Be Good (Lion's Song)

I'm not sure of some of it, but I think the song is about an unrequited love, where the person tries to change himself to get another's attention, (by trimming his claws and mane), but she doesn't notice, and treats him the same, disregarding changes he's made.

Listening ONLY to the lyrics & NOT the video - it does seem that Be Good likes to flirt with the Lion, but doesnt want to get hurt so dares not try to take the relationship to seriously. Be Good is scared to get hurt, but gives the Lion just enough attention to frustrate and entice him without fully committing.

However, when you analyze the VIDEO meaning, put very simply, he was being encouraged (by a young lesser experinced cupid?) to be something he was not - advising him to act in a certain way that wasn't authentic. But Be Good noticed him when he was being real and himself.

This is what the director said he was doing:

Shot entirely on location in Baltimore, Maryland, director Pierre Bennu visually compliments Porter’s intense lyrics and smooth, soulful vocals with vibrant colors and whimsical storytelling, and sets it all against Charm City’s unique backdrop. As two lovers traverse their everyday lives amidst the mundane, Bennu draws on the power of everyday magic, the fear of loss, and the yearning for love in what he calls a “lullaby for your inner child.”

“The dance of love is something that can be done alone but it is also fun with somebody else,” says Bennu. “I wanted to show two characters; one who was so busy dancing alone, never looking to have a partner… and another so desperate for love that he would do whatever it took to get it. What that character finally realizes is that all he needed to offer forth was himself.”

The song, Be Good, is a light, playful, and somewhat innocent commentary on old school values and approaches to dating.

SHE is a simply ‘taming’ the lion; keeping him at bay. SHE is taking her time to do so and reminds him to Be Good (which HE hears so often that he thinks it’s his name). SHE pulls his tail when he misbehaves and continues this dance.

SHE is interested in him so SHE flirts (dances) and shows off her femininity and uses her womanly wiles to stir interest in HIM and it works (“Do she know what she does, when she dances around my cage?) Of course she does!

SHE’s in no hurry to rush the romance so she lets the interest build while teaching him control and to ‘cage’ his natural, raw urges/instincts/tendencies; and to be more gentle and refined (“so I trim my lion’s claws and cut my mane”).

SHE understands men (well, lions) and knows that their natural instincts are to hunt, kill, and overtake (“She says lions are made for cages just to look at in delight; you dare not let them out ‘cuz they might just bite”).

So SHE’s artful and crafty and graceful. SHE uses HER nature to sweetly calm HIS so that HE doesn’t hurt HER but gives HER what she needs.

It’s a delicate dance; allowing a man to be the best version of HIMSELF to be a better man for HER.

As a WOMAN, I can take a page from HER book.

I agree with what's been offered so far. I'd like to add my interpretation from the point of view of the caged lion whom she plays with, flirts with, teases, and ultimately breaks his heart. The lion nicknames her "Be Good" because that's what she says to him when she takes the relationship to the point where he wants to get physically intimate with her. "Don't be fresh." "Let's take things slow."

But she's been hurt before by other lions (or unfaithful liars) and that's why lions need to be kept in check for she fears that if she allows intimacy, she will be hurt again by the uncared beast.

So when she pulls his tail (gets him passionately worked up) but won't left him out of that "friendship" cage its hurtful to him. Lions are handsome and fun to be with until sex is introduced into the equation.

In the same way Sophia purrs at her estranged husband Harpo to "be nice" in the juke joint in "The Color Purple," Be Good tells the lion to not be bad and try to rush her into something she's not ready for - and may never be ready for with this particular lion.

Little boys to a grown man are told they are lion like and need to be domesticated.

Ms Be Good knows what she is doing when she uses cages to cause the 'lion' pain, to make him fear her, himself and to change his features but all the while he is treated the same.