Fiona once said that Sullen Girl was about the tendency of the misunderstood to sink into their own little world, letting life pass them by. In a September 1996 interview with CMJ New Music Magazine she said, ""Sullen Girl' is... complicated for me. It's about a lot of things. It's about when I was doing the album and everything was happening all at once and I just felt like 'Oh my God, what's going on here?' The second verse is a... I went through a really hard time when I was a very, very cold person. I didn't like to be near people. When I was 12, I was raped by a stranger and that's what this song is basically about, because I felt like everybody in my life thought there was something wrong with me and it was just my wondering 'was that what changed me?' Like the second verse, 'Is that why they call me the sullen girl/They don't know I used to sail the deep and tranquil sea/But he washed ashore and took my pearl and left an empty shell of me," "and it was really just because I felt like "well I used to be this really lighthearted person. And I am a lighthearted person, but everyone looks at me and they think I'm really serious and depressed and sullen. Do I come off that way because of this experience?' It was something that caused me a lot of pain, and I just felt like 'Is that why I'm being misunderstood?' So that's when it started getting bad, when people started assuming that things were bad and started labeling me as a sick person.' "It's part of who I am, I don't regret it. I'm happy with who I am, so how can I be unhappy with anything that's happened to me? That was an experience that made me a lot stronger. It taught me a lot about who I am and life. Things happen and you go through pain. It doesn't have to be such a big deal. It's like 'yeah, I was raped.' It's over, though. And I learned from it. It's sad, but good thing come out of it, too."...
Fiona once said that Sullen Girl was about the tendency of the misunderstood to sink into their own little world, letting life pass them by. In a September 1996 interview with CMJ New Music Magazine she said, ""Sullen Girl' is... complicated for me. It's about a lot of things. It's about when I was doing the album and everything was happening all at once and I just felt like 'Oh my God, what's going on here?' The second verse is a... I went through a really hard time when I was a very, very cold person. I didn't like to be near people. When I was 12, I was raped by a stranger and that's what this song is basically about, because I felt like everybody in my life thought there was something wrong with me and it was just my wondering 'was that what changed me?' Like the second verse, 'Is that why they call me the sullen girl/They don't know I used to sail the deep and tranquil sea/But he washed ashore and took my pearl and left an empty shell of me," "and it was really just because I felt like "well I used to be this really lighthearted person. And I am a lighthearted person, but everyone looks at me and they think I'm really serious and depressed and sullen. Do I come off that way because of this experience?' It was something that caused me a lot of pain, and I just felt like 'Is that why I'm being misunderstood?' So that's when it started getting bad, when people started assuming that things were bad and started labeling me as a sick person.' "It's part of who I am, I don't regret it. I'm happy with who I am, so how can I be unhappy with anything that's happened to me? That was an experience that made me a lot stronger. It taught me a lot about who I am and life. Things happen and you go through pain. It doesn't have to be such a big deal. It's like 'yeah, I was raped.' It's over, though. And I learned from it. It's sad, but good thing come out of it, too."...
... Like this song, for instance.