I always thought this wasn't about a current/recent birthday, but about remembering birthdays as a little girl. Everything is exciting and scary and funny at the same time when you're a kid, and birthdays just turn it up to 11. To a little kid, a birthday cake is huge, the cupboard is a place of mystery, and presents are the greatest thing in the universe. And describing a startle as "such a fright" is pretty child-like as well.
And that fits in with the childish voice she used on this song—but then she used that voice on most of this album (as opposed to the second album, where she sang most of the songs more coquettish-cute than little-girl-cute), so maybe it's not worth reading too much into that.
I always thought this wasn't about a current/recent birthday, but about remembering birthdays as a little girl. Everything is exciting and scary and funny at the same time when you're a kid, and birthdays just turn it up to 11. To a little kid, a birthday cake is huge, the cupboard is a place of mystery, and presents are the greatest thing in the universe. And describing a startle as "such a fright" is pretty child-like as well.
And that fits in with the childish voice she used on this song—but then she used that voice on most of this album (as opposed to the second album, where she sang most of the songs more coquettish-cute than little-girl-cute), so maybe it's not worth reading too much into that.