Music Review: The Stranglers "Strange Little Girl"
The Stranglers
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Strange Little Girl
Album: The Collection 1977-1982
Year: 1982
Paul Roberts, lead singer of The Stranglers, chastises an independent young girl in the grim "Strange Little Girl"
A sinister piano opens the single, setting a predatory tone. Roberts belittles her for no reason other than her gender. He notices that she's morose. After speaking to her, he nonchalantly says that she's simply a runaway. In a condescending voice, he warns her to be careful while in town.
After seeing her for awhile, he assumes she couldn't make it on her own. The town was scary and thorny. It's certainly not a place for young women with pretty faces and wordy thoughts. He saw her walk back home, lost in her own mind. He concludes that although she was able to stay for a week, she couldn't handle it. She had seen things she could not believe existed. He thinks the the town wasn't inviting or pretty enough for her.
In the chorus, he questions her need to be an individual. As though he were irritated by her presence, he wonders if she could have gone somewhere else.
A superior harpiscord solo follows.
The last lyric of the only verse is sung again.
The chorus is repeated twice to end the single.
The single's misogny is disturbing. He infantilizes the young girl by calling her little. However, it sounds as though she were older. He thinks she's frightened and weak. If she's alone, she's only a runaway. She doesn't matter. Roberts' frigid attitude and hard demeanor is vicious. It's as though he's threatened by her.
Album: The Collection 1977-1982
Year: 1982
Paul Roberts, lead singer of The Stranglers, chastises an independent young girl in the grim "Strange Little Girl"
A sinister piano opens the single, setting a predatory tone. Roberts belittles her for no reason other than her gender. He notices that she's morose. After speaking to her, he nonchalantly says that she's simply a runaway. In a condescending voice, he warns her to be careful while in town.
" One day, see a strange little girl look at you/One day, see a strange little girl feeling blue/She'd run to the town one day, leaving home and her country fair/Just beware when you're there, strange little girl."
After seeing her for awhile, he assumes she couldn't make it on her own. The town was scary and thorny. It's certainly not a place for young women with pretty faces and wordy thoughts. He saw her walk back home, lost in her own mind. He concludes that although she was able to stay for a week, she couldn't handle it. She had seen things she could not believe existed. He thinks the the town wasn't inviting or pretty enough for her.
"She didn't know how to live in a town that was rough/It didn't take long before she knew she'd had enough/Walking home in her wrapped up world, she survived, but she's feeling old/'Cause she found all things cold."
In the chorus, he questions her need to be an individual. As though he were irritated by her presence, he wonders if she could have gone somewhere else.
"Strange little girl, where are you going?/Strange little girl, where are you going?/Do you know where you could be going?"
A superior harpiscord solo follows.
The last lyric of the only verse is sung again.
"Walking home in her wrapped up world, she survived, but she's feeling old/'Cause she found all things cold."
The chorus is repeated twice to end the single.
The single's misogny is disturbing. He infantilizes the young girl by calling her little. However, it sounds as though she were older. He thinks she's frightened and weak. If she's alone, she's only a runaway. She doesn't matter. Roberts' frigid attitude and hard demeanor is vicious. It's as though he's threatened by her.
