| Supertramp – Goodbye Stranger Lyrics | 15 years ago |
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Great song--just listened to it on the radio this morning. To me, the marijuana and suicide explanations don't fit all of the lyrics, whereas the "guy who sleeps around with a lot of women" explanation does. He got up yesterday in another woman's bed, and must be moving on. "Now I believe in what you say" is him defending himself to a woman who says he's a playboy who's eventually going to grow old and die alone if he doesn't settle down. But he has to have things his own way. "And I will go on shining, shining like brand new" is ironic--it's him fooling himself, that he can keep his youthful good looks and winning ways with the ladies forever. "Goodbye stranger, it's been nice" is his kiss-off line. He loves all these woman, and doesn't want them to feel any sorrow or shame for their one-night stands. He's saying "What we had was fun, let's not make a big deal about it, have a great life." The "Some they do and some they don't" section is about how he categorizes women--i.e., those that will sleep with him and those that won't. Like a lot of SuperTramp, the song is ironic, playful, and bittersweet. The harmony is sweet and lilting and the melody catchy, but obviously the guy in the song has caused a lot of pain (without really meaning to) to a lot of women. He's also probably given a lot of pleasure to a lot of women. And he's also self-deluded about his own mortality--he will eventually lose his looks, and will be left alone. This could be the theme song for the Warren Beatty character in the movie "Shampoo." And it captures the tone of that bittersweet comedy too. |
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