She Came In Through the Bathroom Window Lyrics
Protected by a silver spoon
But now she sucks her thumb and wanders
By the banks of her own lagoon
Didn't anybody see?
Sunday's on the phone to Monday,
Tuesday's on the phone to me
She worked at fifteen clubs a day
And though she thought I knew the answer
Well I knew what I could not say.
And got myself a steady job
And though she tried her best to help me
She could steal but she could not rob
Didn't anybody see?
Sunday's on the phone to Monday,
Tuesday's on the phone to me
Oh yeah.
"Sunday's on the phone to Monday, Tuesday's on the phone to me" is a play on words describing how fast gossip is spread.
I didn't know about the break-in until I read it here, but I'd always vaguely imagined that it was about a girl from a privileged background ("protected by a silver spoon" - 'born with a silver spoon in your mouth'), but who was playing at being bohemian. I have an image of a girl with blonde hair climbing through a window to see her lover. She had abandoned her wealthy parents' hopes for her and was working as a dancer in clubs or the stage, even though she didn't have to, unlike the other girls, and still had the comfort of knowing she could go back to her parents.
The lines "And so I quit the police department/ And got myself a steady job/And though she tried her best to help me/ She could steal, but she could not rob", well, obviously a policeman is a steady job if ever there was one, so I took it ironically to mean he turned to crime as it paid better, 'steady' in that sense. And then I thought maybe the girl was a bit useless at robbing, and the line "she could steal but she could not rob" I imagined might be about how the middle/upper classes that she comes from "steal" from the working class by taking advantage of them, but are unprepared to actually go out robbing houses.
But that was just my imagination, I don't know what they were thinking of when they wrote it! The burglary at Paul's house makes a bit more sense of the context, but the last verse is still a bit of nonsensical fantasy, I think.
I love this song.
I think Paul admitted the song was inspired by a fan (or fans) braking into his house, but this does not actually explain the meaning of the whole song. The song definitely needs more interpretation (because most of it obviously came from his imagination, and because of the way it's written). And I love your interpretation, thank you!
I think Paul admitted the song was inspired by a fan (or fans) braking into his house, but this does not actually explain the meaning of the whole song. The song definitely needs more interpretation (because most of it obviously came from his imagination, and because of the way it's written). And I love your interpretation, thank you!
I understood the line "And so I quit the police department" a little differently, though. I thought that the man could not stay a policeman knowing things about the woman he now lives with (who doesn't rob, but does other illegal things,...
I understood the line "And so I quit the police department" a little differently, though. I thought that the man could not stay a policeman knowing things about the woman he now lives with (who doesn't rob, but does other illegal things, could be drugs for example).
@luciemabelle : I think your explaination is quite good. what i think of the lines "she could steal but she could not rob" It could be that she was able to steal his heart but she was not a robber at heart.
@luciemabelle : I think your explaination is quite good. what i think of the lines "she could steal but she could not rob" It could be that she was able to steal his heart but she was not a robber at heart.
@luciemabelle : I think your explaination is quite good. what i think of the lines "she could steal but she could not rob" It could be that she was able to steal his heart but she was not a robber at heart.
@luciemabelle : I think your explaination is quite good. what i think of the lines "she could steal but she could not rob" It could be that she was able to steal his heart but she was not a robber at heart.
Somethin like this:
She’s a spoiled run away who became a prostitute. He’s a cop but secretly a pimp on the side. Her pimp. He instructs her to steal the wallets of her patrons. When one day she tried to break in and rob her pimp’s apartment not knowing he’s also cop, his cop buddies, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday (all cop last names — ala Joe Friday) let him know. Now he must pretend he doesn’t know her. He doesn’t press charges. But sure enough it gets out that he does know her. And more importantly, how he knows her. Then he resigns in disgrace, becomes a full time criminal, but the girl gets caught breaking in again somewhere else. Now they’re both caught. She gets sent home. And he’s singing this song from jail.
Paul actually wrote this song after some teenage girls broke into his house through the bathroom window.
steal but could not rob?????????????
To steal is to take from someone without intent of returning. To rob someone is to take something by means of force or threat. Robberies are normally violent in nature while stealing is more sneaky or passive. It speaks volumes to her character to say "she could steal but she could not rob".
To steal is to take from someone without intent of returning. To rob someone is to take something by means of force or threat. Robberies are normally violent in nature while stealing is more sneaky or passive. It speaks volumes to her character to say "she could steal but she could not rob".
And so I quit the police department and got myself a steady job...two and a half decades of policing a ghetto and I fully appreciate what Paul is talking about!
"and though she tried her best to help me, she could steal, but she could not rob"
it sounds like shes not good enough for him she always tried yet it was never enough
it would make sense in the context of him trying to pull a heist but can not bc she helps and is not good enough! and she talked herself up a bunch by saying she could make all this money "She said she'd always been a dancer, She worked at 15 clubs a day" but come on, its The Beatles, there has to be something deeper
thats just an idea
however, i've listened to this song ever since i was young and it always sounded like it was sexual
"she could steal but she could not rob"
"she could steal but she could not rob"
I take this to mean that she could break into people's homes and take what isn't hers, but in a direct confrontation with someone she can't stand her ground. I see robbing more as holding a gun to someone's head and saying, "Give me your wallet!".
I take this to mean that she could break into people's homes and take what isn't hers, but in a direct confrontation with someone she can't stand her ground. I see robbing more as holding a gun to someone's head and saying, "Give me your wallet!".
"Now she sucks her thumb and wanders/By the banks of het own lagoon" to me is her contemplating the direction her life has taken and how she's failed at living her dreams. This ties into "Didn't anybody tell her?/Didn't anybody see?/Sunday's...
"Now she sucks her thumb and wanders/By the banks of het own lagoon" to me is her contemplating the direction her life has taken and how she's failed at living her dreams. This ties into "Didn't anybody tell her?/Didn't anybody see?/Sunday's on the phone to Monday/Tuesdays on the phone to me." with the way that days connect and time flies so swiftly that one day you're a pretty young wealthy woman breaking into people's homes for sport and the next you're middle aged and sitting by the dismal lagoon of your own life wondering where you went wrong.
Great tune, the longer version is interesting as well.
Paul wrote this track during a trip to America in June 68 doing business with Capitol records, where he recommenced his relationship with Linda Eastman.
The line "..and so I quit the police department" was inspired by the name of the police officer in New York, who was assigned to him. Paul noticed that his name was Eugene Quits and so he worked part of the name into the final verse.
Heh, people think it has to do with Paul's "death"... teehee.