God Help the Girl

[iff]

Band: God Help The Girl
Song: God Help The Girl
Album: God Help the girl

the lyrics are as follows

There is no way I'm looking for a boyfriend
There is no way I'm looking for a scene
I need to save some dough
I'm a working girl, you know
I'll fend attention off I keep to myself

I love my room, I'm getting used to sleeping
Some nights I really like to lie awake
I hear the midnight birds
The message in their words
The dawn will touch me in a way a boy could never touch
Their promise never meant so much to me

You have been warned, I'm warned to be contrary
Backward at school, I wrote from right to left
Teacher never cared for me
Preacher said a prayer for me
God help the girl, she needs all the help she can get

I sit for hours just waiting for his phone call
I'll leave the chocolate hidden in the fridge
I'll play his messages
Analyze his intonation
Please stop me there, I'm even boring myself

I think of him when I'm doing the dishes
I think of him while looking in the sink
This ain't no play on words
My love for him is absurd
If he gave me a sign I'd think about it for a week
I'd build it up and then I'd turn him down

You have been warned, I'm warned to be contrary
Backward at school, I wrote from right to left
Teacher never cared for me
Preacher said a prayer for me
God help the girl, she needs all the help she can get

or am i just transposing my view into the songs view and interpreting the lyrics with my own bias?

the song can be listened to here: http://www.myspace.com/pleasegodhelpthegirl

i should note the song isn't written by the singer herself, it's written by Stuart Murdoch of Belle & Sebastian (as is the whole of the album)

interesting fact: stuart murdoch is allergic to alcohol. i got that off wikipedia and there's no source to the material but someone wouldn't put something on wikipedia, if it wasn't true, would they?



2015 Edit: The above link doesn't work anymore, but I've found the song on youtube:

[Eddie7]

A few of Murdoch's songs seem to have asexual undertones to me. Expectations from Tigermilk in particular.

I hadn't really listened closely enough to the GHTG record yet to pick that up, but it certainly doesn't surprise me.

[New Penny]

I thought that it was about a girl who is in a sort of denial about the fact that she likes a certain boy.

I think the clue is in the very first line when she says 'There's NO WAY I'm looking for a boyfriend!' - like had anyone even ASKED her whether she is? She just brings up the subject totally unbidden - which sort of proves that looking for a boyfriend is very much on her mind.

And I think the title 'God Help the Girl' is alluding to the way that she sort of sabotages her own desires, by 'turning him down' for example.

[New Penny]

A few of Murdoch's songs seem to have asexual undertones to me. Expectations from Tigermilk in particular.

I hadn't really listened closely enough to the GHTG record yet to pick that up, but it certainly doesn't surprise me.

I listened to so much B&S growing up that I think I've come to see the subjects of their songs - the 'outsiders' - as the normal ones. The ones who are sort of remaining true to themselves while everyone else is sort of following the herd.

[Novalee]

I suppose this song could be interpretted either way. It definitely an interesting song. Thanks for sharing!

[Eddie7]

Going through the story of the album again, I think that she has some kind of mental problems (it opens with her escaping a psych ward) that are putting her off of relationships. I found this section in Hiding Neath My Umbrella:

Worthless passion in your mind

The thrills that you're imagining

Are a waste of your time

You sad individual

I'm not the one for you

You'll never do

The first bit could taken in an asexual way certainly, but the later half to me says more about having unreasonable expectations keeping her away from the guy.

Man, I'd forgotten just how good this album is. It's not quite B&S in their prime, but it's better than any of their more recent offerings.