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Friday, December 23, 2011
She Could Steal But She Could Not Rob
Have you ever listened to a song and a set of lyrics sticks with you and you wondered what the writer meant? Well, ever since I heard the song She Came In Through The Bathroom Window from the Abbey Road album, I always wondered about the set of lyrics: "And though she tried her best to help me, she could steal but she could not rob". Now, what does that mean? I've been thinking about it for over a year now and what I think is obviously, its metaphoric. Maybe what Paul's implying (if Paul wrote it) was that the girl was materialistic because to steal, it means to take what you have in front of you and to rob would mean to take something behind your back. So she was all material and nothing on the inside? I'm not sure. Anyone got any ideas?
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Funny, I sort of had the opposite reaction to the line, although I never even articulated to anyone. I thought to steal was something a cat burglar would do, sneak in at night and "steal" the silver. Where to rob is to get right in your victim's face and say, "Give me your wallet and watch and no one gets hurt." In other words, Paul is saying she could take something from you, but she couldn't admit that what was going on. It is a very interesting line and I do love that side of Abbey Road. No gaps between the songs. Brilliant!
ReplyDeleteGlad to see you publish. I always enjoy your point of view.
On my blog, it's almost 50 years since they make the long drive down to London, where Brian Epstein has arranged a test recording session at Decca, the biggest rock label at that time.
Happy New Year and Beatles 4 ever!