I guess I can confess to you all, I am technically old enough to remember Kim Carnes’ 1980’s hit Bettie Davis Eyes. I think I was 12 or 13 at the time. But still.
Anyways, I never understood why the subject of the song didn’t have cold hands. Here are the lyrics in their entirety. And here is the part that has me confused:
Bolding mine.
What does it mean when a woman’s hands are never cold? Or at least, maybe I should ask what Carnes meant? I actually recall hearing, ironically around the time the song came out, that there may be a medical theory why one or more of a woman’s hands are cold. But I am sure that is irrelevant.
Hey, don’t laugh. I may not be the first person to wonder this, even if I am the first to ask;).
If you didn’t know… Bette Davis Eyes was written by Donna Weiss and Jackie DeShannon in 1974. The Kim Carnes version is a remake.
And I have no insight on the cold hands thing.
I am generally not astute at interpreting song lyrics so take this with a grain of salt, but to me this line has never been anything other than a means to draw a contrast to the cold hands of a nervous or anxious person. The woman with Bette Davis eyes is always confident and in control.
I do think in the context of the rest of the song it means she does have a cold heart (and thus warm hands). Maybe not like a murderer, but maybe manipulative and predatory. Context snipped.
And she’ll tease you
She’ll unease you
She’ll let you take her home
It whets her appetite
She’ll lay you on her throne
Roll you like you were dice
Until you come out blue
She’ll expose you, when she snows you
Off your feet with the crumbs she throws you
She’s ferocious and she knows just
What it takes to make a pro blush
Apparently Jackie DeShannon wrote this song after seeing Now, Voyager. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen the movie, but there was something about her wringing her hands. Maybe portions of the movie were on her mind when she wrote the song.
And since the song mentioned Harlow and Garbo it could be a combination of similar actors. Like “all the boys think she’s a spy” is a reference to Hedy Lamarr and her inventions.
And now I’m playing the American Pie game.
As much as I love the way Kim Carnes sings that song, it is ruined for me by the painfully awkward line She’s ferocious and she knows just what it takes to make a pro blush. Talk about strained lyrics.
As noted upthread, the never-cold hands are doubtless just there to rhyme with “gold,” but at least warm hands make sense, whereas the blushing pro is just contrived.
Nah. It’s Regina from Brian Eno’s Taking Tiger Mountain (by Strategy).
*When I got back home I found a message on the door
Sweet Regina’s gone to China cross legged on the floor
Of a burning jet that’s smoothly flying
Burning airlines give you so much more
How does she intend to live when she’s in far Cathay?
I somehow can’t imagine her just planting rice all day
maybe she will do a bit of spying
With micro cameras hidden in her hair.*
