Rotten Peaches Lyrics
And yesterday is but a long long ways away
So we'll camp out tonight beneath the bright starlight
And forget rotten peaches and the places we've stayed
Made my way over on the S.S. Marie
And I've always had trouble wherever I've settled
Rotten peaches are all that I see
Seems I've seen that devil fruit since the world begun
Mercy I'm a criminal, Jesus I'm the one
Rotten peaches rotting in the sun
There is no one to hold when you're sick for your wife
And each day out you'll pick, you'll pick rotten peaches
You'll pick rotten peaches for the rest of your life
For I lie in the light of the Lord
And my home is ten thousand, ten thousand miles away
And I guess I won't see it no more
I think this song is about being in jail and having to pick "rotten peaches" in smouldering heat as punishment
but i think the first verse is like the ending in the beginning about getting out adn being free from prison and the peaches
I love Madman Across The Water. I think it is Elton's strongest album. The lyrics are very visual and concrete especially on this song. It's obviously about being on a chain gang and picking peaches. Very unique song. I didn't think I liked gospel or soul but I stand corrected by this song.
On Madman Across the Water there's the two big hits that everyone's heard a million times on the radio "Tiny Dancer" and "Levon" (both excellent songs of course)
but there's 3 songs on the last half of the album that are just as superb and they go together perfectly and they are "Holiday Inn" "Rotten Peaches" and "All the Nasties" in that order.
The two radio hits and those three lined up together are what make the album so good IMO.
I'm not sure this song's about being in jail ; to me it's about a guy far away from his home and just wandering through the U.S picking up peaches to get some money. The atmosphere and the images used in the song really make me think of The Grapes of Wrath also... But anyway, it's a terrific song and clearly my favorite from Elton !
This song is very melodic and catchy, although the subject matter is depressing and about people who are trapped. The lyrics for "Rotten Peaches" were actually written by Bernie Taupin (a straight married male). I think this is a song about different heterosexual males caught in unique situations that they are not used to. "...left from the dockland two years ago now"...."no green grass in U.S. State Prison"..... "no one to hold on to when you're sick for your wife" ... and in desperation did things that they didn't necessarily enjoy.
rotten peaches , represent a wasted life, yes prison many other things drugs, etc. society sees these poor souls as rotten peaches. simple and straight forward.