Stephanie Says

For me, this song is about a girl who feels like she's wasted her life, maybe she's had her heart broken a few times, or been close to people who let her down ('she wants to know/why she's wasted half her life on people she hates now'). The fact that she wants to know indicates an uncertainty - she genuinely doesn't know why life hasn't gone so well for her, maybe there are questions for her left unanswered.

I get the feeling she's kind of in limbo ('she wants to know/Why it is though she's the door she can't leave the room) - like, she's part of the world, but she isn't actually PART of it. it's the same feeling I get from the part about the telephone - she's connecting other people, in the same way that she is when she is 'the door'. But she's not talking on the phone herself. It makes her seem really lonely, and kind of destroyed, because now she is frozen and cold.

And to me it's kind of a plea for somebody to help her, because she's telling them how cold she's feeling, and talking about wanting to 'leave the world' but she keeps on politely asking questions to the people on the telephone (who to me seem likely to be the 'people she hates now') and.. it's just really sad.

I feel like she's stuck either in a particular place or in a particular mindspace, and she wants to get out of it but she can't. loneliness is the theme I get from it, mainly, and it's a bit heartbreaking.

I think that Stephanie is about a girl who is unable to get really close with people. People meet her and are friends with her but eventually they move on (she's the door but can't be the room) and she grows resentful while they regard her as cold-hearted (they call her Alaska.) But her isolation is self-imposed and is a product of her coldness. (It's all in her mind.)

So she questions why she lives in this isolation. But people wonder about her "Does she like living so distantly?" (Is it good or bad?) The answer is no, it's a cold and lonely existence. "It's so cold in Alaska."

Some songs can be interpreted word by word, some by the overall mood or feel. To me this song is more the latter. It gives me a feeling of disconnection, aloofness, resignation ... like much VU, I believe it is meant merely as a reflection.

To me the key to understanding this song is to realize that Stephanie is not a person. Stephanie is the automatic voice operator for the state of Alaska, who has reached consciousness. She hates the people she spends her whole life answering on the phone because she can’t be a part of their world. All she can do is ask “what country shall I say is calling from across the world”. She’s not afraid to die because she’s not really alive. The entire thing is in her “mind”. She is the door to the connections, but she can’t figure out why she can never leave the room. She wants to leave her electronic boxed in existence and be in the world, but she can’t. She’s so cold because even though she talks to people all day long she can never connect with them in any meaningful way, and it leaves her icy and cold hating all the people who can live in the real world.

This is such a great song; for some unknown reason I just love it. And it definitely had its rightful place on the Royal Tenenbaums soundtrack.

notice the similarities between stephanie says and caroline says from lou reed's solo work. he re-worked the song when he went out on his own, since stephanie says was never officially released on a vu album and he (apparently) owned the rights to it.

"But she's not afraid to die the people all call her Alaska"

I wonder if John Green named his character from "Looking For Alaska" after this song.

But she's not afraid to die the people all call her Alaska Between worlds so the people ask her 'Cause it's all in her mind it's all in her mind

this stanza reminds me of of the story of that Chris guy who they made the Into the Wild movie about. The Book is much better btw, but any Lou reed ever did was instant classic..

Many were the wrecks crashing round Warhol and his Factory. Velvet and Lou caught so many stories from that scene. I believe Stephanie grouped arond that bunch, dazzled by the starglaze and the creative and alternative lifestyle. Crude awakening to come, she turn deeper in selfloathing and drug abuse, turning away from the world, her former idols and especiallay all emotions.

AH Sweden

I love this. It's incredible how much I relate to this.. obviously the name but everything else as well.. I feel this song, it's great.