The songs of the project God Help the Girl belong to the genre of indie pop and resemble the other output of Belle & Sebastian in tone – two songs (Funny Little Frog and Act of the Apostle) were taken directly from the earlier repertory of this group. However, contrary to the earlier work of Belle & Sebastian – a group dominated by male performers, female vocalists (who are not members of the group) play the main role in the project. The songs themselves also tell about the problems of young girls entering adult life.
Act of the Apostle
God Help the Girl Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Too sick to even care
I'll take a little walk
Nobody's going to know
I'm in Senior Ward
That gives you a little free time
I'll just use it all at once
Took the fence and a lane
The bus then the train
Bought an Independent to make me look like
I got brains
I made a story up in my head
If anybody would ask
I'm going to a seminar
I'm a genius
I'm a prodigy
A demon at maths and science
I'm up for a prize
If you gotta grow up some time
You have to do it on your own
I don't think I could stand to be stuck
That's the way that things were going
The Bible's my tool
There's no mention of school
My Damascene Rose
A transistor radio
I tune in at night
When my mum and my dad start to fight
I put on my headphones
And I tune out
I am devout
The girls are singing about my life
But they're not here they've got the wild life
If you want to find out, find out
You've got to look them in the eye
That's why my only choice
Is find the face behind the voice
The lyrics of God Help the Girl's song Act of the Apostle tell the story of a teenage girl who feels bored and sick, probably stuck in a hospital, which she refers to as the "Senior Ward". She decides to take a walk and escape for a while, nobody's going to notice anyway. In this short time she feels free and uses it all at once. She takes the fence, the lane, the bus, and the train. She buys a newspaper to appear smart and intellectual. She invents a story in her head about going to a seminar, and makes herself believe she's a genius, a prodigy, and a demon at math and science. She feels like she's up for a prize, manifesting a need for recognition and self-validation.
The girl turns to the Bible as her tool and consolation, even though there's no mention of school, which might indicate that she feels oppressed by school and prefers to seek knowledge elsewhere. Her transistor radio and headphones are her escapism, a way to tune out the external environment, especially when her parents start to fight. The lyrics suggest that she feels a connection with the girls singing on the radio, as if they were somehow channeling her life. She wants to find out more about them, but the only way is to look them in the eye, meaning that direct communication is necessary. Thus, the song ends with her resolve to find the face behind the voice, signifying her determination to connect with something or someone that would give her hope and meaning.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm bored out of my mind
I'm incredibly restless and dissatisfied
Too sick to even care
I'm feeling too unwell to take much interest in anything
I'll take a little walk
I'll leave my current situation to try to find a distraction
Nobody's going to know
I'm trying to keep my exit discreet
I'm in Senior Ward
I'm in a mental health ward for teens and young adults
That gives you a little free time
There's not a lot of structure or supervision in this ward
I'll just use it all at once
I'm going to take advantage of this opportunity to do something reckless
Took the fence and a lane
I hopped over the fence and walked on the side of the road
The bus then the train
I took public transit to get further away
Bought an Independent to make me look like I got brains
I bought a newspaper to look sophisticated
I made a story up in my head
I invented a believable lie to explain my absence
If anybody would ask
In case someone asks me why I'm out of the ward
I'm going to a seminar
My cover story is that I'm attending an educational lecture
I'm a genius
I'm convinced of my own exceptional intellectual abilities
I'm a prodigy
I'm certain that I'm gifted beyond my years
A demon at maths and science
I excel in and find particular pleasure in these subjects
I'm up for a prize
I believe I could win an academic award
If you gotta grow up some time
There's a sense that we all have to mature eventually
You have to do it on your own
That process of becoming adult has to come from within
I don't think I could stand to be stuck
I find any kind of confinement unbearable
That's the way that things were going
I don't like how my life was heading, so I had to escape
The Bible's my tool
I use scripture as a way of making sense of my situation
There's no mention of school
I prefer learning from my environment than formal education
My Damascene Rose
A rose that has a deeper or symbolic meaning for me
A transistor radio
A portable device that allows me to listen to radio stations
I tune in at night
I only listen to the radio when it's dark out
When my mum and my dad start to fight
I use music as a way to distract myself from their arguments
I put on my headphones
I wear headphones as a way of fully immersing myself in the music
And I tune out
Music allows me to forget about the problems around me for awhile
I am devout
Music is my religion or my guiding light
The girls are singing about my life
The music I'm listening to feels personally relevant to me
But they're not here they've got the wild life
The musicians or performers are off living a different lifestyle than mine
If you want to find out, find out
If you want to learn more about something or someone, you need to do the legwork yourself
You've got to look them in the eye
Meaningful interaction requires real-life connection and mutual trust
That's why my only choice
I'm driven to pursue a connection or relationship with the artists who are speaking to me through their music
Is find the face behind the voice
I want to connect with the people who are creating the music that speaks to me so deeply
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: BOB KILDEA, CHRISTOPHER GEDDES, MICHAEL COOKE, RICHARD COLBURN, SARAH MARTIN, STEPHEN JACKSON, STUART MURDOCH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind