Graham Parker

Platinum Blonde

2 Meanings

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Platinum Blonde Lyrics

Stuff comes down from the golden triangle
On ferries from Denmark to Helsingborg
The band strikes up but they're out of time
On synthesiser and washboard
Wooden tulips grow by the roadside
Made in a factory in Jonjoping
Fake glass baubles hang in the station
Just like the passenger's imitation
Then it hits you she was just the dregs
All you wanna do now is break her legs
Kick that brunette into a pond
Replace her with a...

[Chorus]
Platinum blonde (4x)

There's a secret world that you cannot enter
It's in the center of the darkest night
She's waiting there with a set of works
And a Swedish passport and something white
She walks past but you can't form a whistle
Even her lips look artificial
You wanna follow her but you can't swallow
Her act, it seems so superficial
Now you've shed the old one like a worn out shoe
It was all your fault but you blame her too
You know its phony but at least it's new
And it comes from a bottle like...

[Chorus]

[Repeat last part of Intro repeat with solo]

And in your heart there's a new addiction
Another friction that you can't resolve
She seemed alive but she is just a cipher
An imaginary postcard that just dissolved
Endless sunsets glow in the distance
Painted by Picasso's assistants
Perfect people travel in Volvos
Into the sunsets into the distance
You're just a passenger she's not a ticket
A foreign stamp you've got to lick it
Put it in the mail box
Put it in the fail box
You never seem to learn from the school of hard knocks
Then she walks past and laughs at the pond
You can't break a heart that doesn't respond, like...

[Chorus]

Submitted by

grtone41 On Apr 10, 2005

Temporary Beauty

You Can't Be Too Strong

Mercury Poisoning

Problem Child

Passive Resistance

[Chorus]
Platinum blonde (4x)

There's a secret world that you cannot enter
It's in the center of the darkest night 
She's waiting there with a set of works
And a Swedish passport and something white
She walks past but you can't form a whistle
Even her lips look artificial
You wanna follow her but you can't swallow
Her act, it seems so superficial 
Now you've shed the old one like a worn out shoe
It was all your fault but you blame her too
You know its phony but at least it's new
And it comes from a bottle like...

[Chorus]

[Repeat last part of Intro repeat with solo]

And in your heart there's a new addiction
Another friction that you can't resolve 
She seemed alive but she is just a cipher
An imaginary postcard that just dissolved
Endless sunsets glow in the distance
Painted by Picasso's assistants
Perfect people travel in Volvos
Into the sunsets into the distance
You're just a passenger she's not a ticket
A foreign stamp you've got to lick it 
Put it in the mail box
Put it in the fail box
You never seem to learn from the school of hard knocks
Then she walks past and laughs at the pond
You can't break a heart that doesn't respond, like...

[Chorus]

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GrtOne41

Submitter

2005-04-10 06:28:28

2 Meanings

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by GrtOne41

21y ago

OK, since it's my lyrics, I'll add what I think it means as well because I LOVE this song.

This song is about a woman who appears to be perfect on the outside (physically) and has someone attracted to them so much they are willing to drop anything and everything to be with her.

The song is presenting two definitions of the woman. The first of which is the one who wants her's definition, aka the perfect female specimen.

"Kick that brunette into a pond, replace her with a...platinum blonde"

He wants the girl so badly he's willing to drop his current girl for her. To me, the pond represents the old dating addage that there are 'plenty of fish in the sea'. The 'sea' or 'pond' being the dating pool.

Through the song, he learns that the grass definitely is not greener on the other side of the fence.

"She walks past but you can't form a whistle, even her lips look artificial"

Everything about the girl is fake/phony. She puts on whatever front she needs to in order to get what she wants. The guy is starting to realize that.

"You wanna follow her but you can't swallow Her act, it seems so superficial"

Ditto.

In the end, the guy is the one who ends up getting dropped for the next guy (sucker) willing to fall victim to the girl's false charm.

"She seemed alive but she is just a cipher An imaginary postcard that just dissolved "

He was so convinced that she was the perfect girl, it hurts that much more for him to realize she is most definitely not. What he saw was what she wanted him to see and how he sees the "real" her.

"Endless sunsets glow in the distance Painted by Picasso's assistants Perfect people travel in Volvos Into the sunsets into the distance"

The Norman Rockwell version of a perfect World. This was his vision, which he apparently still has of the perfect life with the perfect girl. However, as previously mentioned, it is all an illusion that the girl's fake charm and his mind convincing himself that was the case. However, a Picasso painting is anything but clear and perfect, thus what he sees is violently skewed.

"You never seem to learn from the school of hard knocks Then she walks past and laughs at the pond You can't break a heart that doesn't respond"

My favorite lines from the song. The guy does not learn that what he saw was fake (the easy way) and thus has to learn the hard way. The girl is now the one walking past "the pond", aka the dating pool and sees the guy as they are now finished. I think this means that he tried to extract revenge of some sort, but she never really loved him in the first place, and thus her heart cannot be broken because it doesn't respond to his love for her. She is laughing that he even attempted it. My guess is that he tried to leave her or threatened to when he saw through her fakeness and she was all for it since her cover was blown. He didn't really want to not be with her, he wanted to prove a point, however now he's back in the pond (single) and she's walking by laughing at his futile attempt to break her.

OK, since it's my lyrics, I'll add what I think it means as well because I LOVE this song.

This song is about a woman who appears to be perfect on the outside (physically) and has someone attracted to them so much they are willing to drop anything and everything to be with her.

The song is presenting two definitions of the woman. The first of which is the one who wants her's definition, aka the perfect female specimen.

"Kick that brunette into a pond, replace her with a...platinum blonde"
- He wants the girl so badly he's willing to drop his current girl for her. To me, the pond represents the old dating addage that there are 'plenty of fish in the sea'. The 'sea' or 'pond' being the dating pool.

Through the song, he learns that the grass definitely is not greener on the other side of the fence.

"She walks past but you can't form a whistle, even her lips look artificial"
- Everything about the girl is fake/phony. She puts on whatever front she needs to in order to get what she wants. The guy is starting to realize that.

"You wanna follow her but you can't swallow 
Her act, it seems so superficial"
- Ditto.

In the end, the guy is the one who ends up getting dropped for the next guy (sucker) willing to fall victim to the girl's false charm.

"She seemed alive but she is just a cipher 
An imaginary postcard that just dissolved "
- He was so convinced that she was the perfect girl, it hurts that much more for him to realize she is most definitely not. What he saw was what she wanted him to see and how he sees the "real" her.

"Endless sunsets glow in the distance 
Painted by Picasso's assistants 
Perfect people travel in Volvos
Into the sunsets into the distance"
- The Norman Rockwell version of a perfect World. This was his vision, which he apparently still has of the perfect life with the perfect girl. However, as previously mentioned, it is all an illusion that the girl's fake charm and his mind convincing himself that was the case. However, a Picasso painting is anything but clear and perfect, thus what he sees is violently skewed.

"You never seem to learn from the school of hard knocks 
Then she walks past and laughs at the pond 
You can't break a heart that doesn't respond"
- My favorite lines from the song. The guy does not learn that what he saw was fake (the easy way) and thus has to learn the hard way. The girl is now the one walking past "the pond", aka the dating pool and sees the guy as they are now finished. I think this means that he tried to extract revenge of some sort, but she never really loved him in the first place, and thus her heart cannot be broken because it doesn't respond to his love for her. She is laughing that he even attempted it. My guess is that he tried to leave her or threatened to when he saw through her fakeness and she was all for it since her cover was blown. He didn't really want to not be with her, he wanted to prove a point, however now he's back in the pond (single) and she's walking by laughing at his futile attempt to break her.

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by pharmageek

18y ago

Hey GrtOne41, thanks for taking the time and effort to fully flesh out the lyrical storyline you developed for this particular song. BTW, I've been a huge fan of Graham Parker for umpteen yrs. ever since "Howling Wolf" first came out in the late '70s. Anyway, "Platinum Blonde" to me sure sounds like the aggro musical counterpart to "Temporary Beauty" off one of G.P.'s older LPs, Another Grey Area...just my humble opinion, of course. p.s.--actually my most favorite G.P. album has to be "Squeezing Out Sparks" when he was backed by his old band, the Rumour. :))

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