Medley: Drink To Me Only With Thine Eyes / I Don’t Care If The Sun Don’t Shine / I Love Las Vegas

Song Meaning

The medley opens with a tender, almost wistful plea for shared intimacy: "Drink to me only, that's all I ask." This sets a tone of quiet connection, a stark contrast to the boisterous, almost desperate affection for Las Vegas that follows. The transition is abrupt, marked by a self-aware chuckle, hinting that the initial sentiment might be a fleeting thought before diving headfirst into a different kind of devotion. The core of the medley is an unvarnished, almost defiant love for Las Vegas. The narrator embraces a nocturnal lifestyle, eschewing the sun for the artificial glow of a "sun ray lamp," suggesting a preference for manufactured experiences over natural ones. This dedication is so profound that bringing a wife to Vegas is likened to a futile, absurd endeavor, "like going to China with a sack of rice," highlighting the city's all-consuming nature. The lyrics employ a barrage of increasingly hyperbolic comparisons to express this adoration. Vegas is loved "like it's Egypt and I am Nasser," "like the army loves it's manuals," and even more intensely than personal relationships, like Kruschev's indignation or a wife's pregnancy. This relentless escalation of praise, culminating in the simple, powerful declaration "Because my money's here" and later "Because my blood is here," reveals the true, pragmatic, and deeply personal reasons for this fervent attachment. Ultimately, the medley works by juxtaposing a romantic ideal with a gritty, self-serving reality. The initial delicate sentiment is quickly overshadowed by a passionate, almost transactional love for Vegas, driven by financial gain and a sense of belonging. The humor, the outlandish comparisons, and the sheer repetition of "I love Vegas" create a portrait of a place that is both a personal haven and a high-stakes gamble, a paradox the narrator fully embraces.