It's A Plain Shame

The speaker describes someone making bold, provocative advances, while he repeatedly avoids responding and turns up the music or says goodbye. The refrain calls this situation “a plain shame” and says it took him a long time to learn. This suggests regret or frustration: he may feel he has been slow to recognize a pattern, or that desire and opportunity keep arriving but he chooses to escape them.

Several images make the advances vivid and playful. The “label” and thigh-high clothing suggest a deliberately attention-grabbing appearance, while “sticky lipstick” adds a slightly messy, physical detail. Turning up the hi-fi is a way of shutting out the person rather than answering her. Later, the invitation to play tunes on his guitar may be a flirtatious double meaning, using music as a hint of intimacy. The references to different cities imply that this kind of encounter is not limited to one place.

The tone is comic and exaggerated, but the repeated refrain gives it a note of disappointment. “No matter which way you turn” can mean that the situation seems unavoidable, though the speaker’s repeated refusals show that he still has choices. The lyrics do not fully explain why he avoids her, so the “shame” could be regret at missing out, or simply frustration at a pattern he has only recently understood.