oh, st. vincent

you dont mean that say youre sorry
you dont mean that say youre sorry
you dont mean that SAY YOU'RE SORRY
you dont mean that

' I'll make you sorry... ' I love this part!

To me, it feels like it's about how you feel when people try to put you in a box or tell you who you are.

To me, it feels like it's about how you feel when people try to put you in a box or tell you who you are.

I'm not your world on a string

The way she repeats "any" makes it sound like "Annie." I think it's intentional (e.g. I'm not Annie, Annie, Annie, Annie...").

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Real nice refreshing song- totally new and different in these times. St.Vincent has it.

Seems like an "I am woman, hear me roar" type of statement being made by the songwriter. Guess it could be aimed at a dominating husband/boyfriend, but I sort of lean towards it being a rebel yell at an overbearing mother. The "your mother's favorite dog" and "pawn to your king" might suggest the former, but a few things about the chorus suggest to me that the latter is more likely. The turns-of-phrase like "you don't mean that, say you're sorry", "I'll make you sorry", and the title phase "Now, now" are slightly antiquated, and the sing-song way they are delivered certainly suggest a parent-child interaction. I suppose a 3rd possibility is that its aimed at both.

As th0rn points out, probably the most clever part of the song is the "I'm not anything". Definitely a play on Annie Clark's first name, and perfectly fits the song's vibe. "I'm not your 'Annie, Annie, Annie, Annie' thing". On one level, a declaration that the singer is tired of being objectified and treated as an object instead of a person. On another, the delivery of the "Annie, Annie, Annie, Annie" strongly suggests mocking mimicry of singer's intended target. If you see it aimed at an overbearing mother, it could me mimicking constant nagging. However, ff you see the song as aimed at a spouse/boyfriend, it could be a mocking of the fellow in question during the throes of passion which would change the meaning of the line slightly to something more like "I'm not your plastic love doll".

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To me, this song is the girl replaying in more words what her ex-boyfriend said to her... that she is not anything to him anymore (nothing to him 'now'). And she is saying in the chorus 'you don't mean that, say you're sorry'.