Lyrics for A Girl In Port as interpreted by smileforthecamera

A Girl In Port Lyrics
Let fall your soft and swaying skirt
Let fall your shoes
Let fall your shirt
I'm not the lady-killing sort
Enough to hurt
A girl in port

Marie's gone blonde
And lost a stone
She lay on her lawn
Spun and alone
And when the morning sun, it rose
Upon Marie
In her lacy clothes

Well, it lit her up
And she walked around
The winding streets
Camden Town
Well, she don't know who
She wants to be
And if I knew
I'd tell Marie

Let fall your soft and swaying skirt
Let fall your shoes
Let fall your shirt
I'm not the lady-killing sort
Enough to hurt
A girl in port

And Cindy tells me she's had fun
Sitting back stage
Someone's plus one
Up in her room
The records spin
Needle in the grooves
That she's worn thin

Well, she lifts a sleeve
And she sees a name
And she's got a smile on her face
And she's got a story you can't see
Well, that's just between that name and Cindy

And before Holly made her way
Over the sea
And far away
She's telling me
Inside her car
Driving us back
From the Crystal Corner bar

"I lost it there
I fell from health
Cut some fresh pieces from myself
Then for a second
Something in me
Said 'Leave today
It's time, Holly'
It's time"

Oh, I'm a weak and lonely sort
Though I'm not sailing just for sport
I've come to feel
Out on the sea
These urgent lives
Press against me
I'm just a guest
I'm not a part
With my tender head
With my easy heart
These several years out on the sea
Made me empty, cold, and clear
Pour yourself into me

Let fall your soft and swaying skirt
Let fall your shoes
Let fall your shirt
I'm not the lady-killing sort
Enough to hurt
A girl in port

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  • 33 Comments
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trippyapple
03-17-2007

Rated 0 
this is the best i could get from the two live recordings i have...amazing song!

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inafutureage
06-25-2007

Rated 0 
pretty song.

i love the new album.

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inafutureage
06-25-2007

Rated 0 
pretty song.

i love the new album.

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sidelines
06-25-2007

Rated 0 
Marie's gone blonde
And lost a stone
She lay on her lung

i think it's lawn instead of lung

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sidelines
06-25-2007

Rated 0 
Marie's gone blonde
And lost a stone
She lay on her lung

i think it's lawn instead of lung

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fedorkme
06-28-2007

Rated 0 
guh, the tone of this song is so gorgeous. I love the imagery "Let fall your shoes.. etc." It's so, lonely and touching. And am I the only person who thinks of Doctor Who ("The Doctor plus one. I'm the Doctor. This is Rose Tyler. She's my plus one.")? Probably.

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Slaveofthelamp
07-09-2007

Rated +1 
I think this song is the singer confessing to sleeping with women while on the road. He's imagining what they're lives are like now and apologizing for using them. Lines like:

"These several years out on the sea
Made me empty, cold, and clear"

and

"I'm not the ladykilling sort
Enough to hurt
A girl in port"

sounds like he's not normally someone who has quick flings and one-night stands, but that the loneliness of the road is enough to push him to these types of relationships.

Great song. My favorite off the new album. :-)

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goodreverend
07-10-2007

Rated 0 
"Someone's plus one" refers to being the unknown counterpart to someone who's well known -- the latter makes reservations to an event saying "[my name] plus one". Just thought I'd share.

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elaffint
07-21-2007

Rated 0 
I think "I'm just aghast/I'm not a part" should instead be "I'm just a guest/I'm not a part"

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thuglifeforevs
08-02-2007

Rated 0 
i agree with the guest rather than aghast. love this song.

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JeremyB1
08-09-2007

Rated 0 
Definitely about being on tour and encountering groupies living somewhat sordid lives.

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riqgees
08-13-2007

Rated 0 
The line "Well, she lifts her sleeve"

Should be "a Sleeve" - it's not the sleeve of her shirt, but the sleeve that holds the record. She lifts it, sees a name (probably Will's) and remembers.

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JeremyB1
08-13-2007

Rated 0 
Riggees, I don't think that much of the record of autobiographical. Will has said before that he's not a fan of autobiographical writing and while he undoubtedly draws from his experience playing in a band for this album, I don't see much of his personal life in a story about an aging rock star sleeping with groupies.

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sad-violin-music
08-16-2007

Rated 0 
Well... I don't know. I think that his comments regarding non-autobiographical writing ought to be taken with a pinch of salt. I think a lot of Will comes out in his songs.

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JeremyB1
08-25-2007

Rated 0 
Well, sure, that's inevitable for any writer. As I said, I'm sure his experience playing in a band (e.g. meeting fans after shows) comes into play in this song and other songs but I don't think he's the narrator in this song, i.e. i don't think he has relationships with groupies.

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Mr_Cdn_01
09-04-2007

Rated 0 
I believe that this is about a sailor who finds girls at each port and has a fling with them...and while he doesn't want to hurt the girls since they are expecting more than just a one night stand, he does anyway since he wants to feel something, anything, after all of his sailing

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isadore
09-18-2007

Rated 0 
I agree, this song is so lonely and touching.

Although I don't have the lyrics infront of me, I believe the lyrics are actually:
"I've come to feel out on the sea
These urgent lives pressed against me
I'm just a ghast, I'm not a part"

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attackoftheheart
09-25-2007

Rated 0 
I agree with Mr_Cdn_01.

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Idonotsleep
09-25-2007

Rated 0 
I don't. the sailing thing is a metaphor for a touring musician

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thisisgrant
09-30-2007

Rated 0 
also my fav song on this album, so good

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TBeasley
10-10-2007

Rated 0 
I think the sailing thing is a metaphor for... sailing.

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threestar
12-15-2007

Rated 0 
i think that it's apart, not a part.

Out on the sea
These urgent lives press against me
I'm just aghast, I'm not apart

i think he feels connected with these girls even though he doesn't stay. he says pour yourself into me because he takes a piece of them with him to keep him from becoming too detatched

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anemptyroom
03-21-2008

Rated 0 
What I love about this song the most are the portraits of each of the girls in the verses - impressionistic but with enough detail to set each apart and make them seem real. I agree that it's probably a metaphor for a touring musician, but, ultimately, it doesn't matter - what's important and memorable about this song is the mixture gentle regret, honesty and hollowness that comes across.

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earlobe
04-27-2008

Rated 0 
beautiful song
i can see slave of the lamp's interpretation being correct.
i also see this song as using sailing as a metaphor for touring

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percepirme
06-08-2008

Rated +1 
I think this song might be about something altogether different. I think maybe he's referring to himself as the person who's being used, like he's trying to find the right girl but can't for some reason or another. Take Marie: "She lay on her lawn
Spun and alone" "and she don't know who she wants to be and if I knew I'd tell Marie" this seems to imply that he can't have a relationship with Marie because she's too busy trying to find herself.

Then you have Cindy who's "someone's plus one" and "And she's got a story you can't see
Well, that's just between that name and Cindy" seems to mean that he can't have a relationship with Cindy because she's already in love with someone else.

And then you have Holly. It seems that Holly is leaving him, and she's telling him in the car and he says "i lost her then, i fell from (high?)".

Last you have him singing how he's "just a (guest*?) I'm not a part" and that "these several years out on the sea made me empty cold and clear pour yourself into me" seems to mean that he has lost all individuality and is only meant to be used by other people. He's alone.

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