its amazing how far music can come.. 24 years after it released and its one of the most heartfelt songs ive heard
She'd walk through the door and she'd set up the drinks on the house
She played a good game of darts, and the men slapped her back
And never took her out
She wore a trenchcoat khaki
Her hobnail boots were full of holes
She's got medals
Her mother called her Mary, but she changed her name to Tommy, she's a one, oh
She went and joined the army, passed the medical
Don't ask me how it's done
They sent her to the front line
Fighting for her country's name
She's got medals
She got very tired of picking up girls
Cleaning her gun and shaving her curls
Then the enemy dropped a bomb
Survivors there were none
People say that when the moon is full and all the stars have gone to bed
You can see her ghost but that's a lie because the naughty woman isn't dead
She deserted on the previous morning
Replaced her uniform with dresses silk and green
Called herself Eileen
Came to London town
Now she's settled down
She's got medals
She played a good game of darts, and the men slapped her back
And never took her out
She wore a trenchcoat khaki
Her hobnail boots were full of holes
She's got medals
Her mother called her Mary, but she changed her name to Tommy, she's a one, oh
She went and joined the army, passed the medical
Don't ask me how it's done
They sent her to the front line
Fighting for her country's name
She's got medals
She got very tired of picking up girls
Cleaning her gun and shaving her curls
Then the enemy dropped a bomb
Survivors there were none
People say that when the moon is full and all the stars have gone to bed
You can see her ghost but that's a lie because the naughty woman isn't dead
She deserted on the previous morning
Replaced her uniform with dresses silk and green
Called herself Eileen
Came to London town
Now she's settled down
She's got medals
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"Her mother called her mary, but she changed her name to tommy, she's a one Oh, she went and joined the army, passed the medical Don't ask me how it's done"
And
"People say that when the moon is full and all the stars have gone to bed You can see her ghost but that's a lie because the naughty woman isn't dead"
Amazing rhyming, I love how whimnsical this early stuff is, but it hides a very acute and brilliant sense of things. Obviously this song has to do with a woman who didn't relate to the feminine ideals that were demanded of her in her time, and so she became a boy. And then she realized she didn't want to fight anymore and so, as a girl, it was in her power to desert the others and be a woman again.
It's a brilliant song because it talks about how gender boundaries are insanely ridiculous.