The White Stripes: Blue Orchid Meaning
Song Released: 2005
Blue Orchid Lyrics
You got a reaction didn't, you?
You took a white orchid
You took a white orchid turned it blue
Something better than nothing
Something better than nothing, it's giving up
We all need to do something
Try keep the...
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Just wanted to volunteer a trivial fact that may have been considered when the song was written:
Orchids are known to resemble female genitalia pretty closely. -
I think it has to do with being sexually attracted to someone he knows he couldn't be with. Like someone that is too young. The young girl likes to flirt with the older guy and turns his orchid blue (blue balls). Also I think it has to do with this temptation that he's trying to overcome because of the lines
Get behind me
Get behind me now, anyway
Those lines remind me of when Jesus tells Satan, "Get thee behind me." As if the person singing is saying do not tempt me any more.
jmho anyways. -
This song is about a relationship coming to an end. It tells the final chapters of the story.
You got a reaction
You got a reaction didn't, you?
Something bad happened. Something unexpected between the 2 of them. This could be anything from a comment to cheating. Who knows? Who cares? But it clearly identifies the fact that something happened that could destroy of the relationship.
You took a white orchid
You took a white orchid turned it blue
All this is saying is the pure love the couple had, the "White Orchid" is now blue. I think if those who believe that this song was about sex, or a "jailbait song," were right, Jack would have called it "Red Orchid." Red is the color of the loss of virginity. Blue is sadness. And Jack repeatedly uses the color blue to define sadness.
Something better than nothing
Something better than nothing, it's giving up
We all need to do something
Try keep the truth from showing up
I think someone else identified these lines as meaning that accepting a bad relationship for the fact of having a relationship is just "giving up." I think they were right, and I think the message is the same in the last 2 lines. That couples will try to avoid the truth of the end from showing up. As an example, I golfed to try and avoid the truth from showing up. I think he is saying that people will do all types of things to avoid the end.
How dare you
How old are you now, anyway?
How dare you
How old are you now, anyway?
This is not a statement about how young someone is, it is about a disbelief in what someone did. That based on their age or experience they should have known better. "How old are you?" Is a question lots of people will ask others when they are surprised by some unexpected childish act. I ask my kids that question when they decide to do something that they should already know is inappropriate. I think that is all these lines represent.
You're given a flower
But I guess there's just no pleasing you
I see two possible interpretations. Onse simple, one a little more understated.
1) The simple: That at this point there is no longer any making up or apologies that will satisfy the hurt. That the simple act of saying I'm sorry is no longer good enough.
2) The understated: That the woman of the story no longer thinks flowers are good enough. She thinks she deserves more, or she no longer sees love in the simple act of giving flowers. She has become almost greedy with her desires and measures his love by the gift he gives.
Either way it signifies the problems in the relationship at this point, and that the end is clearly near.
Your lips tastes sour
But you think that it's just me teasing you
Can you say it any more plainly. He hates kissing her, and she thinks he is playing "hard to get."
Get behind me
Get behind me now, anyway
Get behind me
Get behind me now, anyway
He is saying she is history, and that he wants to put her behind him. That it is the end of the relationship. -
FYI EgoInvictus, I like reading walls of text and I read that guys and his makes a lot of sense and actually jur suggestions although their not all that in depth are pretty good thx...I have no real interpretation because I was just looking for the lyrics really and I found this website
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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I think it may have something to do that you can't actually have blue orchids: no amount of breeding the flowers has ever produced one. Make of that what you will.
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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The song is about someone being manipulative. "You took a white orchid/ turned it blue". It's about someone who always works things out how they want them to be and now he's fed up and pissed about it.
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Ok what does all this brother and sister shit even have to do with the song blue orchid omfg!
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The only reason it said that they were brother/sister in my earlier post (the second one down) was because it was a quote from Jack White.
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I would like to add that they presented themselves as brother and sister. They were married in 1996 and divorced in 2000. I took your advice and went to wikipedia.com and typed in "Meg White".
Love,
Willow Armstrong -
They are not brother and sister. Meg is Jack's ex! Look it up on Wikipedia.
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