Tarzan Was A Bluesman

Song Meaning

This track paints a picture of a disillusioned figure, a modern Adam seeking an escape, injecting a forbidden "apple" into his "vein." The immediate, almost childlike declaration, "Me Tarzan, you Jane," sets a tone of primal fantasy, yet it’s immediately undercut by the repeated, almost mournful refrain: "Tarzan was a bluesman." This isn't a heroic jungle king, but someone steeped in a deeper, more melancholic tradition. The narrator appears to be a "white man" from the suburbs, a stark contrast to the wildness evoked by Tarzan. This figure is on a quest for "truth," shedding societal constraints by running "thru the jungle in his birthday suit." It’s a search for authenticity, a stripping away of artifice, but framed within the context of a blues sensibility, suggesting the search itself is fraught with pain and longing. The most striking juxtaposition occurs with "original sin" being fought out in the "Paradise Lounge of the Holiday Inn." This collapses the mythic struggle of Eden into a mundane, commercialized setting. The "Paradise Lounge" is a cheap imitation of transcendence, a place where the deep-seated conflict of existence is reduced to a bar fight, highlighting a profound disconnect between the spiritual quest and the sterile reality of modern life. Ultimately, the lyrics suggest a profound sense of alienation. The bluesman archetype, traditionally rooted in hardship and soulful expression, is here applied to a suburban white man grappling with existential questions in a hollow, consumerist landscape. The repetition of "Tarzan was a bluesman" and "Tarzan was a white man" hammers home the idea that this mythic figure, this search for primal truth, is ultimately a white man's burden, played out in the unlikeliest of arenas.