Prison Girls

I get that maybe she is staying in a filthy hotel. She's really jumpy, like nervous for some reason. Then I think maybe some one slips in quietly, maybe breaks in. They're the shadow slipping under the door. She can't tell at first if this person is a lady or a man. She's then either raped or has voluntary sex. She doesn't know much about the person except she loves their long shadows, (shadow on the wall, I guess), and their gunpowder eyes. Then she's thinking about the prison convicts that might clean this up for community service. They'd like come in and clean the room and there would be no trace left of her or the incident. Or maybe she is the prison girl. IDK.

I think both 'sterilestriking' and 'SparkleNShine' are on the right track. Who knows what it is really about. I know she's in to movies, especially classics, so I wondered if it is about her being in a lonely motel, while on tour, watching one of those great B-movies on wild prison girls that they made in the 50's and 60's before going to sleep. They were deliciously noir with dark, severe lighting that cast long shadows and the women were wonderfully trashy and tough, with dark, smokey makeup.

This song really gets to me. It's phenomenal. I think it tells a story. I could be way off, but here is my take...

Verse One: Setting - Late at night in a prison cell. She's in that state between awake and asleep. She's dreaming of somewhere else, trying to keep the dream going because it's better than where she is. She envisions her cell as a hotel room. It's a logical comparison. It's not home. It's transient.

Verse Two: She hears the night guard and is trying to figure out which one it is. The guards that pass are like "humming helicopters. They only hover a while outside her cell. When they pass by the bars distort the light from the hallway like the blades of a fan would. She tries to discern who the voice belongs to because one of the guards routinely rapes her. She convinces herself she loves him. "I love your long shadows and your gunpowder eyes" refers to that guard. Because she never sees him during the daylight, shadows and darkened eyes are the only associations she can make with him.

Verse Three: She gets out of bed to follow the voice outside her cell. She turns on the light, but the guard turns it off. He does not wish to draw any unwanted attention. In darkness she stumbles to the floor and the guard takes her there. Although the prisoner is enjoying the attention, its a twisted sort of love. "A passage so poorly lit there are moths flying away from it," refers both to the location of their coupling, and also to the darkness of their relationship.

Verse Four: It is morning. The guard is long gone and the prisoner is once again waking up in her "hotel room," but seeing the other prison girls also rising to begin their chores reminds her that she is in fact in prison and the things that happen at night are not "real." Desperate to validate her night-time "relationship" she tell the other girls, i.e. "her audience" about the guard that comes to her cell a night. Their secret is out.

Verse Five: The other prison girls feel sorry for her. They know she will be punished for not keeping quiet. She's not the only one the guards rape. Some of the other girls even try to use sex to barter for favors such as cigarettes. It's an uneven trade.

Verse Six: It's sometime in the middle of the night. The girl is dead. The guard killed her. She's laying on the same floor where they used to have sex, her cold cheek pressed to the hard ground. The other girls are in bed, not thinking of much in particular. In the morning the news of her death will have spread. She will "wear" their thoughts, because they won't be able to think of anything else. She is a cautionary tale.

Final Line: In the girl's twisted mind there are no regrets. She loved her long shadowed night guard. She died happy.

I think it's:

A light switch spooks and runs away

&

The prison girls have filled their beds Their socks to dry above their heads

Something about it made me think of Miss Saigon on first listen. Still haven't really gotten grasp since then.

Are you kidding? Where's the comments? This is one of the Neko's best songs! I absolutely love the lyrics, especially: I love your long shadows, and your gunpowder eyes-----brilliant! just brilliant! ....to a passage so poorly lit, there are moths flying away from it------wonderful

anyone have insight into the meaning of the song? Not sure, don't know much 'bout prison but love this song

This song is very beautiful. I have no idea what it's about, though.

I get a dreamlike feeling from this song, both in the lyrics and the tone of it in general. The whole thing seems to take place in room she's sleeping and in the hallway outside that room. I got the impression she was staying in a hotel room, but I don't know what "prison girls" would be doing there or what they would represent.

Along with that, I find there to be noir-ish quality to the a whole thing, like a dark, grey-scale atmosphere. There's an air of danger to it, too: we have "gunpowder eyes" and "humming helicopters through the blades of a fan".

So, basically, I have no idea what she is talking about. I just wanted to convey my impressions to stir some discussion. My best guess is that she is referring to this whole darker side of life that she never has and probably will never experience, of "prison girls". Maybe she's haunted by this, which would explain why it's coming through in this dreamlike environment.

I love the end with the repetition of "I love your long shadows and your gunpowder eyes" with the piano.

Very Beautiful Song.....one of Neko's best. I'm not sure what the exact meaning(s) is, but the imagery and use of phrases are very powerful. Neko is a brilliant song-writer. This song is dark but wonderful, like many of her songs.