The song tells a story set in the 1920s. Most of us will recognize the time as the “Jazz Age”, when wealth was in abundance and modern American culture began forming. Before then was WW1, which lasted 1912-1918. The leading men of many households had gone off to war, leaving many wives alone to provide for themselves. For a source of income, many women took on paid jobs for the first time. This brought a sense of independence to the ladies of the USA; they realized that they could forge lives for themselves other than that of a humble housewife. When the stock market shot up and money started rolling in, fashion, wild behavior(drinking, smoking, sex), makeup, and other activities that defied earlier social norms were taken up by many young women. These ladies were given the nickname “Flappers”.
The Lumineers Lyrics
[Verse 1]
Cut off all of your hair
Did you flinch, did you care
Did he look, did he stop and stare
At your brand new hair
Local boy, local news
Power lines hangin boots
Firemen in their trucks cut loose
A local boy’s shoes
Cadillac, cadillac
Businessmen dressed in slacks
I’m gonna buy one for us when I get back
A big cadillac
[Bridge]
And you can wave to all of your friends
And I’ll never leave you again
[Chorus]
Would you write would you call back baby if
I wrote you a song
I been gone but you’re still my lady and
I need you at home
[Verse 2]
Romeo, juliet
Balcony in silhouette
Makin o’s with her cigarette
It’s juliet
Flapper girl, flapper girl
Prohibition in curls
Hair of gold and a neck of pearls
It’s flapper girl
[Bridge]
And you can wave to all of your friends
And I’ll never leave you again
[Chorus]
Would you write would you call back baby if
I wrote you a song
I been gone but you’re still my lady and
I need you at home
[Bridge]
Cause if you ain’t behind my door
Then I ain’t got a home anymore
[Chorus]
Would you write would you call back baby if
I wrote you a song
I been gone but you’re still my lady and
I need you at home
[Outro]
Lovers come, lovers go
Lovers leave me alone
She’ll come back to me
Feel English! 