The Fool and the Tower: “Flirtin’ with Disaster”
AUTHOR’S NOTE: I was listening to Molly Hatchet while on my treadmill this morning and the Fool and the Tower jumped right out of the headphones. Now I know what to think when I see the two close together in a reading: “playing with fire.” The rest of the cards pretty much fell into place. The only one that might need explanation is the 7 of Cups as “the way we run our lives;” I see it as “dazed and confused” and I might use it again if I get around to Led Zeppelin. (Aleister Crowley titled this card “Debauch,” which — when applied to the “rock & roll wastrel” of the song — suits the lyrics even better.)
In my opinion, cultural and social commentary is a big part of the “fun factor” in working with the tarot. This exercise points out inherent weaknesses in the songwriting of much of the classic-rock music genre: once the wordsmith runs out of inspiration, the singers start going “do-do-do-do-do-da-do” and “la-la-la-la-la,” or — as here, and even more egregiously in Nazareth’s Hair of the Dog — they just repeat themselves ad nauseum over the fade, although cerebral bands like Steely Dan often dodge this redundancy by changing up (or even eliminating) the chorus. (All images below are from the Golden Art Nouveau Tarot, copyright of Lo Scarabeo, Torino, Italy.)
I’m travelin’ down the road
I’m flirtin’ with disaster
I’ve got the pedal to the floor,
My life is running faster
I’m out of money, I’m out of hope,
It looks like self destruction
Well how much more can we take,
With all of this corruption
We’re flirtin’ with disaster,
Ya’ll know what I mean
And the way we run our lives,
It makes no sense to me
I don’t know about yourself or what you want to be, yeah
When we gamble with our time,
We choose our destiny
I’m travelin’ down that lonesome road
Feel like I’m dragging a heavy load
Yeah I’ve tried to turn my head away,
Feels about the same most every day
You know what I’m talking about, baby
Speeding down the fast lane, honey
Playin’ from town to town
The boys and I have been burnin’ it up, can’t seem to slow it down
I’ve got the pedal to the floor, our lives are runnin’ faster,
Got our sights set straight ahead,
But ain’t sure what we’re after
Flirtin’ with disaster, ya’ll know what I mean
You know the way we run our lives it makes no sense to me
I don’t know about yourself or what you plan to be, yeah
When we gamble with our time, we choose our destiny
See Graphic #2
Yeah, I’m travelin’ down that lonesome road
Feel like I’m dragging a heavy load
Don’t try to turn my head away,
I’m flirtin’ with disaster every day
And you are too, baby, ha ha ha
Flirtin’ with disaster baby,
Ya’ll know what I mean
You know the way we run our lives,
It makes no sense to me
I don’t know about yourself or what you plan to be
When we gamble with our time, we choose our destiny
See Graphic #2
Yeah, we’re traveling down this lonesome road
Feel like I’m dragging a heavy load
Don’t try and turn my head away, ba ba ba yeah
Flirtin’ with disaster every day
See Graphic #5
Originally published at http://parsifalswheeldivination.wordpress.com on April 16, 2023.
