Who or what is the 'gingerlady'?

[buckthorn]

Does anyone know who or what in A Rainy Night in Soho, is meant by 'the gingerlady by my bed'?

Think it might be a bottle of whiskey but not really sure...

[RICHB]

Does anyone know who or what in A Rainy Night in Soho, is meant by 'the gingerlady by my bed'?

Think it might be a bottle of whiskey but not really sure...

Thats the one mate. Its the whiskey

[AllBusiness37]

I never thought of the "gingerlady" as a bottle of whiskey, most likely because of my own ignorance as to any whiskey-related allusions. But I always took the "gingerlady" as an actual woman, and this interpretation often proved rather relate-able in while I sat immersed in my own sad and sorry states with women. Waking up with a woman by your side, with whom you've obviously gotten intimate over the course of the past night, and not having a thing to say. Even just being with another woman, but always having "that girl" on your mind, stealing away your thoughts and dreams and words. Trying to get over her, but not quite being able to. I could go on, but I'll conclude by saying that "Rainy Night in Soho" is my favorite sad/nostalgic/regretful/beautiful/bittersweet love song ever.

[moose]

I never thought of the "gingerlady" as a bottle of whiskey, most likely because of my own ignorance as to any whiskey-related allusions. But I always took the "gingerlady" as an actual woman, and this interpretation often proved rather relate-able in while I sat immersed in my own sad and sorry states with women. Waking up with a woman by your side, with whom you've obviously gotten intimate over the course of the past night, and not having a thing to say. Even just being with another woman, but always having "that girl" on your mind, stealing away your thoughts and dreams and words. Trying to get over her, but not quite being able to. I could go on, but I'll conclude by saying that "Rainy Night in Soho" is my favorite sad/nostalgic/regretful/beautiful/bittersweet love song ever.

Take it easy there fellla

[philipchevron]

The whiskey thing is just one of a number of possible allusions. This is what writers do - they allude, infer, suggest. Why would an image as rich and provocative as "the ginger lady" have just one meaning?

[Firsty]

The whiskey thing is just one of a number of possible allusions. This is what writers do - they allude, infer, suggest. Why would an image as rich and provocative as "the ginger lady" have just one meaning?

It could also mean a Ginger Beer bottle, some are ginger and white, some brown, some just plain ginger in colour. Quiet a few have unusual shapes. Perhaps the silhouette of a lady shaped bottle led to the Ginger Lady reference. Or it could be a reference to the Amber Tea caddy's the old men used to have by their bed which they used as a spitoon. The Ginger Lady could also be a rust coloured 1978 Ford Capri with the writer asleep on the ground beside it under the stars. Mr.C is right, it could mean a thousand different things to a thousand different people. That's the beauty of it.

[philipchevron]

But it's really about a woman who loved Ginger Snap biscuits

[Nate]

But it's really about a woman who loved Ginger Snap biscuits

Ok so it is about my mom, in which case she has some questions to answer...

[Eric V]

Asian women.

[TheDanielOfBrisbane]

gingivitus?

[CraigBatty]

By way of a tangential tilt at the windmill:-

Regarding "The Ginger Man"

"...First titled "Sebastian Dangerfield," the book was retitled "The Ginger Man" by Donleavy with some pressure by Olympia Press for a more provocative title. There are scores of guesses and is much speculation about the title, would-be meanings ranging from slang for male genitalia to the most commonly believed theory: a connection to the childhood tale of The Gingerbread Man, whose song, "Run, run, as fast as you can; you can't catch me I'm the gingerbread man." does seem to fit Dangerfield's M.O..."
excerpted from - The J.P. DonleavyCompendium

Hmmm... either that, or - in one of my more disturbed moments - I have taken the Ginger Lady lyric to refer to vomit induced by excess drinking, which has a hue not unlike... well, let's draw a discreet veil over that analogy...

[Behan]

I used to have a crush on that "Ginger" lady from Gilligan's Island. Maybe Shane did too.

[phro37]

I was drinking with this guy I met, who I call 'Dave the Irishman,' in a pub in Japan (I'm from Texas...go figure) and we were talking about the same thing. He was saying he thinks it's a bottle of Powers Irish whiskey (the same whiskey alluded to in 'Sally MacLennane': "where the Elephant man broke strong mens necks when he had too many Powers."). I have to say I have woken up after many a night of boozing to see the old lady sitting next to me. And her name is Southern Comfort. :)

[firehazard]

Listening to the song again last night, and this line, as it always does, reminded me particularly of the day of my wedding.

I spent the night before the wedding with my wife-to-be’s best friend in her flat in Clapham (this is not as dodgy as it sounds, honest). Also there was my best man, Eddie, a hard-drinking Brummie Northern Soul freak. His duty was supposed to be to stop me getting too drunk. He failed in this, of course. Partly because his method of preventing me from drinking was to attempt to drink everything in the flat before I did. So it all got a bit competitive. By the early hours we had drunk the flat dry and so went to sleep. The “ginger lady” by the bed was empty.

In the morning, hungover to hell and trying desperately to sober myself up, I went to the kitchen, found a carton of apple juice, poured myself a glass and sat there to drink it. In walked Eddie, equally hungover. He took one look at the golden liquid in my glass, and drew his own conclusions as to what I was drinking. His bloodshot eyes opened wide. “You must be fooking joking,” he said. And he poured the contents of the glass down the sink.

(For a description of the rest of the wedding day, best listen to “Blood Wedding” by the Oysterband. An uncanny realisation.)

[Firsty]

Nice story.


Ginger lady = Guitar ??
Ginger laddy= Irish Red Setter ??