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Tailor Lyrics
When he said
When he said that he liked my cut of hair
I became a barber
When he said
When he said my scent was Eau de Fleurs
I became a perfumer
When he said
When he said he liked the clothes I wear
I became a tailor
And I sewed a party dress
In and out and in and out
With a needle and a thread
In and out and in and out
In my head the thought of him
In and out, in and out and in
When he said
When he said he was leaving
I took up the violin
When he said
When he said that my body he'd not miss
I became a sculptress
When he said
When he said that my face he'd soon forget
I became a poet
And the fiddle and the bow
In and out and in and out
And the chisel and stone
In and out and in and out
And the fountain pen
In and out, in and out and in
Now that he's gone away
There isn't anyone to say
If I'm a lady gay
Or a crazy woman
Now that he's gone away
There isn't anyone to say
If I'm a diamond
Or a dime-a-dozen
Didn't I gleam in my father's eye?
Who am I? Who am I?
Didn't I split my mother's side?
Who am I? Who am I?
Didn't I drink her nipple dry?
Who am I?
And no one taught me how to cry
Who am I?
Had to cry for what I wanted in the night
Who am I? Who am I?
Didn't I cry?
Who am I? Who am I?
When he said that he liked my cut of hair
I became a barber
When he said
When he said my scent was Eau de Fleurs
I became a perfumer
When he said
When he said he liked the clothes I wear
I became a tailor
In and out and in and out
With a needle and a thread
In and out and in and out
In my head the thought of him
In and out, in and out and in
When he said he was leaving
I took up the violin
When he said
When he said that my body he'd not miss
I became a sculptress
When he said
When he said that my face he'd soon forget
I became a poet
In and out and in and out
And the chisel and stone
In and out and in and out
And the fountain pen
In and out, in and out and in
There isn't anyone to say
If I'm a lady gay
Or a crazy woman
There isn't anyone to say
If I'm a diamond
Or a dime-a-dozen
Who am I? Who am I?
Didn't I split my mother's side?
Who am I? Who am I?
Didn't I drink her nipple dry?
Who am I?
And no one taught me how to cry
Who am I?
Had to cry for what I wanted in the night
Who am I? Who am I?
Didn't I cry?
Who am I? Who am I?
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I've always seen this song as someone who's talking about how their definition of themself comes from the one attached by others. in this case a partner, or a parent or a male figure of some description. Who ever he says she is, she beieves and now that she's gone she's left with no idea of who she is anymore, her identity lost without him.
This has always read as optimistic to me. In the first half, she's trying to be more of what he wants (when he said he liked the clothes I wore, I became a tailor), while in the second half her actions are chosen independently, with no real thought as to what he thinks.
"When he said he was leaving, I took up the violin" seems like a very positive sentiment to me. She's free now, "who am I" meaning, essentially, "now that I don't have to please this man, what am I able to be?" She is a whole person, and recounts it as she moves forward into an autonomous life.