Michael W. JohnsonEnglish 15110/12/95 Stuck in the Middle Joe
Egan and Gerry Rafferty were a duo known as Stealers Wheel when they
recorded a Dylanesque pop hit, "Stuck in the Middle With You", in April of
1974. The single reached number five on the charts - little did they know
that eighteen years later it would become a cult favorite. In 1992
Quentin Tarantino, a little known writer/director, took the Cannes film
festival and the world by surprise with his motion picture Reservoir Dogs.
The movie is about the difficulties that occur when five "master" criminals
are hired by a crime king pin named Joe to pull off the biggest diamond
heist of the century. Stuck right in the middle of the movie, the
Egan/Rafferty hit is played as a introduction to one of the best or worst
torture seens ever in the history of movies. It depends on how you look at
it.I'll set-up the scene in the movie where it is being played, try and follow
me The five criminals hired go by color-coded names . During the
heist the cops show and things got out of control. Two of the robbers
were shot and killed after Mr. Blonde, the "on the edge" gangster started
shooting up the place when an employee triggered the alarm. Mr. White
and Mr. Orange (an undercover cop) escaped the scene and headed for
the hideout where all the men were supposed to meet. On the way to the
hideout Mr. Orange was shot, he was bleeding severely but the injury was
not life threatening. Shortly after their arrival, Mr. Pink met with them and
they all anxiousley waited for Mr. Blonde. Mr. Blonde, acting cool
and unaffected by the mornings events, made his entrance. After being
questioned by Mr. White about why he went psycho in the store, Mr.
Blonde called them out to see a "surprise" he had in his trunk. Mr.
Blonde in an effort to find out how the police heard about the robbery in
advance had kidnapped a police officer. They carried the man into the
warehouse and after tying him to a chair Mr. White and Mr. Pink
commenced beating the hell out of him. They Asked him to tell how the
police knew of the heist, he said he knew nothing and after beating on
him some more, Nice Guy Eddie came in. He was Joe's son and told Mr.
White and Mr. Pink that they would have to come with him to ditch the
cars. Mr. Blonde was told to stay and keep an eye on the cop and the
injured Mr. Orange.My idea is that the following scene was written by
Director Tarantino choreographed to the song by Stealers Wheel. Rather
than the norm where a scene is written and the music is picked
thereafter. As I describe the scene I will give the lyrics to the song and
show how they correspond to the characters actions in the scene. Mr.
Blonde starts talking to the cop, who still insists he knows nothing. The
lyrics to the song begin; keep in mind that I am suggesting that the words
are what the cop is thinking. Well I don't know why I came here tonight.I
got the feeling that something ain't right.I'm so scared in case I fall off my
chair,and I'm wondering how I'll get down the stairs.Clowns to the left of
me, Jokers to the right Here I am stuck in the middle with you. The
words being sung tell us that the cop is wondering how he got into this
situation, he knows something is up, and he is scared that he may not be
able to make it through the rest of this torturous interrogation alive. The
clowns are his fellow officers who allowed the situation to get so out of
control, and the jokers are Mr. White and Mr. Pink. And now he is stuck
in the middle of this whole ordeal with the most cynical, evil, and hardest
criminal of the bunch Mr. Blonde.Yes I'm stuck in the middle with you
and I'm wondering what it is I should doIt's so hard to keep this smile from
my facecause I'm and I'm all over the place(chorus) These are the lines
that justify what I am saying the most. He is wondering what he should
do, he knows that Mr. Orange is a cop and if he were to mention it to Mr.
Blonde it may save his life. It is an internal conflict in which he heroically
decides to keep quiet. He can't keep the smile off his face because he
knows the cops are outside just waiting for Joe to come to the warehouse
so they can bust the whole operation, and when he comes the torture will
be over.Well you started out with nothin' and your proud that your a self
-made man.And your friends they all come callin' - slap you on the back
and say - please, please.Tryin' to make some sense of it allBut I can see
it makes no sense at allIs it cool to go to sleep on the floor?'till I think that
I can't take anymore.(Chorus) Here, the officer is bringing out the fact
that Mr. Blonde is proud of his life as a criminal, and proud that his
friends, Joe and Nice Guy Eddie come callin' -begging Mr. Blonde to
work for them right after he got out of prison. The cop tries to understand
the situation that he is in but he realizes it is a lost cause. The last two
lines show what the officer is asking himself. Should he spill his guts or
should he keep quiet until Joe shows up. The music stops. The cop
is a bloody mess, Mr. Blonde had not only beat him, he had cut off his
ear, and doused him with gasoline. He was just about ready to set him
on fire when six gunshots rang out Mr. Orange, the undercover cop had
shot Mr. Blonde to death. Joe, Nice Guy Eddie, Mr. Pink and Mr. White
all return shortly thereafter. They find Mr. Blonde, the cop, and Mr.
Orange all covered in blood and question Mr. Orange about what
happened. Mr. Orange tried to explain that Mr. Blonde was going to burn
the cop, and split with the diamonds. Joe called him a traitor and would
not believe him. Joe shot the police officer and was ready to kill Mr.
Orange when Mr. White turns his gun on Joe to protect his friend. Intern
Nice Guy Eddie turns his gun on Mr. White. Sirens could be heard as the
movie hit its climax - the cops bust in and three shots are heard, and
three bodies drop to the floor. Quentin Tarintino is a acumen in the
the field music, I believe he truly wrote the seen I described - the torture
seen - to coincide with the Stealers Wheel song. In the research of my
opinion I luckily stumbled on a quote from Tarentino taken from the
compact disc booklet of "Truth and Fiction.""Personnally, I don't know if
Jerry Rafferty neccessarily appreciated the connotations that I brought to
"Stuck in the Middle With You". There's a good chance he didn't. But
that's one of the things about using music in movies that's so cool: the
fact that if you do it right, it's about as cinematic a thing as you can do.
You're really doing what movies do better than any other art form. It
works in this visceral, emotional, cinematic way that's special. And when
you do it right and you hit it right, then you can never really hear that song
again without thinking about that image from the movie. That's what
comercials are counting on, but it never quite works with commercials.
The thing is, once a movie has done that with a song, as far as I'm
concerned that movie owns it. I mean, they've used "Stand By Me" so
many times, but to me the one that used "Stand By Me" that way was The
Wanderers. They play "Stand By Me" as the lead character, Ken Wahl,
realizes that JFK has been shot. And it's perfect." I couldn't agree
more with what Tarentino is saying. His movies especially draw upon
music to make the scenes flow together in a surreal, inspiring style. What
more can a movie connoisseur like myself ask for in a movie? As
Tarentino says "Stand By Me" is perfect in The Wanderers, I say "Stuck
in the Middle With You" is perfect in Resovoir Dogs.
. you started out with nothin' and your proud that your a self -made man.And your friends they all come callin' - slap you on the back and say - please, please.Tryin' to make some. this visceral, emotional, cinematic way that's special. And when you do it right and you hit it right, then you can never really hear that song again without thinking about that image from. in movies that's so cool: the fact that if you do it right, it's about as cinematic a thing as you can do. You're really doing what movies do better than any other art form. It works