The Littlest Rebel

Lyrics

(1)

There's loads of people
Trying to suss out the scene
Sniffing about and sticking
Their noses in
Rebel
But she was the littlest rebel

Blue suit with nylon weave
She wears jet black high heels
She throws Nikes down the well
She's the littlest rebel
Rebel
But she was the littlest rebel

She consigns them all to hell 
She's the littlest rebel

Her tormentors jet past in Nissans
She says are those cars?
Are those shoes?

She consigns them all to hell
She's the littlest rebel
Hips like Shirley Temple (2)
She's the littlest rebel
And she doesn't kiss and tell
She's the littlest rebel
Rebel
Rebel
Rebel
She was the littlest rebel

A sophisticate wastrel
She's the littlest rebel
She doesn't kiss and tell
Cause she's the littlest res..trel
She's the littlest rebel, well
She's the littlest rebel
And she was the littlest rebel
Rebel rebel rebel
And she was the littlest rebel
Rebel...

Notes

1. The Littlest Rebel is a 1935 film starring Shirley Temple, who was around 6 at the time ("Hips like Shirley Temple," see note 2).  As with most songs on Extricate, there has been speculation that this is about Brix, although both she and MES deny that the lyrics on the album are about her.   

^

2. Again, a six year old child, so the protagonist doesn't have much in the way of hips (in other words, it would be rather appalling for us to hear this as a compliment).  

^

Comments (17)

dannyno
  • 1. dannyno | 06/07/2014
The "Rebels" backing vocals come in threes, but I know you tend not to bother about repetition like that.

I think the last verse here is wrong. This is what I hear:

"A sophisticate plays truant
She's the littlest rebel
She doesn't kiss and tell
Cos she's the littlest rebel
She's the littlest rebel
Well ... she's the littlest rebel
Rebel
Rebel
Rebel
And she was the littlest rebel
Rebel"
Martin
  • 2. Martin | 08/02/2016
The entry for the song on the Reformation! website has been revised (see note 1 above).
ex worker man
  • 3. ex worker man | 08/04/2018
verse 2 "She throws Nikes down the well" - pronounced without the accent on the second syllable, which wasn't unusual at the time.

I hear a "a sophisticate wastrel" at the start of the last verse
bzfgt
  • 4. bzfgt (link) | 22/04/2018
Nikes sounds right to me!
bzfgt
  • 5. bzfgt (link) | 22/04/2018
"Wastrel" is definitely it!
dannyno
  • 6. dannyno | 07/05/2018
Yeah, "Nikes". Doesn't sound anything like "planks" any more, does it?!

Fits with the "Are those shoes?" line too.
dannyno
  • 7. dannyno | 07/05/2018
I'm in agreement on "wastrel" too.
bzfgt
  • 8. bzfgt (link) | 09/07/2018
Planks is absurd.
SMITHY mARCUS
  • 9. SMITHY mARCUS | 18/07/2019
No way it's Nikes. It IS planks.
bzfgt
  • 10. bzfgt (link) | 09/08/2019
Yeah I feel like it should be "planks." I know I said "planks is absurd" in comment "8" but now it sounds like it could be "planks" to me again....damn it!!! It still sounds a little more like "Nikes" but I'm no longer sure.
Steve Gad
  • 11. Steve Gad | 23/12/2019
Look, it's
"She throws 'Nikes' down the well (us older Northern types don't pronounce Nike as Nik-eee, we say Nykes
Also it's 'sophisticate Wastrel' cos he uses the word again a little further along
'She's the littlest 'Wastrel'
Believe me, this is entirely correct.
bzfgt
  • 12. bzfgt (link) | 30/12/2019
Yeah OK I made it phonetic then, the second one is "res...trel"
bzfgt
  • 13. bzfgt (link) | 30/12/2019
OK I can find "Nissan shoes" for sale on the internet, but I can't find anything that indicates whether they're sold or made by the same Nissan. Not that it wouldn't be noteworthy anyway (if they were around in the early 90s) but I need to say one way or the other.
Martin
  • 14. Martin | 25/07/2021
"Nissan Footwear, Inc. Overview

Nissan Footwear, Inc. filed as a Domestic Business Corporation in the State of New York and is no longer active. This corporate entity was filed approximately twenty-four years ago on Monday, June 9, 1997 , according to public records filed with New York Department of State."

https://www.corporationwiki.com/p/2p74ko/nissan-footwear-inc
Flexi
  • 15. Flexi | 04/10/2021
I always thought it was: "Are those Togs?" not "Are those cars?"
George Henderson
  • 16. George Henderson (link) | 26/05/2023
The Shirley Temple references suggest to me that MES is thinking of Graham Greene's infamous 1938 libel case after reviewing Wee Willie Winkie for Night and Day in 1937..
Temple's daughter Lori Black played bass in The Melvins, another possible line of enquiry,
Samuel Rice
  • 17. Samuel Rice | 13/07/2023
I have always heard "throws fags down the well". I'll stick with it.

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