What is this about and why is Prince taking a bath with his pants on?

Dorothy Parker was a writer and poet with a notable wit and had lived through an unhappy childhood. Born in the late 1800's and dying in 1973, she has nothing to do with Prince.

HOWEVER Prince claims to have written the song without any knowledge of her whatsoever. And listen to the lyrics as to why he has his pants on ^.^

Dorothy was a waitress on the promenade
She worked the night shift
Dishwater blonde, tall and fine
She got a lot of tips
Well, earlier I'd been talkin' stuff
In a violent room
Fighting with lovers past
I needed someone with a quicker wit than mine
Dorothy was fast
Well, I ordered - "Yeah, let me get a fruit cocktail, I ain't 2 hungry"
Dorothy laughed
She said "Sounds like a real man 2 me"
Kinda cute, U wanna take a bath?
(do you wanna, do you wanna, bath)
I said "Cool, but I'm leaving my pants on" (she say)
"Cuz I'm kind of going with someone"
She said "Sounds like a real man 2 me"
"Mind if I turn on the radio?"
"Oh, my favorite song" she said
And it was Joni singing "Help me I think I'm falling"
(Ring)
The phone rang and she said
"Whoever's calling can't be as cute as U"
Right then I knew I was through
(Dorothy Parker was cool)
My pants where wet, they came off
But she didn't see the movie
Cuz she hadn't read the book first
Instead she pretended she was blind
An affliction brought on by a witch's curse
Dorothy made me laugh (ha ha)
I felt much better so I went back
2 the violent room (tell us what U did)
Let me tell U what I did...

I took another bubble bath with my pants on
All the fighting stopped
Next time I'll do it sooner
This is the ballad of Dorothy Parker

Dorothy Parker, Dorothy Parker, Dorothy Parker
Dorothy Parker, Dorothy Parker, Dorothy Parker
Well
Dorothy Parker, Dorothy Parker
Well
[Edited 11/1/07 14:27pm]

purplesocks said:

Ha, I know that just wanted to know what the hell he was going on about with them pants on while hes taking a bubble bath at the end...

The bubble bath with his pants on was to make his girlfriend laugh -- so their fight would end.

Genesia said:

Wow so simple an explanation, thanks for that I get it now lol

I remember back when I used to take a bath with my pants on.
Then one day, as I reached over for my fruit cocktail,
I accidently bumped the radio & it fell into the bathwater.
Later,
when the police found me,
& then resuscitated me,
because my pants were still on
& also because the radio, which, surprisingly enough, was still working,
was playing Joni singing "Help me I'm falling",
they had come to the conclusion that I had tried to off myself.
I laughed & then tried to explain to 'em that they had it all wrong.
That the only reason I still had my pants on was cuz I was kinda seeing someone & that the main reason for the fruit cocktail was because I wasn't too hungry.

After a minute or two of awkward silence,
they pushed me back into the tub & threw the radio back in again.




Y'all just don't realized how close you people came to never having the Illustrator as a fellow orger.
[Edited 11/1/07 15:22pm]

I am glad you are here with us, Illustrator, cute version...

bex23 said:

It's pretty self-explanatory...

I took another bubble bath
With my pants on
All the fighting stopped
Next time I'll do it sooner

Genesia said:

I always thought he took the bubble bath with his pants on to avoid having sex with Dorothy who was not his girlfriend. Like he was attracted to Dorothy but trying to be faithful so he'd leave his pants on. I guess it's open to interpretation.


Dorothy laughed
She said "Sounds like a real man 2 me"
Kinda cute, U wanna take a bath?
(do you wanna, do you wanna, bath)
I said "Cool, but I'm leaving my pants on" (she say)
"Cuz I'm kind of going with someone"
She said "Sounds like a real man 2 me"
[Edited 11/1/07 17:24pm]

SCNDLS said:

That was the first bubble bath in the song.

We're talking about the second one.

Genesia said:

O I C

I wrote this on another thread sometime ago.....

"For me, its always been about looking for consolation are having a bust-up with a loved one and finding a way of avoiding conflict.

Well, earlier I'd been talkin' stuff
In a violent room
Fighting with lovers past

refers to an argument with his current girlfriend. They could have been arguing about his or her past, its not clear. (altho, it sometimes sounds likes he's singing "a lover's past" which would suggest its her past, not his). He goes out, sees this fine looking waitress, who flirts with him.He likes her cos she's more than a fine looker, she has intelligence and wit.

He accepts her offer and has the bath, but discovers its just that a bath;

But she didn't see the movie
Cuz she hadn't read the book first
Instead she pretended she was blind
An affliction brought on by a witch's curse

In other words, she didn't sleep with him, perhaps because she prefers to get to know someone better first. The "witch's curse" implies that Prince is mildly frustrated that she doesn't sleep with him and blames it on something esoteric, other-worldly.

However, she makes him feel better about things, they've had a laugh and he goes back feeling more chilled and less argumentative. He recalls the experience as a way to deal with when he might be feeling angry again (next time i'll do it sooner - ie, instead of jumping in and arguing "violently" again, he'll chill and take a step back).

One of his best songs ever - period."

SCNDLS - you said "I always thought he took the bubble bath with his pants on to avoid having sex with Dorothy who was not his girlfriend. Like he was attracted to Dorothy but trying to be faithful so he'd leave his pants on. I guess it's open to interpretation."

Kinda right - he does keep his pants on to try and remain faithful, but he gets more and more attracted to her and would have been unfaithful if Dorothy would have let him - "My pants were wet, they came off, But she didn't see the movie....etc"

I've never heard about Prince claiming that he wrote this without knowing anything about the real Dorothy Parker (if he did, its one of his lines to appear more "mystical") as use of the Dorothy Parker name is no accident. The real DP was known for being quick-witted and her feminist views - a perfect association for describing the qualities of the DP that appears in this song.

There are so many people here with a talent for stating the obvious.

Illustrator said:

Very creative & funny Illustrator!

Genesia said:

And so many people with a talent for stating utter tripe a la "The bubble bath with his pants on was to make his girlfriend laugh -- so their fight would end." - complete rubbish and about as insightful as a 6 year-old would be capable of.
[Edited 11/2/07 0:00am]

Mindflux said:

Hey brilliant reply thanks for that, you explained it very well. I kind of had an idea this was what was going on just needed some clarification, and wondered about if it had anything to do with the real dorothy parker after he talks about her having fast wit in the song
[Edited 11/2/07 2:22am]