"Chemo Limo" Regina Spektor: part one

In the song Chemo Limo, it tells the story of a woman who has cancer and is talking to her doctor about chemotherapy. It starts with the lines, 

"I had a dream
Crispy crispy Benjamin Franklin came over
Baby-sat all four of my kids"

And in these lines are referring to that fact that she does not know if she's going to live and she only hopes that her children will be well taken care of. The Benjamin Franklin she is referring to in these lines are of the hundred dollar bill variety.

"Then in my dream
I told the doctor off
He said if you don't want to do it
then you don't have to do it
He said the truth is
You'll be okay, anyway"

She continues with calling her story a dream because in reality when she talks to the doctor, as in most cases, the chemo is necessary and often the cancer isn't cured. And the part where she said,"I told the doctor off," was probably what she really wanted to do deep down, but never would have done in real life.

"Then in my dream
Crispy crispy Benjamin Franklin and the doctor
Went and had a talk with my boss
Something about insurance policies
They kept the door closed at all times
I couldn't hear or see

When they came out they said
You'll be okay, anyway
And I smiled cause I'd known it all the while."

This next part covers her having to deal with the medical bills of all her treatments and again with the theme of it all being one big dream, everything ends up being alright and there's nothing to worry about. Again the Benjamin Franklin symbolizes money.

"No thank you no thank you no thank you no thank you
I ain't about to pay for this shit
I can afford chemo like I couldn't afford a limo
and on any given day I'd rather ride a limousine"

In this part, the music changes and it's more staccato sounding and this helps shift this song to reality. She says that she can't afford a limo (as in the hearse that would carry her casket).

"No thank you no thank you no thank you no thank you
I ain't about to to die like this
I can afford chemo like I couldn't afford a limo
And besides this shit is making me tired...
You know I plan to retire some day,
And I'm gonna go out in style
go out in style"

In this clause she is saying that she can afford chemo more than she can afford to die, and that she'd rather go through he pain and live because she has dreams for herself.