Call Your Girlfriend

this dawned on me when i was listening a couple weeks ago: robyn is both women, the old girlfriend and the new one. she has clearly been in both positions before. she sings with all the pain and grief of the woman who's being left. this is what i love about her, she can say so much with just her voice. if she sang it a different way, perhaps this dual perspective wouldn't be as clear, it would just seem like a happy homewrecker type song. but she's so incredibly expressive that you can hear two souls from two different perspectives. love her, love this song.

I love the way she directs the conversation. The compassion she feels for the other girl is heartbreaking, but she knows that it has to be done if both the boy and her want to be happy. I especially love the 2nd verse when she's telling him all of the things not to say. Her voice is so powerful and genuine that it actually makes you care not only about Robyn, but also the girlfriend. Beautiful!

It most probably is from the perspective of the 'mistress' so to speak however I would also like to think it's from the Girlfriend HERSELF - being sarcastic in a way. Also, just saying to him to just come clean - say his petty excuses that justify his actions.

"Say it's not her fault But you just met somebody new" How could she not think it's her fault? Meeting someone new is not easy - especially if you are in a commited relationship. And to LEAVE because you met someone else - is a very petty reason to leave someone you apparently love.

Also this line "And then when she gets upset tell her how you never mean to hurt no one"

She knows he wasn't meant to hurt her but his actions demonstrate otherwise. How is she not supposed to be hurt? People get hurt when cheated on. It's a selfish excuse.

Lastly - "And it won't make sense right now but you're still her friend" everyone knows that the 'friend' line is the worst line out there when going through a break up.

However it most likely is from the 'mistress' perspective - and that would then mean sounds like a condescending selfish person - trying to convince him to do something he is unsure of. She is trying to have him to herself and her words carry no weight. She knows regardless of what she says the girlfriend is going to be hurt - but her goal is to ensure it's spoken about so it's a step foward with pursuing a r'ship with him.

I love this song, I find it interesting that it can be seen as being told from so many perspectives - from the perspective of the other woman telling the man to break up with his girlfriend or from the perspective of the girlfriend who knows her boyfriend is cheating on her (as someone here mentioned). Another one I sometimes see it as, is from the perspective of the boyfriend talking to himself, trying to gear himself up to break-up with his girlfriend (almost like a boxer talking to himself in the mirror before a fight).

The song is sung from the perspective of the mistress. Robyn explains it here:

Robyn: "The song is above love between 2 people, but there's 3 people involved."

Friend: "And who's winning?"

Robyn: "Me! I am winning!"

youtube.com/watch - Source

I honestly think the lyrics to this song are fabulous. It is so touching. My heart breaks for the girlfriend but at the same time I feel like the mistress is such a good person. She is concerned about her lover's girlfriend so much. And she appreciates the fact that while her lover may not be "in love" with his girlfriend, she is still someone important to him. This is shown when she says "and it might not make sense now, but you're still her friend." The mistress knows. Just because they aren't going to be together any more doesn't mean he doesn't still care for her as a friend.

We've seen Robyn craft perfect songs from the perspective of the jilted girlfriend on "Dancing on My Own" and from a more conventional one-on-one romance on tracks like "Hang With Me" and "Indestructible." But here Robyn is the other girl but with all the same intensely-felt emotion. Her lyrics have such a sense of conviction that it makes it sound like she has been in this position before and that this song is her way of moving past that for good.

I was thinking maybe its about her being the other woman and she wants him to leave his girlfriend for her but he wont break it off to just be with her. So this is what she is telling him, to tell his girlfriend. She wants him but she still has compassion towards his girlfriend.

I really love this song. I've seen a couple people say that the narrator of this song is a "home wrecker" and the like, but ask yourself this: if your boyfriend or girlfriend met someone that they really liked, really loved, and was really happy with, would you rather they continue cheating on you, mostly emotionally, or would you rather he/she tell you, and break up with you? I personally would rather have them break up with me and be with the person that makes them happiest. Maybe that's just me, but I'd rather my partner be happy with someone else than unhappy with me.

I think Robyn is the 'Girlfriend' in this scenario, kinda referring to herself in 3rd person I guess, anyway , amazing song

While I agree with what most people are saying, I don't think it's fair to refer to the singer as a mistress. She is someone new and doesn't want to be a mistress. She is telling the man that if he wants to be with her then he has to break it off with his current/old girl friend and that he should do it in as kind a fasion as possible.