He reuses the verse melody from the previous album's "Dirty Little Religion", the topics of the verses are all over the place, and he packs too many words into one line (goes to show...) and too few in another (it's pretty hard to find), and rhymes "Henley Regatta" with "Persona non grata", but gets away with it all as only he could.
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Tried to make it little by little
Tried to make it bit by bit on my own
Quit the job, the grey believers
Another town where I get close to the bone
Whatcha gonna tell your brother?
Oh, oh, oh
Whatcha gonna tell your father?
I don't know
Whatcha gonna tell your mother?
Let me go
I'm gonna get dressed for success
Shaping me up for the big time, baby
Get dressed for success
Shaping it up for your love
For your love
Yeah, yeah, yeah
I'm not afraid
A trembling flower
I'll feed your heart
And blow the dust from your eyes, oh
And in the dark, things happen faster
I love the way you sway your hips next to mine, oh
Whatcha gonna tell your brother?
Oh, oh, oh
Whatcha gonna tell your father?
Ooh, I don't know
Whatcha gonna tell your mother?
Let me go
I'm gonna get dressed for success
Shaping me up for the big time, baby
Get dressed for success
Shaping it up for your love, yeah
Look sharp
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Whoa, whoa
Whatcha gonna tell your brother?
Oh, oh, oh
Whatcha gonna tell your father?
I don't know
Whatcha gonna tell your mother?
Let me go
Dressed for success
I'm gonna get dressed for success
I'm gonna get dressed for success
Hitting the spot for the big time, baby
Get dressed for success
Shaping it up for your love
For your love
Yeah, yeah, yeah
For your love
Yeah, yeah, yeah
For your love
Yeah, yeah, yeah
For your love
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah
Tried to make it little by little
Tried to make it bit by bit on my own
Quit the job, the grey believers
Another town where I get close to the bone
Whatcha gonna tell your brother?
Oh, oh, oh
Whatcha gonna tell your father?
I don't know
Whatcha gonna tell your mother?
Let me go
I'm gonna get dressed for success
Shaping me up for the big time, baby
Get dressed for success
Shaping it up for your love
For your love
Yeah, yeah, yeah
I'm not afraid
A trembling flower
I'll feed your heart
And blow the dust from your eyes, oh
And in the dark, things happen faster
I love the way you sway your hips next to mine, oh
Whatcha gonna tell your brother?
Oh, oh, oh
Whatcha gonna tell your father?
Ooh, I don't know
Whatcha gonna tell your mother?
Let me go
I'm gonna get dressed for success
Shaping me up for the big time, baby
Get dressed for success
Shaping it up for your love, yeah
Look sharp
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Whoa, whoa
Whatcha gonna tell your brother?
Oh, oh, oh
Whatcha gonna tell your father?
I don't know
Whatcha gonna tell your mother?
Let me go
Dressed for success
I'm gonna get dressed for success
I'm gonna get dressed for success
Hitting the spot for the big time, baby
Get dressed for success
Shaping it up for your love
For your love
Yeah, yeah, yeah
For your love
Yeah, yeah, yeah
For your love
Yeah, yeah, yeah
For your love
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah
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The way this song speaks to me🥺🥺when I sing it I feel like I relate
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This song is def a twin to "Unfair" (a song she has been quoted as saying is about falling in love with someone who is already in a relationship) so it is presumably about the same person. Given the references to buying an apartment and not being able to see her love interest "after tonight," it's most likely that she's moving away and she'll "wait a day to break the bad news" (i.e. notifying him that she's leaving once she's already gone).
And, of course, the fact that she sees in him a fellow "idealist" and "dreamer" (terms commonly given to people with the INFP personality on the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)) portends that she'll always be left wondering if they would've been perfect together.
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Both as a standalone and as part of the DSOTS album, you can take this lyric as read. As a matter of public record, Jourgensen's drug intake was legendary even in the 1980s. By the late 90s, in his own words, he was grappling with massive addiction issues and had lost almost everything: friends, spouse, money and had nearly died more than once. "Dark Side of the Spoon" is a both funny & sad title for an album made by a musical genius who was losing the plot; and this song is a message to his fans & friends saying he knows it. It's painful to listen to so I'm glad the "Keith Richards of industrial metals" wised up and cleaned up. Well done sir.
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In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Gonna get dressed for safe sex. Sorry.. that's how we use to sing it. I think it's about leaving home and facing the big world.
This song sing about preparing for the big bad world out there ... Ditching the college student's life and prepared to climb the corporate ladder in the rat race..
Yes, I think this song is about preparing for the big bad world out there -its so eponymous of tehe 80's cut throat yuppie world (especially for women, who knew dressing sexy had a lot to do with it) Oh - the 80's!
When this song came out, we used to think it said "I'm gonna get undressed.... for some sex.." HEHEHE! I love Roxette!
"I'm gonna get undressed.... for some sex.."<br /> <br /> make sense to me..hehehe
I still think this song IS about sex.Or is about going to get sex anyway.
She's worried about what her mother/father/brother say..and she says "another town where I get close to the bone."
"Get dressed for success shaping it up for your love yea yea yea."
It sounds like she's dressing to go to club so she can get laid.
what does this one lyric mean i quit my job the great belivers
Ok, I think this song is about her CHANGING jobs from a "respectable suited job" to being like a stripper or something. This would explain the sexual references, worrying what her family thinks, going to another town, and leaving her current job. Lol. XD