My interpretation of "Daddy when you gonna put me in a song?"

[HolyCow]

Obviously Alligator Pie is about New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina. We get that. But I've heard a lot of people complain about the "Stella said, 'Daddy when you gonna put me in a song?'" line. They say it's out of place and doesn't mean anything. I disagree.

Here's what I think:

Stella could be a metaphor for New Orleans itself. Obviously she is a character living in New Orleans, but the way I hear it, she could potentially represent the city itself. Let's go to the video evidence:

"Floating in the lower nine
Waiting for a boat to throw me a line
See my Stella smile
Sitting on the roof eating alligator pie
First day the water rise
Second day the sun is high
Third day Stella cried cause night times dark as a dead man's eye's"

Obviously that might be a stretch there. But Stella could be New Orleans because that's a situation just about every soul in NOLA was in. But Stella (New Orleans) did cry when this happened.

But this stanza seals it for me:

"Remember how I feel in those days of the summertime
Then Stella smiled, she said
Stella said daddy when you gonna put me in a song?"

It's remember how NOLA used to feel. And then Stellas asks when she's going to be in a song. So I interpret that line to say "Hey world, when are you going to hear New Orleans' song? Don't forget about us down here and what happened. Keep singing our song and don't forget us.

So it's like New Orleans asking Dave to put the city and its trials post-Katrina in a song, not Stella. But at the same time, he got his shoutout to his daughter.

Does that make sense at all?

[pathetic]

nice diggin . stella prob said that to dave and this clicked in his mind

[zajDmB1]

Originally Posted by pathetic

nice diggin . stella prob said that to dave and this clicked in his mind

SHe did, he has said in interviews.

But I also agree with the OP, it's what I've thought the whole time. Works as a synecdoche of sorts. Not sure if it technically is, but one girl standing for the whole city..makes sense.

[kgs305]

Yeah he basically said this.

[HolyCow]

Wow that's it? No more discussion on this?

[inmytree]

I think that's a really great reading of it, and not too far a stretch at all. I'd always heard it being a comparison for Dave between the innocence/ignorance of a child against the very real concerns the adult has about the rising water. It's certainly as if Dave made himself a character in NOLA, and actually put himself and his daughter on a rooftop in the Lower Ninth (in his imagination at least). While the adult (Dave) is fretting about the hurricane storms, wondering where the hell the Coast Guard is, wondering why everyone has abandoned him, the daughter, not realizing the horror of the situation, has her mind on more trivial matters. Maybe it's meant to be taking literally; maybe the character is a NOLA musician.

The line "Third day Stella cries, cause nighttime's dark as a dead man's eye" also points to this. Stella is crying at the nighttime; she doesn't like it because it's dark outside. However, the adult draws the comparison; he's probably more concerned with the dead body floating by his house, the body of a neighbor.

I also really like the line "need a dance hall to get y'all down here." It has a very interesting double meaning. On one hand, Dave could simply be saying that they need to get the good times going again in NOLA, with the 'dance hall' representing the vibrant music community that was once there, is still there (albeit damaged) and could be there again. However, it could be accusatory as well. Pretty much these days the only reason people think of NOLA is for the dance halls. People go to Mardi Gras and Jazzfest for the music and the parties and don't think about the horror and difficulty that still is present outside the Quarter. Maybe Dave is trying to put those people on edge, saying that the fact that the city needs help apparently isn't enough.

[SeaneeRo66]

I agree with the OP. Before reading this, I was thinking that it represented a loss of innocence - a child just being concerned with being in song without realizing all the devastation around her and how that's life in New Orleans. But, I like the comparison of Stella to New Orleans. I think that makes more sense.

[HolyCow]

Originally Posted by inmytree

I think that's a really great reading of it, and not too far a stretch at all. I'd always heard it being a comparison for Dave between the innocence/ignorance of a child against the very real concerns the adult has about the rising water. It's certainly as if Dave made himself a character in NOLA, and actually put himself and his daughter on a rooftop in the Lower Ninth (in his imagination at least). While the adult (Dave) is fretting about the hurricane storms, wondering where the hell the Coast Guard is, wondering why everyone has abandoned him, the daughter, not realizing the horror of the situation, has her mind on more trivial matters. Maybe it's meant to be taking literally; maybe the character is a NOLA musician.

The line "Third day Stella cries, cause nighttime's dark as a dead man's eye" also points to this. Stella is crying at the nighttime; she doesn't like it because it's dark outside. However, the adult draws the comparison; he's probably more concerned with the dead body floating by his house, the body of a neighbor.

I also really like the line "need a dance hall to get y'all down here." It has a very interesting double meaning. On one hand, Dave could simply be saying that they need to get the good times going again in NOLA, with the 'dance hall' representing the vibrant music community that was once there, is still there (albeit damaged) and could be there again. However, it could be accusatory as well. Pretty much these days the only reason people think of NOLA is for the dance halls. People go to Mardi Gras and Jazzfest for the music and the parties and don't think about the horror and difficulty that still is present outside the Quarter. Maybe Dave is trying to put those people on edge, saying that the fact that the city needs help apparently isn't enough.

Excellent, excellent take.

I really think this is one of Dave's strongest lyrical efforts.

[Kyvek]

Here's my two cents...

So, the word "grace" is in like 13 songs so far. Stella keeps hearing her sister's name, and gets pissed. Yells at pops, and he says "sure I'll put you in a song." Here comes Alligator Pie..."Stella said blah blah..." BUT in the chorus, Dave says "grace" over and over again! "When will grace return?" like when can I stop singing about Stella and start writing about grace again?

[jamesscherer]

great thread! I agree with the OP alot. I read something about this earlier from someone else and it was a very similar take. These ideas are not fully my own, I stole them from someone else on the board previously a little but check these metaphors. There is the line "the corner store and market, where Stella used to sing to me." Singing represents the good days of the city, and Stella is asking "Daddy when you gonna put me in a song?" I think in the song it is meant that Stella is asking daddy when am I going to get to sing again. In the stage that is the world, Stella (NOLA) used to sing loud and proud (used to boom with success). Now after the flood, Stella (NOLA) is thinking "daddy (god) when will you let me sing again? (be prosperous like we used to be)".

In closing, to me the line "daddy when you gonna put me in a song" is a metaphor for the city of New Orleans pleaing to god for things to be good again.

[tpw08913]

Originally Posted by HolyCow

"Remember how I feel in those days of the summertime
Then Stella smiled, she said
Stella said daddy when you gonna put me in a song?"

Remember how it feels, lazy days in the summertime.
My stella smiles

But nice interpretation

[aoeiifreak]

I wish this interpretation were true, but honestly I think it's Dave trying to insert his other daughter's name into a song. Alligator Pie is still one of my least favorite tracks.

[HolyCow]

Originally Posted by tpw08913

Remember how it feels, lazy days in the summertime.
My stella smiles

But nice interpretation

I just Googled the lyrics and that's what they were on the site I found.

Originally Posted by aoeiifreak

I wish this interpretation were true, but honestly I think it's Dave trying to insert his other daughter's name into a song. Alligator Pie is still one of my least favorite tracks.

I really don't think so at all. I think Dave wanted to put Stella in a song and he found a perfect way to do it. The song is strong lyrically with a deep message throughout. I don't think he'd intentionally divert from that just so he could shoutout to Stella. I think it had purpose and I think it's a pretty brilliant metaphor and really good songwriting.

[lowis5]

It could also be related to A Streetcar Named Desire. There's an annual gathering in NOLA where they have a 'yelling/acting' contest where actors cry out 'Stella!', maybe Dave heard about this or witnessed it and then clicked in Dave's mind which prompted a song about NOLA references and a Stella line in the same song?

[Right Side Up]

Originally Posted by inmytree

I think that's a really great reading of it, and not too far a stretch at all. I'd always heard it being a comparison for Dave between the innocence/ignorance of a child against the very real concerns the adult has about the rising water. It's certainly as if Dave made himself a character in NOLA, and actually put himself and his daughter on a rooftop in the Lower Ninth (in his imagination at least). While the adult (Dave) is fretting about the hurricane storms, wondering where the hell the Coast Guard is, wondering why everyone has abandoned him, the daughter, not realizing the horror of the situation, has her mind on more trivial matters. Maybe it's meant to be taking literally; maybe the character is a NOLA musician.

The line "Third day Stella cries, cause nighttime's dark as a dead man's eye" also points to this. Stella is crying at the nighttime; she doesn't like it because it's dark outside. However, the adult draws the comparison; he's probably more concerned with the dead body floating by his house, the body of a neighbor.

I also really like the line "need a dance hall to get y'all down here." It has a very interesting double meaning. On one hand, Dave could simply be saying that they need to get the good times going again in NOLA, with the 'dance hall' representing the vibrant music community that was once there, is still there (albeit damaged) and could be there again. However, it could be accusatory as well. Pretty much these days the only reason people think of NOLA is for the dance halls. People go to Mardi Gras and Jazzfest for the music and the parties and don't think about the horror and difficulty that still is present outside the Quarter. Maybe Dave is trying to put those people on edge, saying that the fact that the city needs help apparently isn't enough.

This has been my take as well.

That said, good idea by the OP as well.

[pathetic]

Originally Posted by Kyvek

Here's my two cents...

So, the word "grace" is in like 13 songs so far. Stella keeps hearing her sister's name, and gets pissed. Yells at pops, and he says "sure I'll put you in a song." Here comes Alligator Pie..."Stella said blah blah..." BUT in the chorus, Dave says "grace" over and over again! "When will grace return?" like when can I stop singing about Stella and start writing about grace again?

Stella FAIL

[spoot388]

there is no other reason why Dave says Stella in AP than because she wanted to be in a song. yes he found a great way to do it, but it has no metaphorical meaning for anything. its simply his daughter asked him when he was going to write a song about her, and he used exactly what she said. you people try to find a reason for EVERYTHING dont you?

[inmytree]

Originally Posted by spoot388

there is no other reason why Dave says Stella in AP than because she wanted to be in a song. yes he found a great way to do it, but it has no metaphorical meaning for anything. its simply his daughter asked him when he was going to write a song about her, and he used exactly what she said. you people try to find a reason for EVERYTHING dont you?

Um, there's been quite a few really logical interpretations here. How do you know that this is simply the answer? Songwriters all the time hear things in real life that make sense to them and they incorporate it in the song they are writing.

[pankfish]

Stella gave him the line, Dave built an awesome song around it. I don't understand why people hold that against the song. I agree with the earlier posters. Stella, the girl on the rooftop not the girl in Dave's living room, is asking her dad to tell her story.

[jamesscherer]

Originally Posted by spoot388

there is no other reason why Dave says Stella in AP than because she wanted to be in a song. yes he found a great way to do it, but it has no metaphorical meaning for anything. its simply his daughter asked him when he was going to write a song about her, and he used exactly what she said. you people try to find a reason for EVERYTHING dont you?

isnt there a reason for everything? or is that cliche false? If the line was really only about his daughter I doubt he would have thrown it into a song about NOLA. For a line that is about his actual daughter, see You and Me.

[marchingmonkey]

Originally Posted by jamesscherer

isnt there a reason for everything? or is that cliche false? If the line was really only about his daughter I doubt he would have thrown it into a song about NOLA. For a line that is about his actual daughter, see You and Me.

Boom.

Also, isn't that kind of the point? A piece of art can have different meanings for everyone interpreting it...that's what's so great about it!

Much love for AP. Very nice thread OP!

[spoot388]

Originally Posted by inmytree

Um, there's been quite a few really logical interpretations here. How do you know that this is simply the answer? Songwriters all the time hear things in real life that make sense to them and they incorporate it in the song they are writing.

Originally Posted by jamesscherer

isnt there a reason for everything? or is that cliche false? If the line was really only about his daughter I doubt he would have thrown it into a song about NOLA. For a line that is about his actual daughter, see You and Me.

how about the fact that Dave himself said several times that he was playing around with the guitar riff for AP and Stella came up to him and said to him "Daddy, when are you going to put ME in a song?" he said he kept what she said in mind and worked in into the song. theres no metaphor, theres no double or hidden meaning to it. he is directly quoting his daughter. thats it.

[Panther41]

I agree with the OP. This has been my interpretation for awhile now. "Don't forget about us" is pretty much the key theme.

[cottlerocket]

Good interpretation. I like to think that many of the songs written by Dave go much deeper than just what is on the surface. I don't think your interpretation is a stretch at all. I can almost garauntee if this theory got to Dave he would completely agree or atleast see the connection.

[pankfish]

Originally Posted by spoot388

how about the fact that Dave himself said several times that he was playing around with the guitar riff for AP and Stella came up to him and said to him "Daddy, when are you going to put ME in a song?" he said he kept what she said in mind and worked in into the song. theres no metaphor, theres no double or hidden meaning to it. he is directly quoting his daughter. thats it.

He did get the line from his daughter. We all know that. He then wrote the rest of the song and that line took on a meaning.

He isn't saying "blah blah blah katrina. Oh, btw you guys, my daughter stella asked me when I was going to put her in a song. LOLOLolol."

[HolyCow]

Originally Posted by pankfish

He did get the line from his daughter. We all know that. He then wrote the rest of the song and that line took on a meaning.

He isn't saying "blah blah blah katrina. Oh, btw you guys, my daughter stella asked me when I was going to put her in a song. LOLOLolol."

[aoeiifreak]

Originally Posted by pankfish

He did get the line from his daughter. We all know that. He then wrote the rest of the song and that line took on a meaning.

He isn't saying "blah blah blah katrina. Oh, btw you guys, my daughter stella asked me when I was going to put her in a song. LOLOLolol."

I think you guys are poisoning my mind. Though I would like to believe it's not, it just might be a metaphor....though I would like to believe...

[jamesscherer]

Originally Posted by spoot388

how about the fact that Dave himself said several times that he was playing around with the guitar riff for AP and Stella came up to him and said to him "Daddy, when are you going to put ME in a song?" he said he kept what she said in mind and worked in into the song. theres no metaphor, theres no double or hidden meaning to it. he is directly quoting his daughter. thats it.

From the front page of antsmarching.org

Alligator Pie
Dave: “There’s banjo all over this record, though it’s not as obvious in some places as it is here. But it started on the National guitar. I sing about grace—a state of grace or the lack of it—quite often. I have a daughter named Grace. I also have a daughter named Stella. So I was at home in Seattle, noodling on my National guitar, and my daughter came up and said, ‘You always have Grace in songs.’ I said, ‘Well, it’s not really her, it’s just the word grace.’ So she said, ‘When are you gonna put me in a song?’ So that’s where that line ‘Daddy, when you gonna put me in a song?’ came from. That’s the only line I had. Then being down in New Orleans made me put it inside a story that I imagined from talking to people down there. Hopefully people will be singing about how this country neglected New Orleans for a long time. Hopefully those songs will start bubbling up, and hopefully that history will tell the story of how criminally negligent we were about that city. It’s got this resilience and hospitality and warmth and celebration. But, man, if you go down there and you just look at the bad, there’s enough bad there for a lifetime.”

I think that the line is actually a product placement that RCA got paid for from the beer Stella Artois.

[elpme6]

Originally Posted by marchingmonkey

Boom.

Also, isn't that kind of the point? A piece of art can have different meanings for everyone interpreting it...that's what's so great about it!

Much love for AP. Very nice thread OP!

for your actual point
for a lovely positive post. big whiskey might just be bringing back the love-fest that i know dmb to be

[Millstone]

please don't sit around interpreting single lines of songs, you'll ruin the song forever