Album: Pretzel Logic (1974)

License This Song 

• I'm not one to look behind I know that times must change
  But over there in Barrytown they do things very strange
  And though you're not my enemy
  I like things like they used to be
  And though you'd like some company
  I'm standing by myself
  Go play with someone else
  I can see by what you carry that you come from Barrytown
  
  Don't believe I'm taken in by stories I have heard
  I just read the Daily News and swear by every word
  And don't think that I'm out of line
  For speaking out for what is mine
  I'd like to see you do just fine
  But look at what you wear
  And the way you cut your hair
  
  I can see by what you carry that you come from Barrytown
  
  In the beginning we recall that the word was hurled
  Barrytown people got to be from another world
  
  Leave me or I'll be just like the others you will meet
  They won't act as kindly if they see you on the street
  And don't you scream or make a shout
  It's nothing you can do about
  It was there where you came out
  It's a special lack of grace
  I can see it in your face
  
  I can see by what you carry that you come from Barrytown Writer/s: DONALD FAGEN, DONALD JAY FAGEN, WALTER CARL BECKER
  Publisher: Royalty Network, Universal Music Publishing Group
  Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 9

• Paul Nolte from MichiganUnfortunately the song was written before the Moonies, so no.
• Mark In Taos from Taos NmDigging the site!
• Nemesis GuitarsIMO I believe it's about the moonies as well but with The Dan who knows for sure, At least thats what they want you to think
• Rickard from ChicagoJess from Pelham NY - I think he's saying came out of the birth canal. not the closet.
• Jess from Pelham, Ny“...it was there when you came out, it’s a special lack of grace — I can see it in your face...” I always assumed this song was about gay people. Certainly, the venom of the lyrics fits.
• Jeffrey from Kingston, NyI grew up in Barrytown and we always believed the song was written about the "Christian Brothers," whose seminary was in existence just prior to the Moonies on the same estate. What the brothers carried was a small bible (perhaps concordance, or other books) and their hair was very short. They stood out in the 60s counter culture era.
  
  https://bit.ly/3Wsb8qW
  https://bit.ly/3zLAt5l
• Nydanfan from New York, NyWell, I may have to stand corrected. I just heard from a friend that in a radio interview Donald Fagen did admit to writing the song about the Unification Church. Have to figure out the time line on this (anyone have DF's email address?).
• Nydanfan from New York, NyA lot of references point to the song being about Rev. Moon's property in Barrytown. Problem is that the song was written before Rev. Moon purchased the property. I was at the Moon Barrytown property in Jan. 1975, it was purchased in 1974, but Pretzel Logic was recorded in 74 and the song written probably in 72 or 73. Fagen and Becker had left the area by then having graduated from Bard years before.
  Many of us enjoyed singing the song there, it certainly seemed to fit the moonies (err, Unificationists) at that time! Maybe a bit prophetic on Don Fagen's part.
  see: https://bit.ly/3T94jHQ
• Cadanfan from Jackson, Ca"I can see by what you carry that you come from Barrytown" references the Moonies selling flowers as a means of making money.

More Songfacts:

TodaySmashing Pumpkins

"Today" by Smashing Pumpkins is sarcastic in the line "today is the greatest day." Lead singer Billy Corgan wrote it about the crippling depression he was battling following the band's first big tour.

We Didn't Start The FireBilly Joel

Billy Joel wrote "We Didn't Start The Fire" after a 21-year-old told him, "everyone knows that nothing happened in the '50s."

Take Me HomePhil Collins

Phil Collins' "Take Me Home" is about a patient in a mental institution and was inspired by the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

Never Tear Us ApartINXS

"Never Tear Us Apart" was a live favorite for INXS, who would often extend the second pause for a while as the crowd went crazy.

Love Is A BattlefieldPat Benatar

"Love Is A Battlefield" was written as a ballad, but Pat Benatar's guitarist/husband turned it into an uptempo song.

ThrillerMichael Jackson

Vincent Price did the spooky narration on "Thriller." He was paid a flat fee of $20,000, turning down a percentage of the royalties that would have paid him far more.

Editor's Picks

Victoria WilliamsSongwriter Interviews

Despite appearances on Carson, Leno and a Pennebaker film, Williams remains a hidden treasure.

Gavin Rossdale On Lyric Inspirations and Bush's Album The KingdomSongwriter Interviews

The Bush frontman on where he finds inspiration for lyrics, if his "machine head" is a guitar tuner, and the stories behind songs from the album The Kingdom.

Billy Steinberg - "Like A Virgin"They're Playing My Song

The first of Billy's five #1 hits was the song that propelled Madonna to stardom. You'd think that would get you a backstage pass, wouldn't you?

Brenda RussellSongwriter Interviews

Brenda talks about the inspiration that drove her to write hit songs like "Get Here" and "Piano in the Dark," and why a lack of formal music training can be a songwriter's best asset.

Bryan AdamsSongwriter Interviews

What's the deal with "Summer of '69"? Bryan explains what the song is really about, and shares more of his songwriting insights.

Lace the Music: How LSD Changed Popular MusicSong Writing

Starting in Virginia City, Nevada and rippling out to the Haight-Ashbury, LSD reshaped popular music.