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Rattlesnakes Lyrics
Jodie wears a hat though it hasn't rained for six days
She says a girl needs a gun these days
Hey on account of those rattlesnakes
On account of those rattlesnakes
She looks like Eve Marie Saint
In on the waterfront
She reads Simone de Beauvoir
in her American circumstance
She's less than sure if her heart has come
To stay in San Jose
And her neverborn child haunts her now
As she speeds down the freeway
As she tries her luck with the traffic police
Out of boredom more than spite
She never finds no trouble, she tries too hard
She's oblivious despite herself
She looks like Eve Marie Saint
In on the waterfront, she says
All she needs is therapy
All you need is love, is all you need
Jodie never sleeps cause there are always needles in the hay
She says a girl needs a gun these days
Hey on account of the rattlesnakes
Hey on account of the rattlesnakes
She looks like Eve Marie Sain
In on the waterfront
As she reads Simone de Beauvoir
In her American circumstance
Her heart's like crazy paving
Upside down and back to front, she says
It's so hard to love when
Love was your great disappointment
A girl needs a gun these days
On account of the rattlesnakes
She says a girl needs a gun these days
Hey on account of those rattlesnakes
On account of those rattlesnakes
In on the waterfront
She reads Simone de Beauvoir
in her American circumstance
To stay in San Jose
And her neverborn child haunts her now
As she speeds down the freeway
As she tries her luck with the traffic police
Out of boredom more than spite
She never finds no trouble, she tries too hard
She's oblivious despite herself
In on the waterfront, she says
All she needs is therapy
All you need is love, is all you need
She says a girl needs a gun these days
Hey on account of the rattlesnakes
Hey on account of the rattlesnakes
In on the waterfront
As she reads Simone de Beauvoir
In her American circumstance
Her heart's like crazy paving
Upside down and back to front, she says
It's so hard to love when
Love was your great disappointment
On account of the rattlesnakes
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This is one of the most heart breaking songs I have ever heard. Both the lyricist and Tori Amos have such sympathy with the character.
I believe rattlesnakes symbolise potential danger but the song itself conveys a story of someone who has got a little lost in the hurts of love and relationships and is left with no conclusion or solution, just a wish to never re experience those pains. The song is not about any immediate danger. She over compensates "Jodie wears a hat although it hasn't rained for six days". We hear the character has become apt at steering away from these situations "Jodie never sleeps cause there are always needles in the hay". I always felt that lyric was contrasting the more playful side of love and romance against the potential for hurt. The needles in the lovers hay stack. I feel the character wanting to cut herself off completely from any pleasure out of fear of pain so much so that "her never born child haunts her now as she speeds down the freeway" completely bored and at a loss with life and herself. She is reading philosophical books for meaning and still finds "she's oblivious despite herself". She acknowledges that love was her great disappointment. When she says all she needs is therapy it is as if a friend is echoing back to her "all you need is love, is all you need". In concert when Tori sings this she pays homage to the Beatles pausing over the lyrics "all you need is love".
Love this cover, it's amazing. I think it's about a lonely girl. So sad. 'Her never-born child haunts her now as she speeds down the freeway' is such a sad line. I think HawaiianHigh described it really well. It's about a girl who's been so hurt she's afraid to love again - because 'love was her great disappointment'. The rattlesnakes symobolise danger, perhaps just men in general (after all, snake, penis, c'mon.) She's scared of men, scared falling in love and getting hurt again. The 'she reads Simone de Beauvoir in her American circumanstance' line is such a good one, and very telling I think, given de Beavoir is a feminist.
Strange Little Girls further solidifies Tori's placement on the top shelf of the feminist(s) artists/musicians/songwriters archives.
For me, Tori's entire catalog to this point can be narrowed down to a single line (ironically from a cover). This is what Tori does for me, has been to me and will always remain...
"She reads Simone de Beauvoir in her American circumstance"
perfection.
what a line..."her hearts like crazy paving -upside down and back to front". out of interest Lloyd Cole the writer studied English/philosophy was born in Derbyshire-and moved to America hence the cross culturalism. dig out some Lloyd Cole -great stuff
what a line..."her hearts like crazy paving -upside down and back to front". out of interest Lloyd Cole the writer studied English/philosophy was born in Derbyshire-and moved to America hence the cross culturalism. dig out some Lloyd Cole -great stuff
i think the girl in this song has been raped by someone she knows... "wears a hat".. (to cover the societal shame) "never born child"... obvious... "all she needs is therapy"... again society's solution.... "when love was your great disappointment"... obvious... very sad song.... almost forgot... she needs a gun to shoot the perpertrator...