Cheerleader

I like the interpretation that Annie is playing at being in a submissive position yet exerting all the power. There are definitely strong indications of deception in the first two verses (maybe not the 2nd half of verse 2), as Annie puts up walls (lies, clothes, hid, played, tried) while the object of her song (“you”) is fully exposed. While this subterfuge seems to put Clark in the dominant position, she only uses it to support and protect “you”. This sets up a one-sided relationship where her need to conceal her own vulnerability leaves her unable to be open to any help from her partner. She has put herself into the role of a “cheerleader” up on a pedestal, an impregnable tower of strength, but her position is untenable because it does not allow a functional relationship.

This leads to a nice transition where Annie is hesitant to “pour my purse in the dirt”, and expose all the baggage she had been hiding therein, both the personal issues she had been afraid to share and the literal tools she used to maintain the deception (Makeup, Tissues, Drugs?, whatever else y’all ladies keep in there). Annie claims she “don’t know what good it serves”, BUT in the chorus she realizes that by dumping it all out in the open, she creates the possibility for an escape from the artificial “cheerleader” role and an honest relationship.

Returning to the omitted 2nd half of verse 2, St. Vincent elaborates on the impetus for the change. I think I might be missing something with “honest thieves”, but it seems to be speaking of broken, imperfect people, who unlike Annie are honest about their flaws, and she admits that she accepts them and does not judge them too harshly. When she sees “America with no clothes on” this idea is expanded and Annie is able to see that she belongs even without the facade. Further Annie seems to apologize for the deceit that she is not what she had pretended to be with “I don’t know what I deserve But for you I could work”, committing to abandon her veneer of perfection and strive for honesty.

I’m really digging this song, albeit a bit late to the party by way of a Comedy Bang Bang introduction. I think this interpretation also fits well with the A.V. Club St. Vincent interview. The idea of the sin-eaters (though transmuted to “dirt-eater and less prominent than originally planned) dealt with selflessly taking on the sins of others, and was not especially deceptive, except in the way all religious trappings can be seen to be, as well as the act that the serfs got some bread and booze out of the equation (contaminated with sin though it may be). On the other hand the “bird eater” is not selfless at all; the smug “cat that ate the canary” is self satisfied in the face of his deception. Annie embraces her messier reality and rejects both the mask and the saint. Finding the word that fit not only both of these themes but also the syllable count while simultaneously invoking the deep pop cultural resonance and connotation of “cheerleader” was a fine piece of lyrical dexterity.