Amanda Palmer - Provanity Lyrics

Can we please get this on Spotify? Sandy's Song too?

Gorgeous song, but what the heck is the time signature? Sometimes it's 6/8, sometimes it's 5/8, and I'm very confused

Oh and I almost forgot the contractions reference I don't think she means labor contractions I think she literally means verbal contractions like pet names and informal vernaculars they are not proper and you only really get so informal because you think I'm beautiful.

but the original lyrics says "At the very least had an abortion"

I disagree I don't believe it's about pregnancy at all rather I think it's about the duality of her personality how she's cultivated this image of beauty and Grace and ettiquette but meanwhile she's internalized all her self loathing and negativity and how she secretly turned towards alcohol as a coping mechanism. She mentions how the cameras are always rolling "on the rocks" a reference to both a stiff drink and the chaos of life and how it tosses you this way and that. Which honestly is just brilliant writing in my opinion because not only is it a statement on how you should handle life but it's also a testament as to how she's failing miserably at it. As far as the whole pregnancy symbolism I feel like she's is flaunting that trademark AP charm where she takes incredibly personalized scenarios and she maquerades them as allegory. I think when she's talking about the bottle and the ladder and locking the other person up I think she's was referring to herself that alter ego she so shunned for the sake of her own vanity. She mentions how everything is wonderful but what's in the bottle? Expressing the idea that she actually hates all of it the wonderful body the comfortable home the wonderful party it's all a lie the ladder refering to how far she's taken her provanity choice and also hinting at ho precarious her perch is she's so high up she's perched on a ladder. And therefernece to locking her up is a reference to locking her own feelings and inner voice away they don't fit in with her provanity lifestyle she thought she could just lock that part of herself away and it would be fine she thought she could handle the 'shock' of but now she's beginning to find that shecouldnt just get rid of those feelings and now she being haunted by a ghost she hadn't seen or heard from in a while....herself.

Now obviously this is just speculation and nowhere near fact, and I might be wrong, but it's how I interpret this.

To me, this song sounds like it's about a mother, and her daughter, who is hating herself for all sorts of things, but mainly what pregnancy is doing to her body, and hating herself for hating it so much. She's admittedly a selfish person who has hurt people (the "candy boy" line) as well as feeling wary of loving someone, even her own child. It's to the point where she even daydreams about someone killing her on her propane grill. Then when she's going into labor, her hatred of herself turns towards her child for causing her so much pain, wanting it to be out of her body and to stop the contractions already. She takes the child home and there's celebration, but she's more focused on relaxing and finally being able to drink again. "What's in the bottle" I believe is a double meaning for both a baby bottle and a liquor bottle. She sees a bottle and her initial reaction isn't to think about feeding her child, it's to think about drinking. As the child grows up, the woman isn't the best mother to her, going as far as to lock her in her room when she becomes too much to deal with. "I thought she would be different" "Imitating what she knew" Realizing how awful of a mother she is, and how now that her daughter is just as bad as she is because of her daughter imitating her, she hates herself even more. Her self hatred only worsens with age and never ceases. She even wishes her daughter could help her because there's no one else who will, though she realizes that a child wouldn't be able to. "Have a shot with me, pull up a ladder" I think is another double meaning lyric, "pull up a ladder" referencing the child's age and small size, displaying how her parenting skills lack to the point where she'd allow her child to have a shot, and referencing how she's nowhere down to earth and you need a ladder to reach her. She thinks about how the father of her daughter left, how her daughter cried for dada and he was nowhere to be found. And in the end, despite how much she hates herself, she wonders if maybe her daughter might be happier than she is to be a person who is vain and only cares about herself. Maybe the daughter can learn to be happy this way, since her mother can't.

Is she touring in the UK any time soon? I have to see her live

MissSatanSparkles she's in London at 13 June in going to see her

gorgeous song.  I can't stop listening to it!

I can't find this song in the shop on Amanda's site. :( Help?

She is STILL and always will be stunning <3

"It is so comfortable."

Wow -- I remember listening to the bootleg of this and banging out in the keyboard trying to figure out the words. This is so perfect -- beautiful! I'm so happy.

Drinking out of a bottle and think, "Um...I'm drinking water Amanda..."

Where can we get this?

Haven't heard this since a Dresden Dolls concert years ago. So happy there's finally a studio recording.

wow i didn't hear it until now, you are so correct.

Woaahhh, new stuff! Awesome!
Definitely loving this song!

what is she whispering at 2:10?

I feel like this is about a girl getting pregnant and being forced to get an abortion.

I kind of feel as though this song perfectly described Daisy's feeling for Tom Buchanan in The Great Gatsby

This reminds me of "True Beauty Is So Painful" by Oomph! The content, not the music.

What does provanity means any way ?

Supporting being vain. Obsessed with appearances

i love this so much

Holy crap, it sounds so good. Like everyone else here I've been waiting to hear a studio version since the demo and it doesn't disappoint. I totally thought this one was gonna make it onto WKAP.

It would have fit beautifully on WKAP.

Would love to hear all of those old demo songs rerecorded, there were some gems on there.

thank you, I didi not think of that. I thought it was a pun with the word "profanity" :)

pro-vanity, to be for vanity (as opposed to anti-vanity)

pertaining to what exactly? this song has some strong symbolism and extensive vocabulary. I've listened to this countless times and even I don't entirely know what it all means but I love it regardless

I had a shitty copy of this from years ago. I'm so glad she officially recorded it.

yes this is complex material. i'm even from holland it's language it's culture. Can somebody give me some clues?

It's going to take me a long time to untangle those lyrics, if I ever can.

what does "provanity" mean?

Love this. I wish they also redid Mary's Surgeon, though.

AH?! I've been trying to figure out where these new songs were from. thank you!

I remember when you made good music. You should do that again

Kickstarter download version.

:O wait what!? Which version of the album has this on it?

PLEASE! Don't ever stop making such awesome music!?

This is amazing!