submissions
| The Rolling Stones – Dead Flowers Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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the line about flowers on the grave is perhaps spiteful, but I really think he is trying to goad her (appealing to her compassion by referring to himself as 'ragged company', mocking her by saying she sits around on a silk upholstered chair and drives a 'rose pink cadillac') into having sex with him. he is mocking her sense of propriety by saying "I know that you think love consists of sending flowers by mail, but I need more than that."
why people like the song- it is about a girl who is more concerned with being 'good' than she is with paying attention to the feelings and desires of a man who wants her. I think a lot of people can relate to being spurned by someone for superficial reasons |
submissions
| The Rolling Stones – Dead Flowers Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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I like the application of this song into your life, but if you really want to carry the analogy further, than you (the speaker) are going to have a longer, more fulfilled life than your suit-wearing brother, and will be around to place flowers on his grave, giving you in a sense a victory |
submissions
| The Rolling Stones – Dead Flowers Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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the song obv. refers to heroin, and many singers have had a relationship (often harmful) with drugs. but I really think saying the ENTIRE song is about heroin is missing some pretty big clues.
its normal for users (addicts) to binge when going through a tough time, and so we shouldn't be surprised that Mick references it as part of coping with heart-break. But I really think the song is more about the girl than the dope |
submissions
| The Rolling Stones – Dead Flowers Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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the song obv. refers to heroin, and many singers have had a relationship (often harmful) with drugs. but I really think saying the ENTIRE song is about heroin is missing some pretty big clues.
its normal for users (addicts) to binge when going through a tough time, and so we shouldn't be surprised that Mick references it as part of coping with heart-break. But I really think the song is more about the girl than the dope |
submissions
| The Rolling Stones – Dead Flowers Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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If Susie is heroin, then what is she (it) doing on a silk upholstered chair? Or with a rose pink cadillac (not really something it seems that the speaker would drive)? |
submissions
| The Rolling Stones – Dead Flowers Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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I don't think its meant to be sweet at all. Who would send their lover dead flowers? I agree with you, I think he is essentially saying that he is going to live a long, fulfilled life and return to place roses on her grave, which is a symbolic victory |
submissions
| The Rolling Stones – Dead Flowers Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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I really agree w/ 99% of this, but I think that the 'dead flowers' (have you ever sent live flowers? you can't, once they are picked, they are dead) are not an insult, but the speaker's way of mocking the idea of courtly love. live is meant to be enjoyed, but Susie's notions of love consist of unimaginative gifts of flowers, rather than a living flower (herself) |
submissions
| The Rolling Stones – Dead Flowers Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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I don't know that he is dumping her, except maybe b/c she won't put out. The references to wealth he makes are to fancy things, not really describing the type of girl who goes out and parties every night (like the actresses you're describing did/do).
I really agree with other commenters though in that the girl he's leaving her for is actually heroin (heroin: drug, heroine: a female hero). I def. don't think she is doing heroin, and I really think the speaker is mocking her in the first stanze (roughly: "I know you think you're too good for me"). But line about putting flowers on her grave suggests something along the lines of him moving on, and having the last laugh. |
submissions
| The Rolling Stones – Dead Flowers Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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I don't know that it is ALL about heroin, it certainly seems to have more to do with this Susie girl (representative of white middle class values). I mean, she is sitting in a "silk upholstered chair", talks to "rich folk", drives in a "rose pink cadillac" (which at once suggests ridiculousness and wealth) and the "Kentucky Derby" all of which counter the idea that Susie has anything to do with heroin herself.
But the connection between heroin and poppies is nice.
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submissions
| The Rolling Stones – Dead Flowers Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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I agree that dead flowers represent a certain lack of love, but I don't think that he still loves her. Flowers are sent to those that you love (according to romantic notions of courtship), representing a woman's fertility. However, ALL flowers given to a lover are dead flowers, as they are no longer attached to the plant from which they came. Therefore, the speaker seems to be mocking the tradition of dead flowers, using it instead as a symbol for chastity (and equating chastity with death). |
submissions
| The Rolling Stones – Dead Flowers Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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why dead flowers though? it is not an image that one typically associates with love. why not just "flowers", or "red flowers"?
The "rose pink cadillac" certainly seems a little ridiculous, doesn't it? I really think the speaker is mocking her. |
submissions
| The Rolling Stones – Dead Flowers Lyrics
| 11 years ago
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The focus on dead flowers is a metaphor for unconsummated love. "Little Susie" (possibly referencing the Everly Brothers song "Wake Up Little Susie"). Rather than portraying Susie's practiced innocence as a positive, the speaker implies that love is supposed to be actively enjoyed rather than be limited to static "dead" romantic gestures such as sending a loved one flowers.
The reference to the needle and spoon (heroin) merely add to the overall mood of questioning society's preoccupation with propriety. Also, it is possible that the other girl Jagger mentions is a reference to heroin itself (a pun on heroin/heroine) |
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