Cake: Short Skirt Long Jacket Meaning
Song Released: 2001
Short Skirt Long Jacket Lyrics
I want a girl who knows what's best
I want a girl with shoes that cut
And eyes that burn like cigarettes
I want a girl with the right allocations
Who's fast and thorough
And sharp as a tack
She's...
-
1TOP RATED
#1 top rated interpretation:Wow, you people are some kind of simple.
In summary, the song is describing a man's vision of the perfect woman, someone with both a fun, sexy, and materialistic side and an intelligent, practical, and responsible side. The lines alternate between those two extremes.
Examples:
"I want a girl with a mind like a diamond/I want a girl who knows what's best" -- self-explanatory. He wants a head-strong responsible woman.
"I want a girl with shoes that cut and eyes that burn like cigarettes" -- he wants this responsible girl to be fiercely sexy.
"She's playing with her jewelry
She's putting up her hair
She's touring the facility
And picking up slack"
- Again, self-explanatory if you're not mentally handicapped.
"She wants a car with a cupholder arm rest" - A healthy amount of materialism.
"She wants a car that will get her there" - on a foundation of practicality.
"I want a girl with a short skirt and long jacket" -- the title, the central theme. The short skirt is the fun-loving sex appeal, and the long jacket is the power and responsibility.
If you wanted to take the interpretation even further, you can say John McCrea is pointing out that the ideal woman is unrealistic. This can be supported with the lyrics, "I want a girl who gets up early. I want a girl who stays up late." This indicates a lifestyle that can't be sustained for very long, and eventually a girl will fail to live up to what was desired.
However, there seems to be slightly more emphasis on the serious/intelligent/practical side of a woman, which suggests he just wants a down-to-earth girl who can work hard and play hard. -
There are several levels to the song. One is basic, the singer is attracted to someone and he wants a practical relationship and sexual one. The other deeper meaning involves personifications of "America" - often depicted in art as "Columbia" - a NeoClassical woman of reserved beauty, sometimes a warrior, sometimes, a peace maker. In this angle to the song, we want opposites for our country, impossibilities, or contradictory things -- women that are sexy (short skirt) AND dignified (long jacket); "uninterrupted prosperity" (how?); touring facilities and taking up slack (efficient, but sexy -- good luck with that); justice that is flashy (shouldn't it be dignified and private?) etc etc etc. Lastly, kudos to CAKE for realizing the vibra-slap (rattlesnake-sounding thing) IS a TRUE musical instrument.
-
A case jacket generally refers to a person's criminal file. A person with a long record is said to have a long or full jacket, meaning there is lots of stuff in the file.
-
He hesitates when he says jacket. So I always took it like he almost wants to say long penis. Like the type of girl is non existent or rare, and would have to be a man. But he ends up saying jacket. Kinda like it's comically misleading. I dunno though
-
She's playing with her jewelry, she putting up her hair.... she's touring the facilities and picking up slack." Just great line after line of respect (and desire) for a women who does it all. Realistic? Probably not, but what guy doesn't want this woman? I'm a woman and I wanna be her!
-
This song is clearly about the 90s cartoon daria...even though web said it was about another 90s influencer agent Scully from the x-files
-
Someone told me this is referring to the VAG
-
In Cali, a "jacket" is a person's arrest record in court proceedings.
A long jacket is a lot of arrests. -
It's about a female he couldn't get, put her on a pedestal, and wrote a song about her. Simple as that!
-
Does anyone know who did the female version of this song by Cake, sung by a woman with part of the lyrics "i want a man with a long attention span"?
-
He is talkin about having a strong sexy transvestite hooker to love
-
She has a short skirt and a long jacket, she cuts through RED TAPE and she has fingernails that shine like JUSTICE. She is changing her name from Kitty to Karen. (Something more professional.) Uninterrupted Prosperity (A good paying job)Trading her car in for something more professional.
She's touring the facility and picking up slack. She's trading her MG for a white Chrysler La Baron. (A luxury car) She fast thorough and sharp as a tack. This song is CLEARLY about a business woman. In my eyes she's a Lawyer judging from the subtle hints highlighted above, but that is up for interpretation. Anyone who thinks it's about a prostitute is clearly not familiar with the business world. -
This woman is NOT unattainable...just RARE....it does happen though...my bf sings this to me all the time....I'm no hooker, but I work hard and dress to kill when we go out...
-
dudes... some guy sang this to me. im not realy sure want too make of it. maybe i thinks im a hooker cause thats wut it sounds like.....
-
I always thought it was about the perfect woman being non existent or just unattainable, so he just ends up masterbaiting.
-
boy: So basically, he wants to have his cake and eat it too
girl: well, he IS the cake. So he has to find other cake to eat.
More Cake songs »
Latest Articles
-
A new era for Millennial favorite, Linkin Park
-
Anime to watch for the soundtracks… and other reasons you’re undateable
-
Dolly, we need you
-
The Stranger Things Effect: How new media is drawing Gen Z and Alpha's attention to aging media
-
The most underrated soundtrack of the early 2000s
-
Buy the Soundtrack, Skip the Movie: Brainscan (1994)
Trending:
Just Posted
Amnesia | anonymous |
Your Smiling Face | anonymous |
You Should Be Dancing | anonymous |
Washing Machine Heart | anonymous |
Souvenirs | anonymous |
Art Deco | anonymous |
Let It Go | anonymous |
The Greatest Show | anonymous |
Vampire | anonymous |
Vampire | anonymous |
Sippy Cup | anonymous |
A Place For My Head | anonymous |
I Hope You Dance | anonymous |
Metaphor | anonymous |
Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now) | anonymous |