Eleni Mandell - Pauline

Published Wednesday, June 29, 2005 by Abby | E-mail this post

"Pauline/More than a memory girl/Gotta tell you what/Was a cold blue sofa and an oriental rug when your man got down and your man told me ‘let’s go’.”

Let the guest blogging commence

Simply put, Eleni Mandell’s 'Pauline' is the nastiest, funniest cheating song since M’chelle N’Degeocello’s 'If That’s Your Boyfriend (He Wasn’t Last Night)'. And in all honesty, Mandell’s song trumps N’Degeocello’s with ease, particularly as 'If That’s Your Boyfriend' is all snotty, awesome chorus.

The cheatin’ song is a popular genre, but it’s rare to hear one that isn’t from the perspective of the cuckold or the cuckolder. Mandell’s song is from the perspective of the other woman, she who fucked your man, and it sort of stands as a reply to Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” (no coincidence, there, with the similarity of the arcane names “Jolene” and “Pauline”) In this song, Mandell’s wreaking girl on girl violence, mocking the old fashioned “Pauline” while the guitars rumble and roar. So why do I love it?

First off, it’s kind of sexy, because Mandell can use her voice like an actress, hitting words and lines with appropriate inflection. Then there’s the trashy but perfect saxophone solo in the background. It’s surprising to hear the virginal Pauline in “her catalogue skirt” contrasted with the narrator who wore “black/I wore heels/I wore an ox-blood t-shirt.” Mean girls indeed, but as the dynamics build from disclosure to slightly hysterical bragging, it’s the type of song that would make you follow Ms. Mandell to the end of the earth.

By Elisabeth Donnelly, writer for Purpology and pop(matters)

3 Responses to “Eleni Mandell - Pauline”

Anonymous on 3:57 PM

This is a great song, but do you have a more... friendly copy of it? Perhaps a mp3?

wma files are kinda skeevy...
Anthony on 6:39 AM

i would kill for any copy of it
Anonymous on 11:55 AM

I hear what you say ... but ...

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health food store online, health food store online, health food store online, but i had to look here ...health food store online because no-one had the answer!