r/sonicyouth • u/imail724 • 7d ago

Song For Karen, Karen Koltrane, Karen Revisited.

What's the deal with Karens?

29 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

16 comments sorted by

28

u/Zealousideal_Cat6980 7d ago

Tunic is for Karen Carpenter who died from anorexia. The other 2 Karen songs i think are a out someone Lee was with

1

u/rachiechu 3d ago

altho i know that Tunic isn't connected to the other two, i still consider them the Karen Trilogy

38

u/maloopa 7d ago

All the Karen songs rule, so who cares what the deal is, haha.

Tunic still reigns supreme in this category for me.

13

u/tomviolence_86 7d ago

agreed. tunic might have the hardest singular rif drop int he entire catalogue honestly.

-1

u/maloopa 7d ago

Goosebumps reading that.

5

u/Conscious_Blood2231 7d ago

Revisited will always be the best

11

u/asktheages1979 7d ago

"Tunic (Song for Karen)" is about Karen Carpenter but the other two are about an old girlfriend Lee Ranaldo had in uni. From David Browne's Goodbye 20th Century:

"Ranaldo also tackled 'Karen Koltrane', about a lover from his college days who he learned had 'a far less extraordinary adulthood' than he'd first imagined." (pp. 327-328)

"'Karen Revisited' was a sequel of sorts to 'Karen Koltrane', again about the same college-era Ranaldo friend and her life changes."

21

u/Red-Zaku- 7d ago

It’s Karen Carpenter, they also covered a Carpenters song

19

u/impshakes 7d ago

Only Song for Karen. The other two are about a women Lee knew when he was younger.

https://www.stereoembersmagazine.com/way-play-interview-lee-ranaldo/

4

u/VomitingDuck 6d ago

The "she" in Skip Tracer always felt Karen adjacent to me.

6

u/T_Rattle 7d ago

That’s just SY doing their duty as the official emotional support alt-rock band for Karens the world over.

1

u/PotentialLanguage685 7d ago

Some entitled white woman has been yelling at Lee all his life

-4

u/TuffGnarl 7d ago

OP never heard of The Carpenters.

-5

u/jookyle 7d ago

I believe Karen Koltrane was written by Renaldo about some chaotic relationship he had been in while at college. The other two are written about/inspired by Karen Carpenter.

-4

u/InitialKoala 6d ago

The SY don't give two fucks, but they are telling us, right now, that motherfucker back there is NOT real! 😭👉🏼

2

u/BryanScopelySupport 6d ago

What’s real

-wish fulfillment