He regularly does solo work, and returns again and again to bands he has formed like The Soft Boys and The Egyptians. Hitchcock is an avid and able collaborator with people like director Jonathan Demme, actor Alan Rickman, country/folk duo (and longtime Hitchcock fans) Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, The Venus 3, R.E.M.'s Peter Buck, Young Fresh Fellows' frontman Scott McCaughey, Andy Partridge of XTC, Nick Lowe, former Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones, Jon Brion, and Grant-Lee Phillips, as well as Ministry's Bill Rieflin.
Hitchcock's musical and lyrical styles have been influenced by his appreciation of Bob Dylan, Gregory Corso, The Byrds, Country Joe & The Fish, and Syd Barrett.
Hitchcock's lyrics are an essential component of his work, and tend to include surrealism, comedic songs, characterisations of English eccentrics, plant roots, insects, trains, dreams, and melancholy depictions of everyday life. His themes include what many psychologists view as the roots of modern neurosis - namely, death, sex, and eating. (As if in recognition of these themes, he released an EP in 2007 called "Sex, Food, Death and Tarantulas".)
Sometimes a Blonde
Robyn Hitchcock Lyrics
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With their own guns, proud to be on video
Young enough to feel like the skin grows back, yeah
And ghosts walk in the shadows of an obsolete scene
Plum straw plum light blue plum straw plum
Ask for Colin and he'll eat you
And time only comes around again
And ghosts walk in the ambulations of hound dogs
Bonbons, cinemas, and Matalo
Make you number seven walk the wrong way round, yeah
And they walk in the twenty-first century
And you are gonna get yourself together now, aren't you
I know you're a blonde sometimes
I know you fade
Heavenly nightshade
Heavenly nightshade
And ghosts walk in the fire of angels
Honeycombs and principles, ocelots and meerkats
Catch you looking stupid but you just don't care
When your sights are on infinity, you don't fire blanks, no
I know you're a blonde sometimes
I know you fade
You fade, and you're gone sometimes
I met a shapeshifter
I let her fade
Heavenly nightshade
Ooh, heavenly nightshade
Ooh, heavenly nightshade
It's where you came from
The lyrics to Robyn Hitchcock's song "Sometimes a Blonde" are fascinating and enigmatic, composed of intriguing and oddly paired images that seem to be loosely connected to each other. The first verse describes ghosts that walk in the bodies of children, carrying guns and enjoying the idea of being captured on video. The second and third verses reveal more fragments of this surreal world, with references to obsolete scenes, hound dogs, and bonbons, as well as hints of some impending apocalypse or transformation that will bring the end of time. In the final verse, there are references to honeycombs, ocelots, and meerkats, and a suggestion that the singer has met a shapeshifter and is letting her fade away. Through all these disparate elements, the song creates a vivid, unsettling mood that invites listeners to try and uncover its hidden meanings.
One possible interpretation of the lyrics is that they represent a dreamlike meditation on the decay of the modern world and the possibility of spiritual regeneration. The ghosts that walk in children's bodies and the references to obsolete scenes suggest a sense of loss and decay, while the references to shapeshifters and heavenly nightshade hint at the possibility of transcendence or transformation. The song seems to suggest that the modern world is full of decay and decayed symbols and that one possible way to create a new reality is to let go of these symbols or embrace them in new ways.
Line by Line Meaning
And ghosts walk in the bodies of children
Children are influenced by the ghosts of the past
With their own guns, proud to be on video
The ghosts are proud to carry their own weapons
Young enough to feel like the skin grows back, yeah
The ghosts are young and feel like they can start over
And ghosts walk in the shadows of an obsolete scene
The ghosts still linger in a bygone era
Plum straw plum light blue plum straw plum
These words are meaningless and represent the confusion of the scene
Ask for Colin and he'll eat you
The scene is dangerous, and one needs to be careful
And time only comes around again
Time is cyclical and repeats itself
At the end
The past will eventually catch up to us
And ghosts walk in the ambulations of hound dogs
The ghosts now inhabit the movements of dogs
Bonbons, cinemas, and Matalo
These represent the trivialities of life
Make you number seven walk the wrong way round, yeah
Even basic tasks become confusing and difficult
And they walk in the twenty-first century
The ghosts still persist in the present day
And you are gonna get yourself together now, aren't you
It's time to move on and face reality
I know you're a blonde sometimes
People can be naive and oblivious
I know you fade
People can disappear and lose their way in life
Heavenly nightshade
This represents the beauty and danger of life
And ghosts walk in the fire of angels
Even angels are not immune to the presence of ghosts
Honeycombs and principles, ocelots and meerkats
These represent the diversity of life, from the mundane to the exotic
Catch you looking stupid but you just don't care
People are not always aware of their own foolishness
When your sights are on infinity, you don't fire blanks, no
When one is focused on the eternal, they can accomplish great things
You fade, and you're gone sometimes
People can disappear from our lives in an instant
I met a shapeshifter
People can change and transform over time
I let her fade
The singer has let go of someone who has disappeared
Heavenly nightshade
This line again represents the beauty and danger of life
Ooh, heavenly nightshade
This line emphasizes the fascination and allure of life
It's where you came from
This is a reminder of one's origins and the ghosts of the past
Contributed by Evelyn W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.