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Shores of California Lyrics
He's been trying with limited success
To get this girl to let him get into her dress
But every time he thinks he's getting close
She threatens death before he gets a chance
And that's the way it is in Minnesota
And that's the way it is in Oklahoma
That's the way it's been since protozoa
First climbed onto the shores of California
And she's been trying with limited success
To get him to turn out the lights and dance
'Cause like any girl, all she really wants
That fickle little bitch, romance
That fickle little bitch, romance
And that is why a girl is called a tease
And that is why a guy is called a sleaze
And that's why god made escort agencies
One life to live, and mace, and GHB
And that's the way it is in Minnesota
And that's the way it is in Oklahoma
That's the way since the animals and Noah
First climbed onto the shores of California
Must not be too kind
Stop thinking love is blind
Clench your fists, yeah, write:
"She's just not my type..."
Why all these conflicting specifications?
Maybe to prevent overpopulation
All I know is that all around the nation
The girls are crying and the boys are masturbating
And that's the way it is in Minnesota
And that's the way it is in Oklahoma
That's the way Aristophanes and homer
Wrote the Iliad and Lysistrata
(Not in that order)
And that's the way it is in Minnesota
And that's the way it is in Oklahoma
That's the way it's been since protozoa
First climbed onto the shores of California
To get this girl to let him get into her dress
But every time he thinks he's getting close
She threatens death before he gets a chance
And that's the way it is in Oklahoma
That's the way it's been since protozoa
First climbed onto the shores of California
To get him to turn out the lights and dance
'Cause like any girl, all she really wants
That fickle little bitch, romance
That fickle little bitch, romance
And that is why a guy is called a sleaze
And that's why god made escort agencies
One life to live, and mace, and GHB
And that's the way it is in Oklahoma
That's the way since the animals and Noah
First climbed onto the shores of California
Stop thinking love is blind
Clench your fists, yeah, write:
"She's just not my type..."
Maybe to prevent overpopulation
All I know is that all around the nation
The girls are crying and the boys are masturbating
And that's the way it is in Oklahoma
That's the way Aristophanes and homer
Wrote the Iliad and Lysistrata
(Not in that order)
And that's the way it is in Oklahoma
That's the way it's been since protozoa
First climbed onto the shores of California
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Not that I agree with your interpretation in the least, trytaker, but "In short, this is a lovely-sounding song but the lyrics are atrocious and vile"
Welcome to the Dresden Dolls?
Love this song. It's obviously about different priorities women and men have in relationships.
Here's a line I don't quite get:
that's the way Aristophanes and Homer wrote the Iliad and Lysistrata
Does this have some deeper meaning, beyond just being another example of how life has been like this since the time of the ancient Greeks?
"Here's a line I don't quite get:
that's the way Aristophanes and Homer wrote the Iliad and Lysistrata
Does this have some deeper meaning, beyond just being another example of how life has been like this since the time of the ancient Greeks? "
LOL im probably one of the few people that got that! :P
We read lysisstrata in school and
Illiad ( i believe not sure) is the story of hellen of troy and the war and lysisstrata is a Satire where the women of a city refuse sex to their husbands to end th 10 year war in greece. so in a way its the to extremes men going ot war for a women and well sex.. and women stoping a war with sex ^_^
That line made me giggle!
but its also to emphize the this has been going on for a while.
this is one of my favorites on the album. Because I have been is this situation a couple of times. The girls are crying and the boys are masturbating. The music is amazing and I love it.
I did wonder if it was sarcastic, as it's so over-the-top, but sex is always so very negative every time it comes up - Sex Changes, Coin-Operated Boy, First Orgasm - that I can't help but think it's not. I suppose it's hard to say for sure.
Try taker you shot yourself in the foot in your angry rant. Even assuming your guess of the song's meaning is right; your claim that the Lysistrata mention is irrelivent is completely illogical. As you wrote "(the women) declare that they would rather die than give up sex, but finally reluctantly agree because they want the war to end." Clearly shows that the women in the book did not value sex as much as some sort of emotional aspect (in this case ending a war) In the case of men, sex WAS their #1 priority in the story, as they abandoned their emotional "needs" (in this case the war)
Ironically enough that isn't probably even the point of the song. " and she's been trying with limited success to get him to turn out the lights and dance" There we see that the girl was interested in sex.
Amanda seems to say that it's a pity because girls and guys DO want the same things but all over the world "the girls are crying and the boys are masturbating"
yeah, i agree with you all. 1) stop heaping shit on tyraker, Amanda, everyone. free speech guys. 2) i think the song is about a sort of war of the sexes. for some reason i don't think this song is sarcastic. yes its a bit stereotypical re. gender, not normal Dresden Dolls territory (has anyone seen the paradise dvd?), but normally you can tell when Dolls songs are being sarcastic. another thing, this song gives me the shits cause its so poppy. i got scared when i heard it because if the Dresden Dolls, who are amazing and unique and i love them, start making more songs like this they're in danger of selling out. nightmare-inducing thought. thats what i have to say.
Regarding the supposedly-loved Lysistrata debate:
I think Amanda is referring to the fact that women don't only want sex out of a relationship. Though they women were reluctant and shocked at the fact that Lysistrata was asking them to withhold sex from their husbands, because the women enjoyed sex as well, they saw that they had to in order to stop the war.
And let us remember that, yes, the play is satirical.
Has anyone seen the video? It is a complete "California Girls" parody. In Amanda's MySpace blog she says she was surprised people didn't make the connection between the video and David Lee Roth's video.
People who think Amanda Palmer is being a man-hater aren't listening to the way she describes women. In the first verse, the girl threatens to kill the guy (who it seems like she's involved with and interested in) just because he wants to have sex with her! That's not being assertive, that's being bitchy, and it's not a postive characterization any more than the horny bastard guy.
I think she's making fun of the way people view the other gender, and maybe also sort of insulting those cases where it's true. Nobody would be interested in a man who viewed GHB as an option and spent all his time choking the chicken, and likewise no one would want a relationship with a woman who didn't do anything but cry and watch soap operas. Both cases are ridiculous.
In the bridge, where she sings: "must not be too kind stop thinking love is blind clench your fists yeah write “she's just not my type...” I'd say she's telling guys in general that they don't have to put up with the death-threatening girls simply because it's the stereotype, and that women exist who want both sex and romance, or who at least have a sense of humor. Since the song's pretty even to both sides everywhere else, it's probably implied that the same is true for women: they can find men who care about them instead of men who only want to get into their pants.
The fact that everything is coming from California makes the stereotypes seem fake, too. I mean, it's the land of Hollywood and plastic surgery...