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Pretty Polly Lyrics
Polly wouldn't listen to her Mama
Polly wouldn't listen to her Papa
She tried to make the swinging city scene
And now there's not a place that Polly hasn't been
Polly, pretty pretty Pollyanna
Pretty pretty Pollyanna
Pretty Polly Garter
Oh, I think that pretty Polly should have stayed at home
Pretty Polly, dressed as jolly as can be
She's so darling, all the fellas do agree
And half a million people can't be wrong
Oh, I think that pretty Polly should have stayed at home
Polly wrote a letter to her Mama
Polly made confessions to her Papa
Mummy's proud 'cause Polly's still in chains
She's happy now her baby's coming home again
Pretty Polly, she learned that life is just a game
She is sorry, she just had to break the chains
And Mama knows, cause Mama was the same
Oh, she's happy now her baby's coming home again
Polly, pretty pretty Pollyanna
Pretty pretty pretty pretty Pollyanna
Pretty Polly Garter
Oh, Polly, pretty pretty Pollyanna
Pretty pretty pretty pretty Pollyanna
Pretty Polly Garter
I think that pretty Polly should have stayed at home
Polly wouldn't listen to her Papa
She tried to make the swinging city scene
And now there's not a place that Polly hasn't been
Pretty pretty Pollyanna
Pretty Polly Garter
Oh, I think that pretty Polly should have stayed at home
She's so darling, all the fellas do agree
And half a million people can't be wrong
Oh, I think that pretty Polly should have stayed at home
Polly made confessions to her Papa
Mummy's proud 'cause Polly's still in chains
She's happy now her baby's coming home again
She is sorry, she just had to break the chains
And Mama knows, cause Mama was the same
Oh, she's happy now her baby's coming home again
Pretty pretty pretty pretty Pollyanna
Pretty Polly Garter
Oh, Polly, pretty pretty Pollyanna
Pretty pretty pretty pretty Pollyanna
Pretty Polly Garter
I think that pretty Polly should have stayed at home
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Urg, it's just called 'Polly'
An incredibly varied, underrated song. I'm a big Kinks fan and think this is one of their best.
There's always a tension in Kinks songs between celebrating and satirizing conventional values. On the face of this, it's a pretty straightforward song about a young girl who goes off to the city and lives a wild --and we can assume sexual --life on her own, and then comes back home.
It seems as though the Kinks are waving a disapproving finger at her --but some ambiguity creeps in with the two versions of the "chains" line. Are the chains on or off for Polly? And is that a good or a bad thing?