Sell Me a Coat Lyrics
My summer girl takes little backward steps away
Jack frost took her hand and left me, jack frost aint so cool
Sell me a coat thats red or gold
Sell me a coat with little patch pockets
Sell me a coat cause I feel cold
Not like before, her smile was warming yesterday
See the trees like silver candy, feel my icy hand
Sell me a coat thats red or gold
Sell me a coat with little patch pockets
Sell me a coat cause I feel cold
See my tears like gentle rain
Thats the memory of a summer day
Sell me a coat thats red or gold
Sell me a coat with little patch pockets
Sell me a coat cause I feel cold
Sell me a coat with buttons of silver
Sell me a coat thats red or gold
Sell me a coat with little patch pockets
Sell me a coat cause I feel cold
One of Bowie's early 1967-1968 love songs. Jack Frost, I'm guessing, represents another man. The 'summer girl' could mean a fling, but I'm not quite sure. The main man in the song misses her like crazy and wants her back, so, Hello! What's this? I'll get her a nice coat! A little bribery never hurt! ...ok I made that up.
I tend to agree with the statement by davidbowiefan1 that Jack Frost represents another man.
“Jack Frost took her hand”
Taking someone’s hand is another way of saying getting married. The wedding ring is normally placed on a finger. The finger is, hopefully, attached to a hand, which is, hopefully, attached to the rest of the person.
In the song, he says that the woman used to make him feel warm. She could make the ice melt, metaphorically speaking. Then came along “Jack Frost” who swept her away and married her. Leaving him feeling abandoned and cold. Now every time he looks at her, this woman who once brought him joy, just brings him pain an misery. “The ice forgets to melt”.
When he is saying “sell me a coat”, it is another metaphor. The woman left him feeling cold, so he is looking for something to warm him up. The coat could be anything that someone might turn to in times of depression. Maybe alcohol, drugs, maybe another woman, just something to ease the pain, to make him less “cold”.
He clearly says sell me a coat because "I feel good." So it's not him buying the coat for the girl. I think he's resigned himself to the fact that he has lost her to Jack Frost, who I feel isn't another guy. I think he's saying that she literally died of freezing to death in the bitter cold.
But you're right, it was a fling, and so she doesn't really mean anything to him. So he can move on as easily as just saying, "Sell me a coat, 'cause I feel cold."
I agree with davidbowiefan1. It makes a lot more sense than just brushing off a girl's death because it was a little fling. I mean really ThornBirds! If you're attatched to a person in any way, no matter if it was just a fling or not, could you seriously conscienciously just forget about them when they died suddenly? Are you for real?
Jack Frost is the playful spirit of the winter.