Montreal
Kari Bremnes Lyrics

I saw that she was rather young.
The singer saw a young woman at an arcade in Montreal.

She was standing at the counter of a dusty old arcade.
The woman was standing at the counter of a run-down arcade.

She must have weighed at least 200 pounds,
The woman was overweight.

But everything she sold was slim and finely made.
Despite her weight, the woman sold thin and high-quality clothing.

I'd seen nothing so enchanting for so long.
The artist found the woman and her clothing to be captivating.

This was Montreal, I was hiding from the rain.
The scene took place in Montreal, where it was raining.

She wore black fingernails and went right into a song,
The woman had black fingernails and started singing a song.

As she slowly came to me with this refrain:
She approached the artist and repeated a line of the chorus of her song.

I'm selling all my mother's clothes:
The woman was selling all of her deceased mother's clothing.

Her lingerie, her skirts and coats.
Her mother's clothing included undergarments, skirts, and coats.

Her beauty was as pure as this affair is sordid.
Although the situation was dark, the woman's mother had been beautiful.

I'm selling all my mother's clothes,
The woman continued to advertise that she was selling all of her mother's clothing.

And, yes, I find it morbid.
The woman acknowledged that it was strange for her to be selling her mother's clothing.

She chain-smoked as she handled dark velour.
The woman smoked cigarettes while showing the singer dark velour clothing.

These hand-made things she showed me in her dramatic fashion.
The woman dramatically showed off the handmade clothing she was selling.

She saw for me these clothes held an allure,
The woman thought that the clothing had a special appeal to the artist.

The moiré and silk seemed to stir my passion.
The artist was deeply attracted to the moiré and silk fabrics of the clothing.

It was Dior, it was Chanel, a certain cut, a seamless seam.
The designer brands Dior and Chanel had made the clothing with perfect seams.

The black-nailed girl could clearly see my weakness.
The woman with black fingernails could tell that the singer was drawn to the clothing.

A weakness fed by a strange and sensuous dream.
The artist had a strange and sensual dream about clothing like that which the woman was selling.

With a joyless laugh she said those lines again:
The woman repeated the lines about selling her mother's clothing, without any happiness.

She showed me last a handbag made of velvet.
The woman showed the artist a velvet handbag last.

In it were expensive stones like amethyst and jade.
The handbag contained valuable gemstones, including amethyst and jade.

Black sapphires had been shaped just like a rose.
The black sapphires in the handbag had been crafted to look like a rose.

For the funeral of a lover her mother had them made.
The woman's mother had the black sapphires made for a lover's funeral.

It probably was Paris where he died, is what she said,
The lover probably died in Paris, according to what the woman said.

As this big forgotten daughter glanced towards the window.
The woman, who felt forgotten because of her weight, looked out the window as she spoke.

I'll sell the sapphires cheap, the man's long dead!
The woman would sell the black sapphires at a low price because the man who had owned them was now deceased.

With a vacant laugh she gave those lines again:
The woman repeated the lines about selling her mother's clothing with a blank, emotionless laugh.