Good comments already that I'll try to add to. It isn't just Josie entertaining all the boys ("til the girls say when"). She's not merely promiscuous -- she's a catalyst for the whole clique/neighborhood to get wild.
There's a great syllepsis in these lyrics: "Lay down the law and break it"... "Lay down the law" and "break the law" mean very different things, and aren't referring to the same "law". That's a smooth rhetorical device when you hear it.
The first reference to revelry in the song is "hats and hooters", which are elements of a child's party. It's very hard to imagine these youths actually partying with hats and hooters -- they're a metaphor. It's interesting that the song starts with these, then turns into late-night outdoor sex. That progression suggests that these kids are making that progression about now themselves, that they are teens not twentysomethings.
I've always been curious about the line "She prays like a roman with her eyes on fire." I imagine that she is, out of some familial requirement, bound to attend church or other situations involving prayer, but that you can see a wild look in her eye when she's praying, and know that her mind is on something else.
The music is a wonderful match for the lyrics. Larry Carlton has a jazzy instrumental version that's also good.
Good comments already that I'll try to add to. It isn't just Josie entertaining all the boys ("til the girls say when"). She's not merely promiscuous -- she's a catalyst for the whole clique/neighborhood to get wild.
There's a great syllepsis in these lyrics: "Lay down the law and break it"... "Lay down the law" and "break the law" mean very different things, and aren't referring to the same "law". That's a smooth rhetorical device when you hear it.
The first reference to revelry in the song is "hats and hooters", which are elements of a child's party. It's very hard to imagine these youths actually partying with hats and hooters -- they're a metaphor. It's interesting that the song starts with these, then turns into late-night outdoor sex. That progression suggests that these kids are making that progression about now themselves, that they are teens not twentysomethings.
I've always been curious about the line "She prays like a roman with her eyes on fire." I imagine that she is, out of some familial requirement, bound to attend church or other situations involving prayer, but that you can see a wild look in her eye when she's praying, and know that her mind is on something else.
The music is a wonderful match for the lyrics. Larry Carlton has a jazzy instrumental version that's also good.