This is what EC said about it in the NME review/interview on KOA:the_roofdog wrote:I thought it was sung from the point of view of the girl, to the soldier. In fact I always thought the first two verses were EC singing as the girl as well, though I never knew what to make of "holy coat" (thought it was along the lines of Sunday best/church clothes). Your post has shed a lot of light there, thanks.
"It's a construction from an actual event. The opening verse happened to me, but not the rest. It's just a little story about morally superior prigs. This one - a soldier, by coincidence - thinks he's better than his nude model sister. It's a parable, about pride, about pomposity . . "