I was told that this song tells the story of a young, rape victim who is too ashamed to tell anyone the truth of what happened. The girl in the song is described coming back around "like nothing really happened", and with the line "good enough to hire not good enough to marry", which, to me, indicates some sort of unwanted, sexual encounter. This is supported by the fact that the people described in the song inhabit the south (old plantation), which tells me that any discussion of an inappropriate sexual encounter would be a shameful burden or a taboo on a young girl. Truly a beautiful, thoughtful and deep song by one of the greats of our time. The second best Bruce in music, after his royal Bossness (Bruce Springsteen, of course).
I can't tell from the song if the girl was raped or if the encounter was mutual, but I think the girl's parents believed that the hired hand wasn't "good enough" for their daughter, thus the line, "good enough to hire / Not good enough to marry."
I can't tell from the song if the girl was raped or if the encounter was mutual, but I think the girl's parents believed that the hired hand wasn't "good enough" for their daughter, thus the line, "good enough to hire / Not good enough to marry."
I was told that this song tells the story of a young, rape victim who is too ashamed to tell anyone the truth of what happened. The girl in the song is described coming back around "like nothing really happened", and with the line "good enough to hire not good enough to marry", which, to me, indicates some sort of unwanted, sexual encounter. This is supported by the fact that the people described in the song inhabit the south (old plantation), which tells me that any discussion of an inappropriate sexual encounter would be a shameful burden or a taboo on a young girl. Truly a beautiful, thoughtful and deep song by one of the greats of our time. The second best Bruce in music, after his royal Bossness (Bruce Springsteen, of course).
I can't tell from the song if the girl was raped or if the encounter was mutual, but I think the girl's parents believed that the hired hand wasn't "good enough" for their daughter, thus the line, "good enough to hire / Not good enough to marry."
I can't tell from the song if the girl was raped or if the encounter was mutual, but I think the girl's parents believed that the hired hand wasn't "good enough" for their daughter, thus the line, "good enough to hire / Not good enough to marry."