This song is pretty clearly Elvis' slap in the face to the art/fashion/modeling scene:
Fancy tricks = models, last year's model = last season's "it girl", chelsea hotel reference = slap at the famous and fabulous exemplified by Warhol's gang, etc.
The line that gets misunderstood, I think, is "they call her Natasha when she looks like Elsie." Elsie is a typical rural, girl-next-door, wholesome beauty's name (think the publican's daughter) -- the American equivalent might be Becky Sue (or Mary Ann from Gilligan's Island). So the rural natural beauty can't cut it in the fashion world, which has to make her into an "exotic" manufactured product -- "Natasha" -- to make its money.
oh, and re: questions about whether or not the song refers to the chelsea hotel directly, of course it does..."even though I've seen the movie" refers to Warhol's film "Chelsea Girls" set there.
oh, and re: questions about whether or not the song refers to the chelsea hotel directly, of course it does..."even though I've seen the movie" refers to Warhol's film "Chelsea Girls" set there.
This song is pretty clearly Elvis' slap in the face to the art/fashion/modeling scene:
Fancy tricks = models, last year's model = last season's "it girl", chelsea hotel reference = slap at the famous and fabulous exemplified by Warhol's gang, etc.
The line that gets misunderstood, I think, is "they call her Natasha when she looks like Elsie." Elsie is a typical rural, girl-next-door, wholesome beauty's name (think the publican's daughter) -- the American equivalent might be Becky Sue (or Mary Ann from Gilligan's Island). So the rural natural beauty can't cut it in the fashion world, which has to make her into an "exotic" manufactured product -- "Natasha" -- to make its money.
oh, and re: questions about whether or not the song refers to the chelsea hotel directly, of course it does..."even though I've seen the movie" refers to Warhol's film "Chelsea Girls" set there.
oh, and re: questions about whether or not the song refers to the chelsea hotel directly, of course it does..."even though I've seen the movie" refers to Warhol's film "Chelsea Girls" set there.
pps... for an equally good slap at "scenes and scenesters" everywhere, try "First We Take Manhattan" by Leonard Cohen!
pps... for an equally good slap at "scenes and scenesters" everywhere, try "First We Take Manhattan" by Leonard Cohen!