(7) Long Cool Girl (5:05)

[Shai]

Regarding the prior discussion of "me and you, we're three and two" might have another meaning. In baseball, three and two (or better, 3-2) refers to the "count". That means that the hitter gets a free pass to first base (base on balls, or walk) if he doesn't swing the bat at a bad pitch out of the strike zone. If the hitter swings and misses, or doesn't swing at a good pitch is the strike zone three times, then he "strikes out" and that counts as an "out". A "full count", when the count is 3-2 means that the next pitch will result in either a hit ball, or a strike or walk. That's why they call it "the payoff pitch", since something has got to happen!

So I think that fits in perfectly with the rest of Mark's line, "something's gonna happen now, it has to".

Also, remember that Mark has previously made reference to baseball in "The Bug" - "sometimes your a Louisville Slugger baby, (a popular bat) sometimes your the ball".


Any thoughts?

    Saul

[Lestroid]

So I think that fits in perfectly with the rest of Mark's line, "something's gonna happen now, it has to".

You may be onto something, Saul, given that MK likes to play around with phrases that have multiple meanings.  He could be saying to his "long cool girl" that since they are "3 and 2" in marriages that they might as well go for broke and try to "hit it out of the park" on this marriage, using the baseball analogy.   

Given that the love for his long cool girl is so apparant in this song, I would guess that he considers this marriage to be a home run!

[shangri la 1]

  Yes the baseball analogy fits perfectly with their previous marriage numbers. The song has a real "Hopeless Romantic" feel to it. That is the search term that I Googled to find the footage for our LCG Video. Every guitar phrase and the lyrics speak to me of someone who's very happy with having hit a home run.

[yontwocrows]

Yes, Shai, i find it convincing, too! 

[Lis]

I was always that bit of curious about what was being said in the beginning (someone asks Mark a question, and Mark replies with a quick “Yeah").  I tried to make it out but absolutely could not.  Well, a few months after Tracker was released, I was listening to Long Cool Girl while driving, and some words just popped out.  I won’t post it now, as I don’t want to possibly influence what someone else can hear.  But has anyone else been able to recognize what is being said?

[Elin N]

I think Mark says "right", then mumbling, then Guy replies "Yeah". Haven't tried to figure out the mumbling 

[tngemini]

I love the rythm of this song : a highlight of the album.

[FabioSorbello]

In response to the above dilemmas about the words:
- Long cool girl
- Me and you we are 3 and 2 something's gonna happen now, it has to

Long has nothing to do with how tall kitty is or to the cynical reference to the number of marriages they had. This is a very romantic song!!! Long  needs to be read in conjunction with cool. It simply means 'very' cool. However reference is not made to the intensity of 'cool' rather to how it usually this attributes fakes over time in people lives. Think about any person you know. How many of the people you found to be cool 15 years or 25 years ago are still cool to you now? Mark wanted to stress the uniqueness of kitty's attraction over him by making a very thoughtful comment about the long term effect of the attribute cool. In other words: she is amazing as a person!More than her beauty, more than the time when she used to be beautiful and famous as an actress since she managed to retain the same great features she struck Mark with in the mid 90ies.

3 and 2. I have thought about it millions of times. I came to the following conclusion.
MK usually write songs in stages over long time. He rarely write the lyric of a new song over a period of few months. I think he either started writing this song before the second daughter was born or he is putting himself back in time (few years ago) to a time when the only children he had were his twins and his older daughter. 'Me and you we are 3 and 2 (3 boys and 2 girls). It's an odd combination and we still love each other very much hence something must happen! It has two: the birth of another daughter....'

[FabioSorbello]

Remember that the record tracker is all about tracking time....

[Suprlinda]

Hi, all.  I am wondering if there might be some confusion concerning the phrase "something is gonna happen now it has two."  I know that some non-native English speakers may be unaware of it, but in the English language, either side of the pond, there are three forms of the word "to."  They are to, two and too.  In the spoken language, they all sound the same, it is only context that makes it understandable as to what is meant.  The word "to" means identifying motion or something or someone that is affected.  "Two" is the second number, and "too" is inclusive, or also.  The sleeve notes, just as shangri la 1's posting at the beginning of the song, uses "to."  That would seem to indicate with three and two, something has to happen or is affected.  We might infer other meanings, but I think we have to use what he actually wrote! 

[FabioSorbello]

Indeed you are correct.
The lyrics are: something's gonna happen now it has to.
My reference to it was only a typo. The interpretation accounts for the correct word.

[Lis]

I agree that the line would not be about marriages, however, Shai's interpretation makes most sense to me:

Regarding the prior discussion of "me and you, we're three and two" might have another meaning. In baseball, three and two (or better, 3-2) refers to the "count". That means that the hitter gets a free pass to first base (base on balls, or walk) if he doesn't swing the bat at a bad pitch out of the strike zone. If the hitter swings and misses, or doesn't swing at a good pitch is the strike zone three times, then he "strikes out" and that counts as an "out". A "full count", when the count is 3-2 means that the next pitch will result in either a hit ball, or a strike or walk. That's why they call it "the payoff pitch", since something has got to happen!

So I think that fits in perfectly with the rest of Mark's line, "something's gonna happen now, it has to".

But as typical with so many of his lyrics, there are likely multiple meanings. My gosh, even something as simple as 'me' and 'you' having three and two letters. 

[Love Expresso]

Sounds most plausible, I agree. Only thing that disturbs me about it is ... isn't Baseball a pure American thing? Would he choose a picture like this?However, he already  did so earlier.. remember the Louisville slugger?

LE

[jbaent]

Maybe is not about baseball but cricket?

I don't know anything about Cricket but looks like a game similar to Baseball to me...

[quizzaciously]

Could it just be so because it rhymes?

Paul Simon often put stuff in his songs just for the sake of rhyming and not always it should makes any sense.