post a PW lyric that baffles you

[teddinard]

I feel like I have a fairly good handle on most of what the songs say. But some I wish I could get more insight into.

So--

Running around the house--Mickey Louse and a tarot card
Falling asleep with a fop pop video on.

OK I get "Mickey Louse" since we're told (in the Walsh book?) that Westerberg's band nickname was Louse. And though people don't seem to agree with me, I think "fop pop" is right, alluding to all the foppish bands (whether of the synth pop or hair metal variety) on MTV at the time.

But I wonder about the tarot card.

[ClamsCasino]

Alex Chilton was into mysticism, so Paul may have pinned that nickname on him (probably not to his face).

[Veets]

So Mickey Louse is obviously a play on Mickey Mouse
In Fantasia, Mickey Mouse was a sorcerer/magician. Was there any scene where he had tarot cards, or something that looked like a tarot card?
I wonder if these lyrics were inspired like Lovelines, with a TV instead of a page from the classifieds.

[ClamsCasino]

teddinard is correct that Mickey Louse is Paul. Bob Mehr's Trouble Boys confirms that "The Louse" was a nickname for Paul (page 109). The book also fills in a few other details from the lyrics, including the "stash in the trash behind St. Mark's Place," and a Tim-era quote where Paul says that Chilton "could be from another planet" (both on page 166). I think the lyrics that at first blush seem like abstract nonsense are probably specific references to their time with Chilton.