I guess I have a simpler idea of what this song is saying. The top poster pointed out that under the surface, there are allusions to 60's culture, the older vs. younger mentality of the time. But there's some surface level stuff here that's getting missed a little.
Some folks think that the "Mrs. Robinson" in the song is in a mental institution. I never read it that way. I figured she was an older lady going into a retirement home. It seems to line up with that, to my eyes.
We'd like to know a little bit about you for our files
We'd like to help you learn to help yourself
Look around you all you see are sympathetic eyes
Stroll around the grounds until you feel at home
This sounds exactly to me like what you might hear if you're moving into a retirement home, and you really don't want to move in, but you don't have a choice because you need the help caring for yourself. If you've ever known someone in that position, a parent or grandparent, it can be an incredibly humbling and deeply humiliating experience for them. Hence the "sympathetic eyes" and the suggestion to stroll around until she feels at home, because it's the last home she's ever going to have.
Hide it in the hiding place where no one ever goes
Put it in your pantry with your cupcakes
It's a little secret just the Robinson's affair
Most of all you've got to hide it from the kids
I always thought this was a reference to some prescription drugs. "Mother's little helper," if you will. And they allow her to have some pharmaceuticals to help her adjust (sedatives and anti-depressants, etc), but because the place is probably staffed by younger people in the 60's, she's got to keep it all locked up and hidden or the young people running the place will steal them for themselves.
Sitting on a sofa on a Sunday afternoon
Going to the candidates' debate
Laugh about it, shout about it
When you've got to choose
Every way you look at this you lose
This always seemed like a sad verse to me. In her advanced age, this is the only way she can expect to spend her personal time, on organized trips like this one to hear a debate between some candidates. The sad part is that no matter who she chooses to vote for, it's not going to help her life in any way. She's still going to be stuck in the care home, still waiting to die, and she'll still have very little hope for anything better, no matter what the candidates might promise.
The last chorus referencing Joe DiMaggio is a bit of lament for past times that she misses. But "Joltin' Joe" has gone away, and times that she thinks of as better for her are gone, and nothing will be "better" for her ever again.
Yes, it's also a picture of 60's culture like Viking said, but seen through the eyes of a retiree that doesn't really relate to it anymore, so she's placed in a home because she doesn't fit in and isn't able to contribute or care for herself anymore.
I guess I have a simpler idea of what this song is saying. The top poster pointed out that under the surface, there are allusions to 60's culture, the older vs. younger mentality of the time. But there's some surface level stuff here that's getting missed a little.
Some folks think that the "Mrs. Robinson" in the song is in a mental institution. I never read it that way. I figured she was an older lady going into a retirement home. It seems to line up with that, to my eyes.
We'd like to know a little bit about you for our files We'd like to help you learn to help yourself Look around you all you see are sympathetic eyes Stroll around the grounds until you feel at home
This sounds exactly to me like what you might hear if you're moving into a retirement home, and you really don't want to move in, but you don't have a choice because you need the help caring for yourself. If you've ever known someone in that position, a parent or grandparent, it can be an incredibly humbling and deeply humiliating experience for them. Hence the "sympathetic eyes" and the suggestion to stroll around until she feels at home, because it's the last home she's ever going to have.
Hide it in the hiding place where no one ever goes Put it in your pantry with your cupcakes It's a little secret just the Robinson's affair Most of all you've got to hide it from the kids
I always thought this was a reference to some prescription drugs. "Mother's little helper," if you will. And they allow her to have some pharmaceuticals to help her adjust (sedatives and anti-depressants, etc), but because the place is probably staffed by younger people in the 60's, she's got to keep it all locked up and hidden or the young people running the place will steal them for themselves.
Sitting on a sofa on a Sunday afternoon Going to the candidates' debate Laugh about it, shout about it When you've got to choose Every way you look at this you lose
This always seemed like a sad verse to me. In her advanced age, this is the only way she can expect to spend her personal time, on organized trips like this one to hear a debate between some candidates. The sad part is that no matter who she chooses to vote for, it's not going to help her life in any way. She's still going to be stuck in the care home, still waiting to die, and she'll still have very little hope for anything better, no matter what the candidates might promise.
The last chorus referencing Joe DiMaggio is a bit of lament for past times that she misses. But "Joltin' Joe" has gone away, and times that she thinks of as better for her are gone, and nothing will be "better" for her ever again.
Yes, it's also a picture of 60's culture like Viking said, but seen through the eyes of a retiree that doesn't really relate to it anymore, so she's placed in a home because she doesn't fit in and isn't able to contribute or care for herself anymore.