Arabella

Arabella's got some interstellar-gator skin boots
And a helter skelter 'round her little finger and I ride it endlessly

Are the opening lines of one of my favourite songs. There are times when the playlist on my phone just shows this song plus a few that follow it on the same album. But even though I’ve heard it hundreds of times, I’m still pretty clueless as to what the song is actually about…

I’ve always put it down to being a “music” and not a “lyrics” person (claiming that lyrics simply aren’t that important to me), but the truth is probably that I simply don’t understand what the singers are saying or what that actually means.

Let’s take a detour.

The other day I was ordering a drink in a bar when I noticed a coke bottle on the counter, a Mexican coke bottle to be precise. My friend was quite excited about it – I just confused. Turns out, Mexican Cokes are this cult version of the everyday soft drink which – according to urban legend – is made with real sugar rather than the high-fructose corn syrup American cokes are made of. Their coolness is enhanced by being served in good old-fashioned glass bottles and at significantly higher prices by only a handful of bars.

Mexican Coke is just one of many times since arriving in the US where I’ve been confused by what people say.

When I moved in, my landlord asked me if I needed more flannels and I was wondering whether he was offering me checked lumberjack-style shirts only to then realise that he was talking about towels. This was less concerning then when he asked me whether I liked the comforter in my room and I was mentally searching the room to see if I had missed a strange cuddly toy sitting in some corner of the room staring down at me…

My friends might be telling me how they’ve bought a new sportscoat and I get confused as to why they’re spending so much money on exercise gear, only to realise that it’s some kind of dinner jacket. I also didn’t understand why the same friend was annoyed he hadn’t gotten a chance to say bye to the “beat cops” before moving apartments...

I’ve had to explain what an aspirin was because people didn’t understand what strange medication I asked for and were in turn surprised that I didn’t know whether I liked “scallions”, which I’d previously only known as spring onions.

And finally - even though it probably falls more into urban slang – one of my high (or low?) lights is spending the better part of a metro ride trying to figure out what the adverts with the letters “DTF” were trying to advertise, only to eventually figure out that it stood for “down to fuck”.

Being the scatterbrain that I am, I forgot many other situations where I felt catapulted back to my first day at boarding school and having to ask people to please paraphrase whatever they had been trying to say…

Now, what’s all of that got to do with Arabella and her interstellar-gatar skin boots (whatever they are)? Turns out, Arabella is into Mexican Coke too:

(That's magic) in a cheetah print coat
(Just a slip) underneath it I hope
(Asking if) I can have one of those
(Organic) cigarettes that she smokes
(Wraps her lips) 'round a Mexican Coke
(Makes you wish) that you were the bottle
(Takes a sip) of your soul, and it sounds like