First, this song is (shockingly) gorgeous. I'd not expected anything from a (so-called) pop author to be anything close to this pretty.
Secondly, this is my first time posting here, and I've only discovered Kate Nash's music today, but I think I have a plausible (if not necessary correct) interpretation of this song. I don't expect I have the energy to go far into this, but I hope that at least this will provoke some thought that others may or may not wish to discuss later. Disclaimer: I don't know the artist's background, so this is probably just what it means to me.
This song seems largely analogous to the Christian creation story, and the introduction of the Garden of Eden. (Yes I'm aware that as song/literature analysis goes, this is pretty cliche...)
The first stanza speaks of a perfect model of a perfect world, wherein the materials are gathered from whatever matter was available, and formed into this idealistic model. This model started with all the wisdom conceivable, but no rules (except don't leave--i.e. don't partake of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil). There was absolute peace; the young new race of (mortal) humans slept peacefully, as if they were babes in the best of cribs; the animals didn't quarrel with one another. This was heaven on earth...until...
This leads to the point where the inhabitants begin to wonder why, in this perfect world, they can't quite attain to the beauty and fulfillment that they wanted. The "flowers"--perhaps representing the inhabitants' desires to flourish, themselves, and find beauty and meaning in their own existences (rather than simply having beauty around them)--are dying, and no matter what the speaker (the "I" voice) of this song does, they will not grow into the beauty and fulfillment that the speaker desires.
Little Red scratches and knocks on the "door" of this garden (perhaps more aptly, the "door" of the minds of its inhabitants), requesting entrance. This person/creature is persistent, similar to how a pet who needs to come in/go out might bang and scratch on the door until those with the power to open it do so.
Little Red makes an offer. Why are you staying here, being unfulfilled, when you could come with me and live the life you want to live--the life you CHOOSE to live? Nobody has to know. It's not too dangerous. You can have a great time! In my interpretation of this analogy, this is a basically sinister offer, but the results thereof are, in my view, most certainly not sinister--and arguably not as Little Red planned.
Throwing aside the notion of Little Red being Little Red Riding Hood, one could postulate that in order to best "tempt" a girl/woman, Little Red would be male. Thus follows the modern-world description of what it might look like for a girl to go out gallivanting with this questionable person ("low pants," "paint the town red," and so forth).
In the following stanzas, the tenor of the activities turns from being all about "fun," and being more about climbing(/jumping) to greater heights--just to experience what's there. It becomes less about hedonistic fulfillment, and more about a deeper, more lasting fulfillment. These two personnas--the little girl and her boyfriend, as it were--grow together and learn that there's more to life than simply having fun. They learn that the greater/greatest fulfillment lies not in (1) staying put in a perfect, harmonious place; (2) not in hedonistic pleasure; (3) not even in mere achievement; but rather, this fulfillment comes from doing something to make another person--especially the one you love most--smile. As seems to be a common interpretation of the Christian Garden of Eden narrative, humankind goes with the devil, rather than staying in the utopia with God, and learns to find fulfillment and happiness in this sinful world--by finding ways to make each other--and thus all of us--happier:
If you want you can come back to mine.
We'll drink some coffee and you can spend the night.
We'll do anything that makes you smile
'Cause your smile is beautiful and it makes me happy.
'Cause your smile is beautiful and it makes me happy.
Well, this little girl grew up and moved away.
And she lived her life full of risk and full of play.
And she lived her life with so much to say,
And her flowers, they grow more beautiful every day.
In closing, this person--the little girl--who I find analogous with all of humanity, from Adam/Eve to present--has found that her flowers--the representation/manifestation of her joy and fulfillment--grow brighter and more beautifully than they ever could have, if she had always counted on her surroundings and the "fate" of staying therein to make her happy, rather than taking the huge risks involved in falling into an imperfect, sinful world, wherein misery can and often does exist in equal or greater proportion to happiness, but wherein we have opportunity to CREATE happiness of our own, by making others smile and seeing our own dreams fulfilled by means of "the sweat of our brows." In this retelling of the classic "Garden of Eden" story, mankind is much better off, having taken the fall and worked hard to climb back up from the bottom, than we ever could have been if we'd accepted the stasis of menial contentment that was offered in that garden.
I hope you enjoy reading/thinking about the above. I know that my own beliefs/background are coloring my analysis, and I hope that it doesn't offend anybody or give the impression that I'm trying to "convert" somebody. I just thought that this would be an interesting, and perhaps uplifting interpretation to share with others.
First, this song is (shockingly) gorgeous. I'd not expected anything from a (so-called) pop author to be anything close to this pretty.
Secondly, this is my first time posting here, and I've only discovered Kate Nash's music today, but I think I have a plausible (if not necessary correct) interpretation of this song. I don't expect I have the energy to go far into this, but I hope that at least this will provoke some thought that others may or may not wish to discuss later. Disclaimer: I don't know the artist's background, so this is probably just what it means to me.
This song seems largely analogous to the Christian creation story, and the introduction of the Garden of Eden. (Yes I'm aware that as song/literature analysis goes, this is pretty cliche...)
The first stanza speaks of a perfect model of a perfect world, wherein the materials are gathered from whatever matter was available, and formed into this idealistic model. This model started with all the wisdom conceivable, but no rules (except don't leave--i.e. don't partake of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil). There was absolute peace; the young new race of (mortal) humans slept peacefully, as if they were babes in the best of cribs; the animals didn't quarrel with one another. This was heaven on earth...until...
This leads to the point where the inhabitants begin to wonder why, in this perfect world, they can't quite attain to the beauty and fulfillment that they wanted. The "flowers"--perhaps representing the inhabitants' desires to flourish, themselves, and find beauty and meaning in their own existences (rather than simply having beauty around them)--are dying, and no matter what the speaker (the "I" voice) of this song does, they will not grow into the beauty and fulfillment that the speaker desires.
Little Red scratches and knocks on the "door" of this garden (perhaps more aptly, the "door" of the minds of its inhabitants), requesting entrance. This person/creature is persistent, similar to how a pet who needs to come in/go out might bang and scratch on the door until those with the power to open it do so.
Little Red makes an offer. Why are you staying here, being unfulfilled, when you could come with me and live the life you want to live--the life you CHOOSE to live? Nobody has to know. It's not too dangerous. You can have a great time! In my interpretation of this analogy, this is a basically sinister offer, but the results thereof are, in my view, most certainly not sinister--and arguably not as Little Red planned.
Throwing aside the notion of Little Red being Little Red Riding Hood, one could postulate that in order to best "tempt" a girl/woman, Little Red would be male. Thus follows the modern-world description of what it might look like for a girl to go out gallivanting with this questionable person ("low pants," "paint the town red," and so forth).
In the following stanzas, the tenor of the activities turns from being all about "fun," and being more about climbing(/jumping) to greater heights--just to experience what's there. It becomes less about hedonistic fulfillment, and more about a deeper, more lasting fulfillment. These two personnas--the little girl and her boyfriend, as it were--grow together and learn that there's more to life than simply having fun. They learn that the greater/greatest fulfillment lies not in (1) staying put in a perfect, harmonious place; (2) not in hedonistic pleasure; (3) not even in mere achievement; but rather, this fulfillment comes from doing something to make another person--especially the one you love most--smile. As seems to be a common interpretation of the Christian Garden of Eden narrative, humankind goes with the devil, rather than staying in the utopia with God, and learns to find fulfillment and happiness in this sinful world--by finding ways to make each other--and thus all of us--happier:
If you want you can come back to mine. We'll drink some coffee and you can spend the night. We'll do anything that makes you smile 'Cause your smile is beautiful and it makes me happy. 'Cause your smile is beautiful and it makes me happy.
Well, this little girl grew up and moved away. And she lived her life full of risk and full of play. And she lived her life with so much to say, And her flowers, they grow more beautiful every day.
In closing, this person--the little girl--who I find analogous with all of humanity, from Adam/Eve to present--has found that her flowers--the representation/manifestation of her joy and fulfillment--grow brighter and more beautifully than they ever could have, if she had always counted on her surroundings and the "fate" of staying therein to make her happy, rather than taking the huge risks involved in falling into an imperfect, sinful world, wherein misery can and often does exist in equal or greater proportion to happiness, but wherein we have opportunity to CREATE happiness of our own, by making others smile and seeing our own dreams fulfilled by means of "the sweat of our brows." In this retelling of the classic "Garden of Eden" story, mankind is much better off, having taken the fall and worked hard to climb back up from the bottom, than we ever could have been if we'd accepted the stasis of menial contentment that was offered in that garden.
I hope you enjoy reading/thinking about the above. I know that my own beliefs/background are coloring my analysis, and I hope that it doesn't offend anybody or give the impression that I'm trying to "convert" somebody. I just thought that this would be an interesting, and perhaps uplifting interpretation to share with others.
Have a nice day.