submissions
| The Decemberists – Odalisque Lyrics
| 17 years ago
|
The song is mostly about human trafficking. The "lazy lady" couldn't afford to keep her child, and sold her to be an odalisque, which, as has been said, is essentially a female slave, and usually not treated nicely. She questions what to do with her child's belongings: shoes, marbles and a "broken billiard cue", since now they will not be of any use; she sold her daughter away. The line about peanut shells and dirt describes the level of poverty that drove the woman to get rid of her daughter. The girl must be a runaway as well; at least that's how I interpret it: "And when they find you, odalisque, they will rend you terribly..."
As for the Jew bit, it seems to be a completely seperate storyline. I do not know how it ties in to everything; there seems to be some disconnect there. |
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