The Girl That I Marry
Jack Say and His Orchestra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
As soft and as pink as a nursery
The girl I call my own
Will wear satins and laces and smell of cologne
Her nails will be polished and, in her hair,
She'll wear a gardenia and I'll be there
'stead of flittin', I'll be sittin'
A doll I can carry, the girl that I marry must be
Her nails will be polished and, in her hair,
She'll wear a gardenia and I'll be there
'stead of flittin', I'll be sittin'
Next to her and she'll purr like a kitten
A doll I can carry, the girl that I marry must be
The Girl That I Marry is a romantic song by Jack Say and His Orchestra. The lyrics of the song represent a man's fantasy of his ideal woman. He describes the girl he wants to marry as someone who is soft and delicate, just like a baby. The use of the word 'nursery' in the first line of the song indicates that the man is looking for someone who is pure and innocent, similar to the characteristics of a newborn baby. He further goes on to describe his ideal woman as someone who is sophisticated and elegant. She would wear satin and laces and smell of cologne.
The man's fantasy continues as he talks about the girl's appearance. Her nails would be painted and she would wear a gardenia in her hair, adding to her beauty. The man talks about how he would be content sitting next to her, holding her close and listening to her purr like a kitten. The song concludes with the man declaring that he is looking for a doll he can carry, indicating his desire for a submissive partner.
The lyrics of the song represent the stereotypical expectations that society has of women in heterosexual relationships. Women are supposed to be soft-spoken, gentle, and obedient to their partners. Their appearance should be impeccable, and they should smell good at all times. These unrealistic expectations perpetuate gender roles and reinforce the idea that women should be objects of desire.
Line by Line Meaning
The girl that I marry will have to be
The woman I settle down with must possess certain qualities.
As soft and as pink as a nursery
Her personality should be gentle and nurturing.
The girl I call my own
The woman I choose to be with exclusively.
Will wear satins and laces and smell of cologne
Her attire and scent should add to her overall allure.
Her nails will be polished and, in her hair,
She will take care of her appearance with meticulous attention to detail.
She'll wear a gardenia and I'll be there
Her beauty and grace should complement my presence.
'stead of flittin', I'll be sittin'
I will be content staying by her side instead of seeking out other women.
Next to her and she'll purr like a kitten
Being in my company should make her happy and content like a satisfied kitten.
A doll I can carry, the girl that I marry must be
She should be physically petite and delicate enough to be carried.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Written by: IRVING BERLIN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
9gello
I love how the positive comments are generally well written, grammatically correct, and quite coherent. The negative ones, not so much.
Dany Pizarro Cortez
Please help me because I'm spanish and dont not how to write my comments so talk like tarzan and write like tarzan but my heart is full of pain I miss so much Gentleman Jack 😔😥😢😭 heeeeeelp me anybody.....
em
FACTS
Nigel Barker
@Legion It's certainly true that she was no social reformer. She was in fact a total reactionary and as there was no secret balloting at the time she was happy to wield power by coercing those tenants who were able, to vote for the tories. 19th century girl-power in action, perhaps?
As for her appearance, there are two portraits, and it's hard to believe they are of the same person. However, in both she wears a black dress. Unusual, I would have thought for someone not a widow. Perhaps that's as butch as she was able to go in Georgian England. And certainly the men of her acquaintance had little doubt. One of them is quoted as saying something to the effect that he would rather leave his ladies in the company of a man than in the company of miss Lister.
I'm currently reading 'Gentleman Jack, The Real Story of Anne Lister' by Anne Choma. She was pretty formidable.
I agree that the BBC has editorialized somewhat, but as the Polish mother of a friend would say "that's just business show."
Michael Scott
@Legion 1: When "scientific" research is so incredibly dated that it's summarized in actual metaphors I think it's fair to question its accuracy/credibility today. The fact that you're quoting 19th century psychology in the first place is very telling.
2: At what point does a person's sexual drive "dominate" them? This paragraph seems to be more applicable to r*pe than it does to oral/anal/gay s*x, considering the latter can only be considered immoral from a religious point of view, which I doubt would be the basis of a scientific thesis, even in the 1800's.
Legion
@Michael Scott "When psychical moral inhibitions are so deteriorated in the individual that the lower centres of the cerebro-spinal axis dominate him, and he is no more governable than a mad bull, it is better to castrate than to corral such, just as it is better to shoot than to lasso the bull." The Alienist and Neurologist
YakitoriQueen
I have genuinely never seen a random scene from a show i've never watched getting me so involved. I almost cried at the end.
Squid
SAMEE
Eowyn Moonlight
Same
batslime
ME TOO you see so many romances where the two are like "we're fighting all odds, we could never be together :(" but there's no actual obstacle in their way... but here we get to see not only a beautiful love between two women in the 1800s fleshed out, AND it's based on real people- these are REAL lesbians that existed all this time ago and now their story is remembered and honored and loved by lesbians now, who can watch and feel a little seen, a little less lonely in the history of the world and we can feel that we can persevere and we CAN find happiness.
I already heard a lot of good about this show based on the historical accuracy, but I am 100% going to watch this now. I have been struggling for so long about whether I can really be happy loving other women as a woman, and after a particularly rough year for me, I'm glad this popped up in my recommendeds because I needed it and didn't even realize.