Dirty Business

for everyone wondering what she's yelling, from The Virginia Companion (and it's actually Brian!!):

"After several failed attempts on my part in the studio to shout anything random that sounded "good", it was Sean Slade who suggested that I shout "Mishima" in time with the music. This was of course a nod to Yukio Mishima, the acclaimed Japanese playwright and poet, who committed seppuku after giving a speech intended to start coup d'etat. However you may interject any historical figure or gibberish of your choice."

And in the sheet music the lyrics there are marked as "!!! !!!" .... so I wouldn't read too much into that, ha.

Also may be of interest from the Virginia Companion:

"This one lives, thematically, with "Backstabber," though it was written a few years earlier. I was filled with a weird brand of vitriol for a few years there and, with no recent breakup providing a handy target, I turned to whatever else was making me angry.

White Suburban Girl Guilt dies hard.

At the time, there was a collection of checkout girls at Pearl Art & Craft Supplies on Massachusetts Avenue. I wanted them to like me."

These words haven't given me any epiphanies yet.... anyone else?!

The more I tihnk about nimzay's idea the more it grows on me; a highschool reunion. She's gone back and everything's changed because she's famous.

"She's the kind of girl..." ~ This is what they thought and said about her while she was in school.

"To all the ones who tried the most..." ~ The classic "big achievers"

"Lift your hats Off to the checkout girls with tattooed backs..." ~ Those who are STILL working in a checkout after all those years.

"To all the ones that hated me the most..." ~ They hated her in school, and still do, but they're trying to be civil, even friendly. But she isn't fooled, she knows they hate her.

"To all the ones who thought they knew me best a test to prove your prowess..." ~People who are saying "we were best friends" but in reality they didn't get along in school.

Poster Girl could refer to her being placed on a pedistool because she is famous. The rest perhaps describing the events of the reunion. Anyway, that's what I thought, after reading nimzay's post of course.

I seem to have taken away something very different from this song. From the first listen, this song seemed to be about a manipulative woman, who fishes around for "lonely" guys, uses her genuine problems to make them feel sorry for her, uses them, and tosses them when she's done. This could very well be because I had just been dumped by somebody exactly like that when I first heard this song, though I didn't realize what her "game" had been until it was all over.

If anything, I think this song highlights how art can, and should, mean different things to different people. I've had a hunch, given that several of their songs could have several interpretations, and they rarely seem to provide definitive meanings, that this has been the Dresden Dolls' intent with many, if not most, of their songs.

i love the hamlet references

"nobody outcrazies ophelia!" -the simpsons

i love this sond i cant wait for the new album to drop i think this song is about the dresden dolls as a band like them and the whole brigade and the fans really i love the line "to the checkout girls with tattooed backs theyd make an angels skin crawl if you ask"

This is a great song !! :D

Ah! I fucking LOVE this song! Every time i hear the piano, i wish i could just play like that, but thats kind of impossible for me coz i never really properly learnt staff notes and all that jazz and just play random cords a lot... which isn't very good when you need to read piano notes :P I'm a little confussed in what this song could be about. Someone help me out here?

I love this song so much! No idea what it means though... maybe that's why I like it so much, it keeps me puzzling over it.

here's the lyrics to the version on their myspace:

Raise your glass We have incorporated Place your bets We're all so sick of waiting Queen takes jack You got me this time but i"ll get you back So pick a number

To all the ones who tried the most was I supposed to cheer your efforts Sorry that I chose so poorly Golly gee, am I the poster girl?

She's the kind of girl who looks for love in all the lonely places The kind who comes to poker pockets stuffed with kings and aces She's the kind of girl who only asked you over when its raining Just to make you lie there catching water dripping from the ceiling

Lift your hats Off to the checkout girls with tattooed backs They'd make an angels' skin crawl If you ask them for assistance There's an even chance You'll get a number

To all the girls at pearl the surly boys who get to masticate them I've a prize for each and every one of you so just be patient To all the ones that hated me the most a toast You really had me going for a second I was nervous boy, am I the poster girl?

She's the kind of girl who gets her slings and arrows from the dumpster The kind who tells you she's bipolar just to make you trust her She's the kind of girl who leaves out condoms on the bedroom dresser Just to make you jealous of the men she fucked before you met her

To all the ones who thought they knew me best a test to prove your prowess Who was mine in '99? I want last names and current status To all the ones that hated me the most a toast you really had me going for second I was nervous, boy am I the poster girl for some suburban sickness? Better keep a healthy distance Now its up to you know what to do its pretty Dirty business

Ive read 'the dresden dolls diary' on blogger and I remember a post where Amanda tells about a ten year highschool reunion.. and the part "Who was mine in '99? I want last names and current status" makes me think of that.

I love this song more and more each time I listen to it.

What's the Hamlet reference? In the CD lyrics it says "boys who get to masticate them." Were they made to censor it, or is chewing your girlfriend a new trend I didn't know about?