I think this song is about a young girl who is having sex casually to fit in, but when I first heard it I assumed it was about a girl who dreams about a perfect romance but instead finds herself having sex with just some guy. Again, not saying my interpretation is right at all, but it was just a fun way of looking at it:
caroline laughs and it's raining all day
she loves to be one of the girls
-It's been said a hundred times, a girl who wants to fit in socially.
she lives in the place in the side of our lives
where nothing is ever put straight
-I think this refers to her living in her dreamworld.
she turns her self round and she smiles and she says
"this is it that's the end of the joke"
and loses herself in her dreaming and sleep
and her lovers walk through in their coats
-She dances, daydreams and sleeps. And as she does, has happy fantasies about different lovers. Men who want her and care, romantic men who are like something out of a film.
pretty in pink
isn't she pretty in pink
isn't she...
-Every consider that Caroline is an ugly (or at least, not shockingly beautiful) girl, and fantasizes about people talking about how pretty she is?
all of her lovers all talk of her notes
and the flowers that they never sent
-Her imaginary lovers all send and give her wonderful things in her dreams, and she gives them romantic gestures like love notes
and wasn't she easy
and isn't she pretty in pink
-I said before Caroline dreams of being attractive, but she also dreams of having sex with all of these imaginary lovers. She obviously isn't having sex with all these men in real life, but in her dreams she's living like it's one big party. But the real Caroline could never do that because she has moral objections. So in her dreams, Caroline is making love to her true sweethearts, but she knows if she did this in real life she'd just be skanky.
the one who insists he was first in the line
is the last to remember her name
-Her fantasies really do seem to love her, but even Caroline realizes that they love the fun, cheerful, 'one-of-the-girls' person who has sex with them. They don't love the dreamy shy girl who made it all up. He doesn't remember Caroline's name because the imaginary lover loves the girl Caroline dreams she was.
he's walking around in this dress that she wore
she is gone but the joke's the same
-The imaginary man is walking in Caroline's dress because he is her. He is just Caroline's idea of what a loving man should be like. When he says sweet things to Caroline, it's really just Caroline in her dress saying kind things to herself. She is 'gone' because she has become someone else. She has become this beautiful, 'easy' girl and she has also become that beautiful girl's many lovers. The 'joke's the same' line means that this is the same person.
pretty in pink
isn't she pretty in pink
isn't she...
-Mentioned before
caroline talks to you softly sometimes
she says "i love you" and "too much"
-Caroline is beginning to realize she is to involved with her own fantasies.
she doesn't have anything you want to steal
well, nothing you can touch
-She doesn't have anything they'd want to steal because these imaginary people are all better than her. Caroline has made them more attractive, and with more romanticized lives than her own. They can't touch her because they aren't real. She realizes that these imaginary lovers of her can't really touch her or make love to her.
she waves...she buttons your shirt
the traffic is waiting outside
she hands you this coat
she gives you her clothes
these cars collide
-Caroline stops with the fantasies by removing the sexual element (buttons your shirt). She gives the imaginary self and boyfriends her goodbye by giving them her old identity symbolically through her clothes. The last line is saying that the imaginary lives have collided with each other and have been destroyed in the process.
Besides that little joke interpretation of mine, I have a question for people trying to figure this song out. Throughout the song, it mentions Caroline and 'you'. Well, who is 'you'? This may sound silly, but if we figure out who the writers are refering too, figuring the song's details will be easier. Is 'you', Caroline's boyfriend? Is the listener 'you'? Or is the narrator? Just something I've been trying to figure out.
Also, since this wasn't added to the original lyrics, here's the last (albeit slightly muttered) part of the song at the end:
caroline's on the table screaming
confidence is in the sea
and all their favorite rags are worn
and other kinds of uniform
they kid you you're really free
and you know what you want to be
case of individuality
until tomorrow
and everything you are you'll see
in pure shiny buttons
they put you in this gear
and driveways broken
doorbell sings in chimes
it plays anything goes
bells toll in rhyme
-Could 'it plays anything goes' refer to Cole Porter's famous song 'Anything Goes'?
I think this song is about a young girl who is having sex casually to fit in, but when I first heard it I assumed it was about a girl who dreams about a perfect romance but instead finds herself having sex with just some guy. Again, not saying my interpretation is right at all, but it was just a fun way of looking at it:
caroline laughs and it's raining all day she loves to be one of the girls -It's been said a hundred times, a girl who wants to fit in socially.
she lives in the place in the side of our lives where nothing is ever put straight -I think this refers to her living in her dreamworld.
she turns her self round and she smiles and she says "this is it that's the end of the joke" and loses herself in her dreaming and sleep and her lovers walk through in their coats -She dances, daydreams and sleeps. And as she does, has happy fantasies about different lovers. Men who want her and care, romantic men who are like something out of a film.
pretty in pink isn't she pretty in pink isn't she... -Every consider that Caroline is an ugly (or at least, not shockingly beautiful) girl, and fantasizes about people talking about how pretty she is?
all of her lovers all talk of her notes and the flowers that they never sent -Her imaginary lovers all send and give her wonderful things in her dreams, and she gives them romantic gestures like love notes
and wasn't she easy and isn't she pretty in pink -I said before Caroline dreams of being attractive, but she also dreams of having sex with all of these imaginary lovers. She obviously isn't having sex with all these men in real life, but in her dreams she's living like it's one big party. But the real Caroline could never do that because she has moral objections. So in her dreams, Caroline is making love to her true sweethearts, but she knows if she did this in real life she'd just be skanky.
the one who insists he was first in the line is the last to remember her name -Her fantasies really do seem to love her, but even Caroline realizes that they love the fun, cheerful, 'one-of-the-girls' person who has sex with them. They don't love the dreamy shy girl who made it all up. He doesn't remember Caroline's name because the imaginary lover loves the girl Caroline dreams she was.
he's walking around in this dress that she wore she is gone but the joke's the same -The imaginary man is walking in Caroline's dress because he is her. He is just Caroline's idea of what a loving man should be like. When he says sweet things to Caroline, it's really just Caroline in her dress saying kind things to herself. She is 'gone' because she has become someone else. She has become this beautiful, 'easy' girl and she has also become that beautiful girl's many lovers. The 'joke's the same' line means that this is the same person.
pretty in pink isn't she pretty in pink isn't she... -Mentioned before
caroline talks to you softly sometimes she says "i love you" and "too much" -Caroline is beginning to realize she is to involved with her own fantasies.
she doesn't have anything you want to steal well, nothing you can touch -She doesn't have anything they'd want to steal because these imaginary people are all better than her. Caroline has made them more attractive, and with more romanticized lives than her own. They can't touch her because they aren't real. She realizes that these imaginary lovers of her can't really touch her or make love to her.
she waves...she buttons your shirt the traffic is waiting outside she hands you this coat she gives you her clothes these cars collide -Caroline stops with the fantasies by removing the sexual element (buttons your shirt). She gives the imaginary self and boyfriends her goodbye by giving them her old identity symbolically through her clothes. The last line is saying that the imaginary lives have collided with each other and have been destroyed in the process.
Besides that little joke interpretation of mine, I have a question for people trying to figure this song out. Throughout the song, it mentions Caroline and 'you'. Well, who is 'you'? This may sound silly, but if we figure out who the writers are refering too, figuring the song's details will be easier. Is 'you', Caroline's boyfriend? Is the listener 'you'? Or is the narrator? Just something I've been trying to figure out.
Also, since this wasn't added to the original lyrics, here's the last (albeit slightly muttered) part of the song at the end:
caroline's on the table screaming confidence is in the sea and all their favorite rags are worn and other kinds of uniform they kid you you're really free and you know what you want to be case of individuality until tomorrow and everything you are you'll see in pure shiny buttons they put you in this gear and driveways broken doorbell sings in chimes it plays anything goes bells toll in rhyme
-Could 'it plays anything goes' refer to Cole Porter's famous song 'Anything Goes'?
Great job deciphering the mumbling at the end buddy!
Great job deciphering the mumbling at the end buddy!