While I definitely hear the references to sex, there's also the lines to consider that suggest the narrator doesn't have the best relationship with this other person. Even her mother knows their relationship is volatile. One of them is moving/moved out of where they once lived together, and she tells the mailman not to worry about delivering their mail to separate locations. (Maybe she wants to deliver personally because they still take opportunities for sex in spite of all this?) "Just get along" might mean that the affair has become lifeless and drawn out, which would explain why she compares the act of sex to a medical procedure.
The line came from one of Marilyn Monroe. In an interview with NPR, Annie Clark said,
The line came from one of Marilyn Monroe. In an interview with NPR, Annie Clark said,
"I was reading Marilyn Monroe's journals, she wrote down the sentence, 'Best, finest surgeon – Lee Strasberg, come cut me open,' because she was studying with Lee Strasberg at the Actor's Studio at the time, and he was a tremendous mentor to her. And I just thought that was brilliant and really strange. I definitely wanted this particular song to sound like someone was kind of in a Benzedrine and white-wine coma – like a housewife's cocktail."
"I was reading Marilyn Monroe's journals, she wrote down the sentence, 'Best, finest surgeon – Lee Strasberg, come cut me open,' because she was studying with Lee Strasberg at the Actor's Studio at the time, and he was a tremendous mentor to her. And I just thought that was brilliant and really strange. I definitely wanted this particular song to sound like someone was kind of in a Benzedrine and white-wine coma – like a housewife's cocktail."
While I definitely hear the references to sex, there's also the lines to consider that suggest the narrator doesn't have the best relationship with this other person. Even her mother knows their relationship is volatile. One of them is moving/moved out of where they once lived together, and she tells the mailman not to worry about delivering their mail to separate locations. (Maybe she wants to deliver personally because they still take opportunities for sex in spite of all this?) "Just get along" might mean that the affair has become lifeless and drawn out, which would explain why she compares the act of sex to a medical procedure.
Anyways, fantastic song.
The line came from one of Marilyn Monroe. In an interview with NPR, Annie Clark said,
The line came from one of Marilyn Monroe. In an interview with NPR, Annie Clark said,
"I was reading Marilyn Monroe's journals, she wrote down the sentence, 'Best, finest surgeon – Lee Strasberg, come cut me open,' because she was studying with Lee Strasberg at the Actor's Studio at the time, and he was a tremendous mentor to her. And I just thought that was brilliant and really strange. I definitely wanted this particular song to sound like someone was kind of in a Benzedrine and white-wine coma – like a housewife's cocktail."
"I was reading Marilyn Monroe's journals, she wrote down the sentence, 'Best, finest surgeon – Lee Strasberg, come cut me open,' because she was studying with Lee Strasberg at the Actor's Studio at the time, and he was a tremendous mentor to her. And I just thought that was brilliant and really strange. I definitely wanted this particular song to sound like someone was kind of in a Benzedrine and white-wine coma – like a housewife's cocktail."