Stephanie Says- The Velvet Underground Song Analysis

The writer of the song seems to be talking about a girl who’s looking for answers; she’s confused and doesn’t really know what’s happening around her. Although this is not wrong there seems to be more to this girl- Stephanie – than meets the eye. Stephanie feels like she has wasted her life doing what people told her to do and following others without acknowledging her desires. This girl just wants to be herself but doesn’t know how. She wonders why she is the way she is and knows that she’s being foolish but doesn’t know how to stop. She’s stuck in a never-ending cycle. She watches life go by, feeling like she is not a part of the world around her. She connects calls but is never on them, she’s a door but she’s never in the room itself. She feels neglected from the world, stuck in this place where she exists in but is not a part of. She wants to leave but can’t or doesn’t know how. Since she’s not a part of that place, coming and going between worlds, people there don’t understand her. They feel her distance and coldness. Although people are somewhat curious about her, they never get their answers about her or they never really try. Stephanie reminds them of Alaska, always cold and far away. She want’s to leave this place she’s in but is unable to. She doesn’t want to be in the room instead she wants to flee and she doesn’t want to be on calls, talking; she just wants to hang up. Sick and tired of not finding the way out of this maze that is her mind, on the edge of sanity, she accepts death and does not fear from it. No one knows how lonely her soul gets and no one knows how cold it gets in Alaska. She says and says but no one’s there to hear or listen. As soon as the song starts we feel the fragile state of the subject in the song and start to emphasize with her. Although the song’s talking about someone severely depressed we feel calm and can truly relate to the girl not quite knowing why. The biggest factor that helps this song’s placid tone is the tender voice of the singer and the easy-going melody that flows through our ears. The author is peaceful. He’s signing like he has the smallest hint of a smile on his face, as if he had feelings for this girl and now after years has passed, he smiles a little when she runs through his mind. So now he shares Stephanie’s story to keep her eternal with a bedtime story like manner. For a moment in the midst of the story, we imagine our selves next to Stephanie guiding her through the worlds she’s stuck in between. Despite the fact that there is not a specific ending to the girls tale we get a feeling that she has met her end but we don’t feel bad for her in fact the opposite, we feel relaxed now that she’s free of herself. The song is an ode to Stephanie from the singer himself and since during her life time no one has ever really cared for her the singer repeats the phrase “Stephanie says” multiple times, trying to put the attention on Stephanie. He underlines this phrase so that the audience can realize the words that follow are Stephanie’s own and for once, whether she knows it or not, someone cares and someone’s listening. The chorus of the song keeps reminding the audience of Stephanie’s problem, which is feeling like she doesn’t belong and the fact that she kept going in and out of reality. This part also accentuates her suicidal feelings by saying she didn’t fear death. Another phrase that’s repeated is “She wants to know”. This stresses her confusion and uncertainty, she doesn’t know and she would like to. She has questions about herself and the world around her. She wants to clarify everything, which is what the entire song is actually talking about. Stephanie is trying to put everything into the light of day and whether she succeeds or not is left to the listener’s imagination with the last sentence that is “It’s cold in Alaska (Stephanie says)”. This last part is repeated three times in a row. The meaning behind it is that Alaska being cold is a fact and everyone knows it since they nicknamed her after it but does anyone really know how cold it gets? They can imagine but can they know for sure the way she does. She says these lines as she gives up and stops trying to find a way out from the state she’s in. The listener can than only feel her hopelessness and imagine what becomes of her next. The song consists of a couple of stylistic devices like metaphor. Stephanie is compared to a door using metaphor in order to create a better image in the listener’s mind about her situation. Another one is Stephanie being compared to Alaska. In the last line which goes as “ It’s so cold in Alaska”, does the writer really talk about the fact that the state of Alaska is cold or might there be a deeper meaning behind this simple line?

I don’t believe that there ever is a true or false meaning behind a song, for songs are especially created so that their meanings differ from people to people. Even if the writer of a song explains the message behind it, this message will fortunately be the right one only for him and that is the great thing about songs. Every listener will have a different experience and hopefully everyone will put a meaning of their own behind it while listening.