Ophelia was a bride of God
A novice Carmelite
In sister cells
The cloister bells tolled on her wedding night
Ophelia was the rebel girl
A blue stocking suffragette
Who remedied society between her cigarettes
And Ophelia was the sweetheart
To a nation overnight
Curvaceous thighs
Vivacious eyes
Love was at first sight
Love was at first sight
Ophelia was a demigoddess in pre war Babylon
So statuesque a silhouette in black satin evening gowns
Ophelia was the mistress
To a Vegas gambling man
Signora Ophelia Maraschina
Mafia courtesan
Ophelia was the circus queen
The female cannonball
Projected through five flaming hoops
To wild and shocked applause
To wild and shocked applause
Ophelia was a tempest cyclone
A goddamn hurricane
Your common sense, your best defense
Lay wasted and in vain
For Ophelia'd know your every woe
And every pain you'd ever had
She'd sympathize and dry your eyes
And help you to forget
Help you to forget
And help you to forget
Ophelia's mind went wandering
You'd wonder where she'd gone
Through secret doors down corridors
She wanders them alone
All alone
fade to different spoken languages
A novice Carmelite
In sister cells
The cloister bells tolled on her wedding night
Ophelia was the rebel girl
A blue stocking suffragette
Who remedied society between her cigarettes
And Ophelia was the sweetheart
To a nation overnight
Curvaceous thighs
Vivacious eyes
Love was at first sight
Love was at first sight
Ophelia was a demigoddess in pre war Babylon
So statuesque a silhouette in black satin evening gowns
Ophelia was the mistress
To a Vegas gambling man
Signora Ophelia Maraschina
Mafia courtesan
Ophelia was the circus queen
The female cannonball
Projected through five flaming hoops
To wild and shocked applause
To wild and shocked applause
Ophelia was a tempest cyclone
A goddamn hurricane
Your common sense, your best defense
Lay wasted and in vain
For Ophelia'd know your every woe
And every pain you'd ever had
She'd sympathize and dry your eyes
And help you to forget
Help you to forget
And help you to forget
Ophelia's mind went wandering
You'd wonder where she'd gone
Through secret doors down corridors
She wanders them alone
All alone
fade to different spoken languages
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
Most important though, is the shortest stanza in the poem, which is my favorite. "I didn't drown by accident. I was a suicide. - At least let me call my mind my own - even when my heart was gone beyond recall."
What many people seem to forget is that Ophelia didn't die on accident, or at least the suggestion is heavy she didn't. In fact, a sexton in the play at her grave insists she had to have killed herself, which greatly upsets her brother of course because suicide is unforgivable and a one way ticket to Hell. I point out that she killed herself, that it was suicide, because it was not madness which killed her. Yes, she was torn and destroyed, broken inside and out over the death of her father and the supposed lost love of Hamlet. Yes, perhaps she was mad with grief (as suggested in the play) and distraught to the point of mad thoughts and speech. But what makes Ophelia's character so interesting, and why she and her name are used like in this song so much, is simply what she is. She is a woman, obedient to those she's loves, innocent, naive, optimistic, loyal, and loving. She is so loving that the loss of those she loved, her father and in a sense Hamlet, destroys her completely. Her heart has been shattered, her world has been left empty, the universe has been struck senseless and useless. Rather than wallow and become nothing but a shell of a person, Ophelia instead calls out those she feels has wronged her and her father. She gives people flowers, something her father was not given when he was buried, and then she gives Hamlet, and herself, rue, which is both a symbol of regret, and also a poisonous plant. To me this is a statement, "you will regret this Hamlet, because I will use this". After this, she is found drowned.
Today, if a woman decided to kill herself instead of living without her father and the love of a man we would call her weak, stupid, a classic case of thinking women are the weaker sex. But, in the play, Ophelia made her decision, a very big one, and had the strength to go through with it. As far as symbolism goes, Ophelia in the moments before her death was a very, very strong woman. Distraught, destroyed, and broken-hearted, yes, but very strong.
Back to this song. I have always heard this song as a description of various women, in various times, with very, very different lives. A nun, a 'demigoddess', a Marilyn Monroe type, a circus woman, a dark rebel girl (I always saw dark french brooding artist type), a mother, a mistress to a Vegas sleaze, the whole feminist movement, and a lost and broken woman (the last stanza). So very different, and yet still all holding one very important bit, which is part in the lyrics and part in the tone of how it's sung; they are all very powerful women. My favorite stanza is the Marilyn Monroe type one, depicting a very beautiful woman, and perhaps she has nothing else going for her, but she won the love of a nation overnight. Say what you will but that's power.
In short (and in case you went TLDR), this song in my opinion is a depiction of all women everywhere, no matter how different. We all may seem very different, in some cases like all we have in common is our gender, but we are all Ophelia, and ultimately, we all hold the power to be who and what we want, and we have the strength to make whatever it is we want happen.