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It is believed that the lyrics "just another dead fag" indicate that Taxi Ride is a re-naming of the unreleased song Just Another Dead Fag, mentioned in past interviews.
"Taxi Ride" eulogizes the late makeup artist Kevyn Aucoin.
-- Rolling Stone Magazine, September 19, 2002, p. 86
In the harrowing Taxi Ride, she addresses the tragic death of gay celebrity makeup artist - and her close friend - Kevyn Aucoin. "The odd thing about Taxi Ride was that this song was being written before he died, and he even heard that line, just another dead fag to you. I was writing it as part of another song about a gay guy who was dying of AIDS. He miraculously recovered, and the song didn't get written. It started propelling itself again early this year, and Kevyn and I were having conversations. and I didn't know what was coming. But I knew he was in a lot of pain, and he felt betrayed by people who weren't there when he was in need. Then everybody who shows up in his death can give a statement, but they weren't there in the trenches. His death brought up a lot of things in people- some lovely and some despicable and disgusting. Taxe is for Kevyn."
-- Tori; Out Magazine, Nov 2002
They part in Chicago, where Scarlet looks up old friends. There she learns of
the death of a gay friend and resolves to visit his house in Baton Rouge,
before travelling on to New Orleans. "TAXI RIDE is about how people react to
death and the betrayal that can happen even after death."
-- Scarlet's Walk bio
"When she gets to, um, Chicago, she's meeting up with people - mostly women - who have lost a gay friend. And in his death, she's uhh kind of seeing what it brings out in people, and who some of these women really are. Not who she thought they were. Disillusionment again. Um, and in some cases, she kind of knew all along...with some of them. Some of it didn't surprise her. But she's seeing what, again, what people are really made up of. And you know, this isn't the outside now. This is not the enemy. The terrorist, you know, the terrorism just happened back in New York City. This is something, these were friends, acquaintances, maybe in some cases. And the betrayal is there. So the idea of betrayal, you know, there's...there're all sorts. There are all kinds of betrayal. And I think she's trying to come to terms with that inside. The betrayal of an outside force, where then you become defensive and nationalistic. And then the betrayal that, wow, you're completely stripped bare because it's from the inside. It's an inside job. I really liked the idea that Scarlet takes a taxi all the way...all the way down. Because, let's face it, the people - she doesn't want to hitch a ride with anybody she knows, are you kidding me? I kind of loved the idea that all these things can happen in a stranger's car. It's always fascinated me, you know, the things that I see in taxi cabs over the years all over the world. So that's a little bit of my own kind of read on it."
-- Scarlet Stories CD
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