Marry Me

It's a very cynically wonderful song, poking at the oppression women have gone through in the past (and present...D: ) and the 'wonders' of being a rich young wife. I love the peacock line, for Emilie can even make giving head sound elegant. xD Pardon my crudeness.
But yar, wonderful, wonderful song. =D

Someone got the Henry VIII thing right, but what they didn't catch on to was that it is based on Catherine Howard, who was notoriously the most frivolous and stupid of all of Henry's wives. "...God he's ugly..." Henry was supposed to have been handsome at the time of his marriage to Anne. The "...until husband finds someone younger" bit is evidence that it's about Henry VIII, not Marie Antoinette, and the "Father sold me" part is there because women were playing chips in royal courts during that time period. TADA!

Though the melody for this song is upbeat, the actual lyrics themselves are quite depressing. A girl is stuck in horrifically unhappy marriage to a man that she not only doesn't love, but finds to be loathesome. She does the only things she can do in order to passive-aggressively fight against her lot in life- she drinks, parties, and has affairs. Though she is very triumphant about the fact that she'll never bear her real husband's children, at the end of the day she is still a deeply unhappy creature because she is not free to make her own choices. The black humor of this song is Emilie at her lyric best.

It reminds me of Ingmar Bergman's "Cries and Whispers," especially these lines:

"Then I break a glass and I slit my own innermost thigh So that I can pretend that I’m menstru...well, unavailable"

That, in a way, happens, in the movie.

Before I get into my interpretation of the song, I wanted to point out something that's been bugging me. The only relation that Marie Antoinette would have to this song would be the beheaded part because, well, she was beheaded. But she never cared about extravagances such as hair and clothes, she never slept around, and she did not hate her husband. Before the revolution she gave tons of money to charity, gave up a years worth of private spending money to suffering families because members had died in a tragic accident, started a home for unwed mothers, adopted three orphans, and sold her silverware to buy more money for the starving people of France while she herself ate cheap barely bread. She was rumored to have had several affairs but there is no solid evidence of that, and there is no historical evidence that suggests that she and Axel von Ferson were anything more than friends. And while she did gamble, party, and have fun, she settled down once she had kids. Not to mention that during the actual revolution, Marie Antoinette made a lot of the decisions because Louis XVI was an incompetent shlub, as my old history teacher liked to call him. She was basically his best advisor during the war. I apologize if I come off as pretentious, but I always thought that Marie Antoinette was a good person and I had done a huge report on her during my sophmore year of highschool so I read several database articles on her, plus her biography. It's...a reaction I guess to just correct these misconceptions. Sorry if I irritated anyone.

Now as for the song. I believe that it's about women in the Victorian era of London. Emilie Autumn seems quite facinated with that era and has even mentioned that it was the highest point of oppression for women. Often they were forced into marrying a wealthy man for their status and money and because they were women they couldn't say anything about it. They could only bow their head and go along with it. So during her suffering she'll probably find something like wine to soothe her pain. But everyone thought that because of the wealth and the money that these women would be okay because they could have everything they want. Pretty clothes, hair, jewelry--anything. As for the faking a period bit, she's just using it as an excuse not to have sex. The women were breeding machines and having babies was all they were thought to be good for. But if she's on her period, she's thought to be dirty and untouchable. Therefor, her husband will not want to have sex.

So basically, I guess everything mentioned in this song is an allusion to a Victorian woman's way of fighting back. If she can't do it publicly, she'll find sneakier ways to oppose what people are trying to force her to do. Forced to marry a man she hates--have an affair, sleep with a man she likes. Demanded to have babies, preferably boys--cut her thigh and pretend she's on her period so her husband won't touch her, then get pregnant from her lover.

It's the song of empowerment for Victorian girls!

This song is about Henry VIII fifth wife Catherine Howard, who was significantly younger then him, was pretty much forced into marrying the king by her family, and had an affair with Thomas Culpepper. The song is describing her feelings towards the old, fat, and injured Henry and the title her marriage gave her. She was young and wanted to wear pretty dress and jewelry not really giving any thought to what would come from being Queen. She was later tried and found guilty of adultery and beheaded on the 13th of February, 1542.

I think any specific historical reference my be stretching it. Also, any feminist reading is a bit one sided. For me, the deeper message, whether intended by Emilie or not, is the fact that life is not always what we want it to be, but it is important to accept that what is is and defiantly make the most of it. I see the narrator's attitude as an example we should all aspire toward in handling life's disappointments.

I love the music, I love the lyrics. Both music and lyrics amusing, humourous, (technically) historically accurate, and just damn likable. Look at the rhyming in the verses leading into the pre-chorus then chorus.

I'm pretty sure I'd have to agree with NoxAria and say that if there is a specific reference she was going for, it would be Catherine Howard. Henry was said to be quite handsome when he married Anne Boleyn. She was falsely accused of adultery and incest as an excuse for Henry to get rid of her. Catherine was executed for cheating as well, only in her case she had in fact commited adultery. She was also the most frivilous of his wives.

As for Marie Antoinette, only the chorus really matches her. She actually loved her husband. Not to mention Louis would not be looking for someone younger. As far as I know he was famous for being shy and hardly (if ever) had any mistresses.

Another little factoid: One of Henry VIII's favorite meals was peacock.