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The Ballad of a Ladyman Lyrics
Eye cream and thigh cream
How 'bout a get high cream?
Nothing I do smoothes out the feelings of being used
The Ballad of a Ladyman
Freak that I am, live in Japan
Let's rock with the tough girls
In this part of the world
Take a photograph
Portrait of a Ladyman
Are we holding on to our pride a bit too long
Are we breaking you apart
Are we breaking on guitars
They say I've gone too far
With the image I've got and
They know I'd make a mint
With new plastic skin
And a hit on the radio!
Oh, tempations of a Ladyman
I could be demure like
Girls who are soft for
Boys who are fearful of
Getting an earful
but I gotta rock!
I'd rather be a ladyman
How many times will you decide
How many lives will you define
How much control should we give up of our lives
(You sit at home with an alibi
In case they call and ask you
Why all you do is go
"Ooh ahh ohh"
You're out of control but saying
"Ooh ahh ooh")
How 'bout a get high cream?
Nothing I do smoothes out the feelings of being used
The Ballad of a Ladyman
Let's rock with the tough girls
In this part of the world
Take a photograph
Portrait of a Ladyman
Are we breaking you apart
Are we breaking on guitars
With the image I've got and
They know I'd make a mint
With new plastic skin
And a hit on the radio!
Oh, tempations of a Ladyman
Girls who are soft for
Boys who are fearful of
Getting an earful
but I gotta rock!
I'd rather be a ladyman
How many lives will you define
How much control should we give up of our lives
(You sit at home with an alibi
In case they call and ask you
Why all you do is go
"Ooh ahh ohh"
You're out of control but saying
"Ooh ahh ooh")
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Corin Tucker said that the song is "almost making fun of how people see us, how people see what you're supposed to be when you're a woman in rock."
The song was inspired when the band was invited to the Bowlie Weekender music festival in England in 1999. Tucker explained, "We were all staying in little chalets or whatever and we had our own cabin and we were cabin 216. Someone wrote this message to us that was like, 'Cabin 216 ladymen.' And we were like, 'What?' It was meant to be a funny thing, but in this other way, it was really this naming of us. It was a subtle way of saying, 'Oh, you're different because you're a woman band and because you're in some ways political.' It's still seen as threatening to people. It's not like we had this weekend where we just relaxed with everyone and just hung out."
Some trivia: When AHOTBO came out Corin was asked in an interview where this song came about, she mentioned that they were at some festival in Europe and there was a sort of bulletin board (I guess for showtimes) and someone had put "Sleater-Kinney 8:30 'Ladymen'" so infantygirl seems correct.
i love this song!!
i thought it was about the pressures to be corporate-pretty and made-up in a way that sells records, and the conflict that indie-girls had if they didn't necessarily fit that standard. and "ladyman" was a term for somewhat androgynous looking women. sleater-kinney was saying that despite all the media pressure to conform to a certain standard of beauty they wanted to continue being their true selves.
(& they're hot anyway!!)
i think it's about the pressures put on women in the male-dominated music industry and dealing with the idea of how female artists should be. because they refuse to be "demure" they are seen as ladymen.
I will always wonder if this song is about visual kei (japanese glam rock)
It's about Kaia Wilson, co-owner of Mr. Lady Records as well as a member of The Butchies and Team Dresch. She put out a solo record around '97 called Ladyman. You should definitely check out her music if you haven't already.
this sounds like they are talking about critics and how the critics decide what they are. maybe.
whoa, it's about her???? cool
I used to listen to Team Dresch a lot...I've not heard them in a while
hesterprynne- what you said reminds me of what happened to the Donnas. . . . .