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BODHISATTVA Lyrics

Artist: Steely Dan
Album: Countdown To Ecstacy

Bodhisattva
Would you take me by the hand
Bodhisattva
Would you take me by the hand
Can you show me
The shine of your Japan
The sparkle of your china
Can you show me
Bodhisattva
Bodhisattva
I'm gonna sell my house in town
Bodhisattva
I'm gonna sell my house in town
And I'll be there
To shine in your Japan
To sparkle in your China
Yes I'll be there
Bodhisattva

Comments/Interpretations
by mark on 6/27/2008 12:44pm Steely Dan's catchiest and most danceable tune, by far! Listen for elements of The Byrds in the opening strains and various jam bands (Grateful Dead and Phish) in the outro! I can hear 'em. Anyone else agree?
by Vineet on 7/11/2008 1:08pm Awesome song. Definitely the the catchiest song Steely Dan ever released.
by MarkT. on 7/12/2008 1:30am This is a '50s jitterbug! But yes, those bands you mentioned also occasionally pariodied older sounds.
by chris g on 7/23/2008 8:19pm Hands down the best Steely Dan song
by BEELADD on 8/10/2008 1:06pm CATCHY TUNE !!
by Ottawa Pete on 8/12/2008 12:43pm Man, the talent of these geniuses simply transcends time. Catch the version from 'Alive in America' ... brilliance!
by Frank on 11/17/2008 12:51pm If you want to hear the band they lifted allot of their sound from listen to any old Spirit album. Try Fresh Garbage or Clear.
by Justin on 12/13/2008 12:29am How fucking terrible is this song? Shine in your Japan? Please! This song makes no sense. I might as well have strung together random sentences with some catchy blues guitar riff and called myself Steely Justin. Bodhisattva. Yeah, that makes sense.
by albers on 12/31/2008 4:00pm Oh, cool, I had to have these lyrics. I am walking a smoking piano bass line and the middle part going E-b, A, Dm, B-b, is sooo...
by albers on 12/31/2008 4:01pm Oh, cool, I had to have these lyrics. I am walking a smoking piano bass line and the middle part going E-bM7, A7, Dm7, B-b9, is sooo...
by This one guy on 1/1/2009 6:06pm That ONE word is soo catchy Bodhisattva, what does it mean?
by jon on 1/5/2009 12:47am toot
by earthlyinfodotcom on 1/6/2009 2:13pm Bodhisattva is a human who has reached enlightenment, as the Buddha did, and can leave physical existence behind, but chooses to remain in human form to help others achieve freedom. He is saying there is a greater appeal to creative thinkers to move in the direction of meditational/spiritual enlightenment of the east instead of power hungry, violent, corrupt, materialistic religions of the west. Instead he is going to sell his house "ego" and move to what makes more sense. Buddhism, Taoism, Hindu philosophy etc. The song makes perfect lyrical sense if you have an IQ larger than your waist size.
by Greg on 1/13/2009 9:06am Justin, you are an idiot. Bodhisattva is an enlightened person in Buddhism, which can mean the Buddha himself as well. "Shine in your Japan" and "Sparkle in your China" mean that the narrator of the song wants to be that way, too, and associates that sort of enlightenment with geography-- China and Japan, particularly at the time of this song's writing, being seen as centres of enlightenment. Hence also selling his junk.... Buddhists divest themselves of wordly possessions. This is 5th-grade poetry interpretation, ya schmuck.
by Hoops McCann on 1/16/2009 5:49pm The guy in the song is an idiot. He think's all he has to do is sell his house and he'll reach enlightenment. The lyrics seem banal because the character is banal. It's Steely Dan having a dig at rich airheads and their flip attitudes towards Buddhism. I love it.
by Snail on 1/19/2009 2:19pm Hahah! You guys crack me up. Yes, a bodhisattva is someone seeking enlightenment to be able to benefit all beings. Perhaps the most famous bodhisattva is Avalokiteshvara, called Quan-Yin (in China), or Kannon (in Japan), or Chenrezig (in Tibet).
by katie on 1/29/2009 8:45pm Thank you Greg. Justin's thoughts are sadly representative of far too many people these days. Does anyone care about knowing anything anymore?
by rock band playa on 2/2/2009 3:16pm if you have rock band try playing this song on expert it's impossible no one has ever gotten 100% on the solo if you don't have rock band look it up on YouTube
by D Dubya on 2/20/2009 7:50am Brilliant tune! The lyrics could be about anything. But I'm sure I hear Fagin's cynicism at work here. "The more I learn, the less I know. The more I know, the less I understand.)
by njorm on 2/27/2009 4:56pm look up the term 'japanning ' ... it's a lacquer finish ... ver' shiny ... and , the sparkle in your china ?... go figure ...
by sin_tax on 4/13/2009 10:35am to shine in your Japan... to sparkle in your China... I interpreted both of these to mean something sexual. shrug
by Rob H on 4/17/2009 8:37am Bodhisattva is actually referring to the "Bodhissatva" vow of compassion, which is a vow that followers of certain Kinds of Buddhism take, that states that you won't reach enlightenment without everyone else reaching it as well (or loosely, helping others to reach enlightenment) someone who is enlightened is in "nirvana" or "moksha" and i guess technically, becomes nothing
by rain dog on 5/21/2009 10:44am its rightly joyful because bodhisattva means someone that participates joyfully in a world of sorrow (amor fati).
by Mark on 6/9/2009 5:03pm I can't stop listening to it. The best guitar leads ever recorded.....hands down!
by sqdel on 7/23/2009 8:22am Yes, the song is about enlightenment, and ridding yourself of earthly objects; but it is also about drug use, and the state of being high. Come on guys, the Dan was always about drugs...it was the f...in' 70's !
by Occam's razor on 8/2/2009 11:34pm Catchy song, but I like "King of the World" and "Razorboy" much better.
by roy on 10/10/2009 7:02pm which line/word/implication indicates anything about drugs???? a 70's trait - if i dont understand it, it must be about drugs!
by Beathisattva on 10/28/2009 3:38pm These guys were constantly making fun of west coast hippies. This is a sarcastic song where the narrator is pretending to be interested in some new age spiritual drivel and phony Asian fetish that some Bodhisattva wannabe is spouting at a party. "Tell me more oh great wise hippie, I'm going to sell my house in town and go follow you to Japan and China."
by larry gamby on 11/19/2009 5:04pm this is a great song. the guitar and keyboard duel back and forth is awesome. wish i could have seen it live!
by larry gamby on 11/19/2009 5:07pm this is a great song. the guitar and keyboard duel back and forth is awesome. wish i could have seen it live! the live version from santa monica with the intro from the wasted guy in the beginning not knowing who the band was he was introducing and hearing either becker or fagen say steely dan was hilarious to my 15 year old son and i listening to it in our car! great stuff!

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