in 1986 by hanging himself. One of the saddest stories in rock and roll.

[This message has been edited by MaryEllen (edited March 19, 2003).]

joveski · 03-19-2003, 03:09 PM

a bit off topic, but what a great smokin' version of baby let me follwo you down Dylan did at the last waltz!

BrightSide · 03-19-2003, 03:19 PM

Oooh, yeah! The version that's in the movie is actually the reprise. Those few seconds just before Dylan starts strumming the chords--the looks on Robertson's, Danko's, and Helm's faces --"OK, where's he gonna go now?"--are worth the price of the movie by themselves. The DVD has lots of great commentary about things like that.

I no longer even mind about stuff like Neil Diamond (whom I really admire, but "a place for everything and everything in it's place!"); or all the overdubbing (that's just Robbie--gotta put a gloss on everything); or the fact that the movie is basically a paean from Scorcese to his toot buddy Robbie. I'm just grateful we've got it.

MaryEllen · 03-19-2003, 03:19 PM

Oooh, yeah! The version that's in the movie is actually the reprise. Those few seconds just before Dylan starts strumming the chords--the looks on Robertson's, Danko's, and Helm's faces --"OK, where's he gonna go now?"--are worth the price of the movie by themselves. The DVD has lots of great commentary about things like that.

I no longer even mind about stuff like Neil Diamond (whom I really admire, but "a place for everything and everything in it's place!"); or all the overdubbing (that's just Robbie--gotta put a gloss on everything); or the fact that the movie is basically a paean from Scorcese to his toot buddy Robbie. I'm just grateful we've got it.

fowlesjohn · 03-19-2003, 11:12 PM

Mary Ellen you should maybe go to list for acronyms here and tell me what you said in that comment. I don't think I am naive, but, uh-uh, what'd you say?
Watchman she was not a whore, she was perhaps a prostitute or a woman who allowed men to support her, like lady Godiva? And it does sound like it could have been Cathy Smith to me, too.
Gwen

gwen snyder · 03-19-2003, 11:12 PM

Mary Ellen you should maybe go to list for acronyms here and tell me what you said in that comment. I don't think I am naive, but, uh-uh, what'd you say?
Watchman she was not a whore, she was perhaps a prostitute or a woman who allowed men to support her, like lady Godiva? And it does sound like it could have been Cathy Smith to me, too.
Gwen

TheWatchman · 03-20-2003, 06:16 AM

It's definitely not about a pet cat like some think.lol

fowlesjohn · 03-20-2003, 09:26 AM

Watchman, you are incorrigible! But, that's why everybody loves you...sick world, huh?lol
Gwen

gwen snyder · 03-20-2003, 09:26 AM

Watchman, you are incorrigible! But, that's why everybody loves you...sick world, huh?lol
Gwen

Borderstone · 03-20-2003, 06:23 PM

I'm almost certain that I once heard it was about his daughter and her troubles with her parents divorce. Wait! I think it's in the liner notes of EW. I'll have to go home and check,I might be wrong but I'm still sure I read it somewheres (sic). Borderstone,outta here and A.B.!

BrightSide · 03-21-2003, 01:08 PM

Gwen, what acronyms? The only one I used was DVD?

I also used *initials*--GL and LH--for Gord and Levon Helm of The Band. Used LH for Levon (in the same sentence as his complete name) when mentioning the baby he (LEVON) and Cathy Smith had in the late 1960s, because I wanted to be sure everyone understood the baby was not Gord's; Smith's involvement with Levon predated her involvement with Gord. The baby was/is no secret, even though neither it nor Smith rate one mention in Levon's autobiography. When the little girl was very small, her mother put her up for adoption.

I mentioned this stuff just to make the point that Gord probably had "issues" with not just one, but two, members of The Band (and about the same woman!) that would have explained why he was not invited to be one of their guest artists at The Last Waltz.

MaryEllen · 03-21-2003, 01:08 PM

Gwen, what acronyms? The only one I used was DVD?

I also used *initials*--GL and LH--for Gord and Levon Helm of The Band. Used LH for Levon (in the same sentence as his complete name) when mentioning the baby he (LEVON) and Cathy Smith had in the late 1960s, because I wanted to be sure everyone understood the baby was not Gord's; Smith's involvement with Levon predated her involvement with Gord. The baby was/is no secret, even though neither it nor Smith rate one mention in Levon's autobiography. When the little girl was very small, her mother put her up for adoption.

I mentioned this stuff just to make the point that Gord probably had "issues" with not just one, but two, members of The Band (and about the same woman!) that would have explained why he was not invited to be one of their guest artists at The Last Waltz.

fowlesjohn · 03-22-2003, 12:25 AM

Thanks Mary Ellen, now I understand.
Gwen

gwen snyder · 03-22-2003, 12:25 AM

Thanks Mary Ellen, now I understand.
Gwen


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