The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
Hey I'm one big queen
No one can stop me
Red light, red green
Sat back, I'm watchin'
I'm number one
Second to no one
No sweat I'm clean
Nothin' can touch me
I'll tell you my name
F-U-C-K
Fifty foot queenie
Force ten hurricane
Biggest woman
I could have ten sons
Ten Gods
Ten queens
Ten foot and risin'
Hey I'm the king of the world
You ought to hear my song
Ah come on measure me
I'm twenty inches long
Glory glory
Lay it all on me
Fifty foot Queenie
Fifty and rising
You can bend over
Cassanova
No sweat I'm clean
Nothing can stop me
Hey I'm the king of the world
You better to hear my song
You come on measure me
I'm twenty inches long
Hey I'm king of the world
(Fifty foot queenie)
You ought to hear my song
(Fifty foot queenie)
You come on measure me
(Fifty foot queenie)
I'm thirty inches long
(Fifty foot queenie)
Hey I'm king of the world
(Fifty foot queenie)
You ought to hear my song
(Fifty foot queenie)
You come on measure me
(Fifty foot queenie)
I'm forty inches long
(Fifty foot queenie)
Hey I'm king of the world
(Fifty foot queenie)
You ought to hear my song
(Fifty foot queenie)
You come on measure me
(Fifty foot queenie)
I'm fifty inches long
(Fifty foot queenie)
(Fifty foot queenie)
(Fifty foot queenie)
(Fifty foot queenie)
(Fifty foot queenie)
(Fifty foot queenie)
(Fifty foot queenie)
(Fifty foot queenie)
(Fifty foot queenie)
No one can stop me
Red light, red green
Sat back, I'm watchin'
I'm number one
Second to no one
No sweat I'm clean
Nothin' can touch me
I'll tell you my name
F-U-C-K
Fifty foot queenie
Force ten hurricane
Biggest woman
I could have ten sons
Ten Gods
Ten queens
Ten foot and risin'
Hey I'm the king of the world
You ought to hear my song
Ah come on measure me
I'm twenty inches long
Glory glory
Lay it all on me
Fifty foot Queenie
Fifty and rising
You can bend over
Cassanova
No sweat I'm clean
Nothing can stop me
Hey I'm the king of the world
You better to hear my song
You come on measure me
I'm twenty inches long
Hey I'm king of the world
(Fifty foot queenie)
You ought to hear my song
(Fifty foot queenie)
You come on measure me
(Fifty foot queenie)
I'm thirty inches long
(Fifty foot queenie)
Hey I'm king of the world
(Fifty foot queenie)
You ought to hear my song
(Fifty foot queenie)
You come on measure me
(Fifty foot queenie)
I'm forty inches long
(Fifty foot queenie)
Hey I'm king of the world
(Fifty foot queenie)
You ought to hear my song
(Fifty foot queenie)
You come on measure me
(Fifty foot queenie)
I'm fifty inches long
(Fifty foot queenie)
(Fifty foot queenie)
(Fifty foot queenie)
(Fifty foot queenie)
(Fifty foot queenie)
(Fifty foot queenie)
(Fifty foot queenie)
(Fifty foot queenie)
(Fifty foot queenie)
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This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
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This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
I've always taken the gender bending here not to be as simple as her having a huge cock, but a transferrance of the kind of language with which the anxious male appendage is validated through (size, mainly, but also fertility). My reason for this thinking is the term queenie, which is the name given to the queen scallop in the British Isles ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_scallop ). Clams and fannies have certainly enough in common for an extended metaphor. Fannies in the British sense, of course.
Anyway, yeah, I think to take this as her having a huge cock sort of misses the point that she is comically appropriating the exaggerated language men have used for their tackle to make a stronger point that she feels her ladyparts are no less strong and formidable: that they aren't a nothing to the man's something. And I think this because of bivalve molluscs. And also because it's funny to think of a 50ft fanny. Feel free to disagree!
Kyomara, I definitely think the gender bending means something, but not like she's a closet tranny or anything (not saying that's what you were implying). I just htink she is trying to break down gender barriers. With her great big cock. :D
I find it completely unforgivable that PJ isn't touted as one of the most impotant artists of her genre (whatever pigeonhole you'd like to shove her in). She is, of course, and I fully believe that it's because she doesn't have a great big cock. If a man had written these very same songs, he'd be hailed as a god.
I can't believe that this song has been posted for over 5 years and I'm only the 4th to comment on it. And perusing the rest of her songs, no song has more than 19 comments....
People are intimidated by her, I think.
maybe she's using a cock as a metaphor or symbol for ego. maybe this song is just about having a huge arse ego whether male of female.
i can't believe no one has commented on this song. it is great. i love it
I completely agree, my artsy slutty comrade. And when they're not intimidated by her, they don't feel she's of any relevance she's not featured on TRL or somesuch.
I once attempted to introduce one of my younger cousins to PJ, only to within a couple minutes get a wince, "this is weird", and her attempt to then convert me to worship of the alleged greatness that is Creed. She's now dead to me.
Seriously though, all hail Ms Harvey.
i love the line ... " you bend over Cassanova" did anyone else get a chuckle out of this one? she says "no sweat, im clean, nothing can touch me" gay sex was/is associated with AIDS. is she making referance?
I love this song to death (thus my name on here) It screams "I am who I am and I am the shit... no matter what!" A song of pride. The main character in the song is every gender. ha.
i like that too : ))
PJ is just... a goddess. nothing more to it
"bend over, Casanova" is a fucking great rhyme, and worth a good guffaw<br /> <br /> 'cuz with a lot of songs on the Rid of Me LP, P J takes on a male persona--4 exaggerating gender role behavior & expectations--which would make the dominator-man-to-man rape implications dead-on target, uh, so to speak.<br /> <br /> not gay! not at all. that would imply male-to-male intimacy and love. here we have instead: comparing/measuring/boasting of size, seeking dominance. meaning: others must submit!
I love that with every verse the claims get wilder and more extreme - "I'm twenty inches long... no, make that thirty... forty and still rising!!!" etc.
To me she was a female Kurt Cobain at the time. She proved eventually that she was way beyond that. To me the song is simple, its a dude bragging about his manhood and she is aping that. Her first 2 albums are directed at men being egoist dickheads who think with there mansize, women are just objects and harvest alot of pain trying to weed through them.
My take on the song is that this is Polly using male type sex trash talk to point out just how funny it is. The claim is that Polly is not only as good as the boys but better, and always will be. In terms of the lyric, better equals larger, hence the "arms" race twenty, thirty, forty - no fifty inches long!
At the time I remember the song getting some air play and being a little shocked that she got away with bend over Cassanova... I can only assume the male sensors were oblivious.
What I don't see addressed here - and it's the part I really don't know... Who or what is a Queenie and does extreme size matter to a queenie?
Like many early PJ Harvey songs, this one appears to be about a great big cock. Perhaps the gender-bending details actually mean something, or perhaps they're just there to make the song interesting.