This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
She gets too hungry for dinner at eight
She likes the theatre and never comes late
She never bothers with people she'd hate
That's why the lady is a tramp
Doesn't like crap games with barons or earls
Won't go to Harlem in ermine and pearls
Won't dish the dirt with the rest of the girls
That's why the lady is a tramp
She likes the free, fresh wind in her hair
Life without care
She's broke and it's ok
Hates California, it's cold and it's damp
That's why the lady is a tramp
She gets too hungry to wait for dinner at eight
She loves the theatre but never comes late
She'd never bother with people she'd hate
That's why the lady is a tramp
She'll have no crap games with sharpies and frauds
And she won't go to Harlem in Lincoln's or Ford's
And she won't dish the dirt with the rest of the broads
That's why the lady is a tramp
She loves the free, fresh wind in her hair
Life without care
She's broke, but it's ok
Hates California, it's so cold and so damp
That's why the lady
That's why the lady
That's why the lady is a tramp
She likes the theatre and never comes late
She never bothers with people she'd hate
That's why the lady is a tramp
Doesn't like crap games with barons or earls
Won't go to Harlem in ermine and pearls
Won't dish the dirt with the rest of the girls
That's why the lady is a tramp
She likes the free, fresh wind in her hair
Life without care
She's broke and it's ok
Hates California, it's cold and it's damp
That's why the lady is a tramp
She gets too hungry to wait for dinner at eight
She loves the theatre but never comes late
She'd never bother with people she'd hate
That's why the lady is a tramp
She'll have no crap games with sharpies and frauds
And she won't go to Harlem in Lincoln's or Ford's
And she won't dish the dirt with the rest of the broads
That's why the lady is a tramp
She loves the free, fresh wind in her hair
Life without care
She's broke, but it's ok
Hates California, it's so cold and so damp
That's why the lady
That's why the lady
That's why the lady is a tramp
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
excellent song!!!....i think this song is about a man singin about how this genuine lady is labeled a "tramp" by society because she cuts through superficial social customs-one can easily assume he likes her because of that
this song is such a classic i luv it prolly one of my favorite frank songs
right, maestro, and also you get the feeling the other women are jelous of her because she's got real class.
Maestro's got it nailed. I tried to sing this to my girlfriend and she got offended. I shoulda sent her to this page
haha, clssic. probably should of thought that one through a little more.<br /> <br /> great song, meanings been nailed already. just a great shot at how shallow and bitchy some women can be.
Everything is relative – someone’s insult can be another’s greatest complement.
yeah i got confused by it first but i reckon whats happened is some of the "broads" have been insulting her because she isnt like them, and she has a successful relationship with the narrator, so they called her a tramp.
and this song is what the narrator is sarcastically saying back to those bitchy women
I agree with maestro's meaning; a girl who doesn't act like everyone else and is criticized for it. I sure wish I could find a 'tramp'!
Ella Fitzgeralds version is ace
He changes the words sometimes to "this chick is a champ." I agree with the rest of you guys.
one bit i've never really understood was.
"Hates California, it's cold and it's damp"
i'm guessing this woman is from new york. i would of thought California would be warmer and have better weather than NY.
I was just analyzing this and it seems that this lyric is irony. I.e. she's such a <br /> contrarian she thinks sunny CA is cold and damp. But my mother thinks it's talking about San Francisco. I think in the context of the rest of the lyrics I'm right.