The Final Problem

allirpe asked: Hi! I wonder if there's any discussions on the lyrics to Stayin' Alive bcs there's a part that says "Got the wings of heaven on my shoes/I'm a dancing man & I just can't lose/You know, it's all right/It's OK/I'll live to see another day/We can try to understand the New York Times' effect on man" I think the song may have a bigger part on The Final Problem than we realize, like providing background story to Jim's motives (?) I hope you get my point, sorry if I confuse you ;p

I know the “Stayin’ Alive” lyrics have been brought up as a possible clue.  (And good for you mentioning the newspaper part—I’ve only seen the “angel” part mentioned.) Off the top of my head I can’t think of a post that got into it in detail, or I’d link you.

According to Moffat, the choice of “Stayin’ Alive” for the ringtone was because of something funny that happened at a funeral. Obviously they ended up twisting the joke from Scandal into a comment on Jim’s mental state by Reichenbach, but I’m not sure the lyrics themselves are likely to provide any special insight beyond what we got from Jim using the song to point out that staying alive was so boring. I think it’s somewhat more likely that those are simply the kind of lyrics you tend to get in a song called “Stayin’ Alive.”