I adore this song, one of my favourite Pulp songs. I think it's far more complicated than it seems though, woman who is described seems unusual (at least to me) so I'm gonna try to explain my ideas about the woman
"I met her, selling pictures of herself
to german business men
Well, that's all she wants to do"
Why she would be selling photos of herself to "German businessmen" I'm not sure. The idea of this being "all she wants to do" is also interesting. Perhaps she's famous or in some way interesting to the "businessmen". Maybe she's conning the businessmen into buying worthless photographs and this line is just to show her ability to manipulate Perhaps she's a prostitute and the idea of her "selling pictures" is a euphemistic way of implying she's selling herself or selling sex. However Jarvis doesn't usually go for subtlety when talking about sex, it's possible the idea of "selling pictures of herself" is just to show her narcissism and belief that people would pay for pictures.
She lived at her father's place
played his records, though they jumped
Wore her body back to front
I have absolutely no clue what wearing her body "back to front" means. I think her playing her father's records may be to show some sort of hook onto music or belief that music is important. It may be just a personal meaning of a woman who used to play records who jumped. However the idea of playing "records" or old ways or playing music (why not CDs?) may show an air of nostalgia backed up by the idea that she plays them despite them being faulty. It also gives the impression of a woman with old records jumping, an idea of neglect or something almost scary. The idea of her being a bit out of touch and unusual is also reflected with her living with her father.
The relationship itself seems to have fallen apart because she doesn't care about him as much as he does about her, although it's possible she's denying her feelings because she's afraid or enjoys using him.
Does anyone else notice the whispered "stop" at the end?
I adore this song, one of my favourite Pulp songs. I think it's far more complicated than it seems though, woman who is described seems unusual (at least to me) so I'm gonna try to explain my ideas about the woman
"I met her, selling pictures of herself to german business men Well, that's all she wants to do" Why she would be selling photos of herself to "German businessmen" I'm not sure. The idea of this being "all she wants to do" is also interesting. Perhaps she's famous or in some way interesting to the "businessmen". Maybe she's conning the businessmen into buying worthless photographs and this line is just to show her ability to manipulate Perhaps she's a prostitute and the idea of her "selling pictures" is a euphemistic way of implying she's selling herself or selling sex. However Jarvis doesn't usually go for subtlety when talking about sex, it's possible the idea of "selling pictures of herself" is just to show her narcissism and belief that people would pay for pictures.
She lived at her father's place played his records, though they jumped Wore her body back to front I have absolutely no clue what wearing her body "back to front" means. I think her playing her father's records may be to show some sort of hook onto music or belief that music is important. It may be just a personal meaning of a woman who used to play records who jumped. However the idea of playing "records" or old ways or playing music (why not CDs?) may show an air of nostalgia backed up by the idea that she plays them despite them being faulty. It also gives the impression of a woman with old records jumping, an idea of neglect or something almost scary. The idea of her being a bit out of touch and unusual is also reflected with her living with her father.
The relationship itself seems to have fallen apart because she doesn't care about him as much as he does about her, although it's possible she's denying her feelings because she's afraid or enjoys using him.
Does anyone else notice the whispered "stop" at the end?