6'1

Album: Exile in Guyville (1993)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This is the opening track from American indie rock singer-songwriter Liz Phair's debut album, Exile in Guyville. The record was a song-by-song reply to the Rolling Stones' 1972 album, Exile on Main St. and this track corresponds to the first cut on Exile, "Rocks Off." Phair explained to Rolling Stone: "In his lyrics he's coming back from a night out, he's doing the walk of shame. It's early morning, and he runs into someone who he's obviously had a relationship with. She's up in the morning because she's up in the morning like a normal person, and he's coming home, probably still drugged and delirious - this is what I glean from the lyrics - and she's giving him the uh huh, you're obviously sleeping with someone and it isn't me look, and he's like, look man, I can't even get into it because I'm kind of tripping out, I only get the rocks off in the morning - that's how far gone he is. So I play the part of the woman he runs into on the street, and I'm going like, 'ah yeah, and I hated you, I bet you've fallen…' On other songs I would be in agreement instead of arguing with Mick, where I'd be like, yes, I too have seen a rock & roll hero who's sort of a bum and I think he's really tragic and beautiful - 'Glory.'"
  • Fans who encounter the singer in person are still surprised by Phair's petite stature (even though the song mentions her real height in the lyric, "And I kept standing six-feet-one, instead of five-feet-two"). "That has always been a fun song because any time people meet me and I'm so small, there's always a sort of momentary joke where they're like, 'Oh '6'1',' I guess you're not that,'" she told Rolling Stone. "To me, it's the encapsulation of what the rest of the record is going to be delivering. It's got that bravado that I manifest. Sometimes it's real and sometimes I'm putting it on in the rest of the songs. It's standing up to the boy; it's standing up to the guy."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Stand By Me: The Perfect Song-Movie Combination

Stand By Me: The Perfect Song-Movie CombinationSong Writing

In 1986, a Stephen King novella was made into a movie, with a classic song serving as title, soundtrack and tone.

Modern A Cappella with Peder Karlsson of The Real Group

Modern A Cappella with Peder Karlsson of The Real GroupSong Writing

The leader of the Modern A Cappella movement talks about the genre.

Jeff Trott

Jeff TrottSongwriter Interviews

Sheryl Crow's longtime songwriting partner/guitarist Jeff Trott reveals the stories behind many of the singer's hits, and what its like to be a producer for Leighton Meester and Max Gomez.

Michael Schenker

Michael SchenkerSongwriter Interviews

The Scorpions and UFO guitarist is also a very prolific songwriter - he explains how he writes with his various groups, and why he was so keen to get out of Germany and into England.

Loudon Wainwright III

Loudon Wainwright IIISongwriter Interviews

"Dead Skunk" became a stinker for Loudon when he felt pressure to make another hit - his latest songs deal with mortality, his son Rufus, and picking up poop.

Little Big Town

Little Big TownSongwriter Interviews

"When seeds that you sow grow by the wicked moon/Be sure your sins will find you out/Your past will hunt you down and turn to tell on you."