When I was a young girl I used to seek pleasure
When I was a young girl I used to drink ale
Out of the ale house down into the jail house
My body's outdated and hell is my doom

Come mama come papa and sit you down by me
Come sit you down by me and pity my case
My poor head is aching my sad heart in breaking
My body's outdated and hell is my doom

Please send for the preacher to come and pray for me
And send for the doctor to heal all my wounds
My poor head is aching my sad heart in breaking
My body's outdated and I'm bound to die

One morning one morning one morning in May
I saw this young lady all wrapped in white linen
All wrapped in white linen and called out the plague


Lyrics submitted by cocolee, edited by johnsstar

When I Was a Young Girl Lyrics as written by Jason Charles Beck Dp Traditionnal

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

When I Was a Young Girl song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

16 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +1
    General Comment

    This is one of the more subtle songs on the "Let it die" album, in that you find yourself pretty much ignoring it when it's playing, but then humming it to yourself later. After listening to the lyrics, it's now one of my favorite songs on the album. It seems to be about a girl's teenage years when she went a bit wild and later regretted it. The last verse has me stumped though. Any ideas?

    ndoherty13on August 24, 2005   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    That is completely true... it's a shame too... it really is a great song. The last verse has me a bit perplexed as well...

    Igbyon August 31, 2005   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    In various cultures (Muslim, and Jewish, for instance), an individual is wrapped in a white linen shroud at their death and buried. So maybe she's calling the doctor, preacher, etc to save her so she wouldn't end up dead and buried like the other lady.

    yeahitsheron April 08, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I don't know what CD jacket you have, but in mine it says Plague.

    fadedmorningloryon August 08, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    It says plague in mine as well.

    saveyourlifeon August 28, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Yeah, I heard on a radio interview that Feist said this song was about dying from syphilis.

    S_Richon August 31, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    i love this song, but what does salvated mean? is it related to save?

    trojanpotatoon October 03, 2007   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    This is a great great song, It brings up images of someone on Death Row or someone sentenced to death from a disease or otherwise.

    A woman wrapped in white linen who calls out the plague. This makes me think of a Sin Eater. The Sin Eater's job is to free one who is dying of their sins by eating usually a piece of bread if I recall correctly symbolizing the sins of the condemned so they do not go to hell.

    BrokenImperfecton October 05, 2007   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    The last line should be "all wrapped in white linen and cold as the clay." It's a line from an old cowboy song called Streets of Laredo.

    Then again, it does sound an awful lot like "called out the plague," so I'm going to guess Feist just misheard the lyrics when she incorporated them into this song.

    AlgernonMabuson April 29, 2008   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I really love this song, but not this version of it. I like Barbara Dane's rendition a lot more, but cheers to Feist for making a somewhat obscure folk song about syphilis more popular.

    milescomon October 31, 2009   Link

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

Album art
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
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"
Album art
Holiday
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday". I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
Album art
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Album art
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
Album art
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.