Interesting comments, all of the above. Only the original lyricists know for certain what the song means.
For my part, the first time I heard Ruby Tuesday, shortly after it was released, I was mesmerized. (And the first time I heard Melanie's rendition I felt haunted. It is not often that a cover comes across more powerfully than the original, but Melanie's throaty rendition is the default version that will always run through my mind.)
As to the song, it falls between the bookends of Back Street Girl (musically) and Maggie May (lyrically). All three were songs for and by a generation that, although it did not always know it, was hungry for meaning yet wary of commitment, identifying with the present yet still expressing itself in terms from the past. In this case, Ruby was a wraith who drew the singer into a world that offered escape but no deliverance. The singer awakes, rues the fact that he could not draw her into his world, and reluctantly and nostalgically consigns memories of her to the world of ‘what might have been.’
Interesting comments, all of the above. Only the original lyricists know for certain what the song means. For my part, the first time I heard Ruby Tuesday, shortly after it was released, I was mesmerized. (And the first time I heard Melanie's rendition I felt haunted. It is not often that a cover comes across more powerfully than the original, but Melanie's throaty rendition is the default version that will always run through my mind.)
As to the song, it falls between the bookends of Back Street Girl (musically) and Maggie May (lyrically). All three were songs for and by a generation that, although it did not always know it, was hungry for meaning yet wary of commitment, identifying with the present yet still expressing itself in terms from the past. In this case, Ruby was a wraith who drew the singer into a world that offered escape but no deliverance. The singer awakes, rues the fact that he could not draw her into his world, and reluctantly and nostalgically consigns memories of her to the world of ‘what might have been.’
A beautiful song, by any measure.
Nice one. But the way the comments come out they are below yours - the one above is a bit whacky! :)
Nice one. But the way the comments come out they are below yours - the one above is a bit whacky! :)