A love song of a modern woman with whom the writer fell in love with despite her (the woman) having such unique quirks and flaws deep within her personality. Though it never seemed obvious, the writer was lucky to witness how formidable a woman can be through her very actions.
\”She can kill with a smile; She can wound with her eyes…\”
These are just simple yet well-selected words so powerful used at the beginning of the song. It may sound exaggerated about murdering someone with just a smile but there are moments when we may experience a slight skip in our heartbeat when a cute girl flashes her cheeky smirk while looking our way. A sudden feel of butterflies burst in our belly is common from such simple action done by a woman. A subtle gaze of a woman can have a 1001 meaning and most of the male subspecies (me included) could sometimes be clueless and dense enough in receiving hints and signals behind those bewitching stares.
\”But she\’ll bring out the best and the worst you can be.
Blame it all on yourself cause she\’s always a woman to me\”
I do believe that no explanation is needed on this one. Words crystal clear that could have you be pondering upon for a moment since we do encounter such situations somewhere in our past and it is kind of true that mostly we are the ones who are held responsible for bringing out either beauty or beast within ourselves. Nothing of her could be of fault for doing so, she\’s just being herself in our presence.
The chorus of this song emphasizes particularly that women should be whoever they are. The classic term of \’damsel in distress\’ is hardly known today as women keep on surviving and thriving in choosing a career independently. According to an article by Rebecca Shambaugh, an author and a leadership expert, an observation from a study gives us an insight that men and women are evenly matched in their intellectual performance whilst it may differ in other aspects namely communication, emotions, task orientation, etc. (you may read the full article: link below)
\”…she can wait if she wants\”
\”She\’s ahead of her time\”
An alternative way to elucidate the meaning of these lines is to believe that \’she\’ has matured so much already as she now can wait for the rest of the world to mature enough to her level. Need not for her to follow any cultural swing or the latest fad. She dictates what comes then and after which is undoubtedly eccentric of her to the time being.
\”Oh, and she never gives out and she never gives in. She just changes her mind\”
We also must consider that all the lyrics written in this song are viewed from the writer\’s (Billy Joel) perspective and I believe what he meant to say is that women are their person. Every decision they\’ll be making should always be based on their self-preference as their choices alone are the one that matters. At the end of the day, it all depends on her to make it or not to make it.
\”She hides like a child but she\’s always a woman to me\”
There could be a handful of reasons to be acting like a child in this scenario, but Billy just being Billy, leaving it up to our imagination of interpreting it. Could she have just been childishly shy? Or maybe acting way immature for her actual age? Or perhaps she was just teasing you like a real child she was meant to be? All these attributes kind of reminds me of a 1961\’s classic film, Breakfast at Tiffany\’s. To be more precise, the character of a young lady known as Holly played by the late Audrey Hepburn. She\’s real eye candy, playful, witty as well as an interesting character in the whole film. Most notably, the way she deals with the situation she gets herself into. Like a toddler who is amazed and excited at every single thing, she could get hold on albeit she\’s also the kind who would also try to hide and fleeing herself free from all the problems as if it\’s not even hers, to begin with.
\”And she\’ll take what you give her as long as it\’s free
Yeah she steals like a thief but she\’s always a woman to me\”
Having no interest in possessing a man\’s wealth, she\’s quite the opposite of a gold-digger. Stealing only the writer\’s love. She ain’t a poacher nor a looter. Rather she\’s just a master to the thieving of hearts and souls.
“And the most she will do is throw shadows at you but she\’s always a woman to me\”
And if you think that murdering you is the worst thing a woman can do? You haven\’t been stung by one of those silent treatments of hers. As ferocious and as brilliant a woman may be much like the threatening force she holds, we might not realize how arcane she communicates through her manner and every move of her is subtle.
Now you may probably be asking me, “So she’s always a woman to you? After all this time?”
Then I’ll be saying, “Always…”
Ps: Thanks for reading folks. Do check out the song and happy belated International Women’s Day.
Written by : Sep
| References: |
| Lyrics and meaning of songs https://genius.com/2695886 |
| Different Brains, Different Behaviours: Why Women Lead Differently Than Men https://www.huffpost.com/entry/different-brains-differen_b_9480952 |