She's Shiny (MP3) (Patreon)

Here's the story from show #240 of Pub Songs & Stories:

One of my favorite Firefly songs to sing, and for that matter, any of my songs to sing is “She’s Shiny”. I released it on my last album.

The song is about Malcolm Reynolds, played by Nathan Fillion, from the TV show Firefly. Throughout the 14 episodes of the show, he has this, let’s call it a crush, on Inara Serra, the ship’s companion, played by Morena Baccarin. But he has a lot of trouble telling her about how he feels.

The sexual tension between the two is incredible. And of course it all comes to point in the episode “Heart of Gold” when we realize that Inara has just as many repressed feelings for Malcolm as he does for her.

I for one have certainly suffered from an inability to adequately express my feelings. It’s a common stereotype among men in particular. But I know there are a lot of people who have trouble expressing how they feel about someone.

I still remember when I was in the second grade I had a crush on a girl. Someone recognized that crush. They vocally pointed it out on the school bus. I was so embarrassed. I pretty much stopped telling anyone when I was interested in anyone from that day forth.

That’s one of things I love about the song. It is relatable whether you enjoy Firefly or not.

But the song makes so much more sense when you have seen the episodes.

Throughout the lyrics, I relate a story of a guy who is interested in a woman. Each of the verses connect to episodes where Malcolm and Inara interact in the sexually tense scenes.

The first verse talks about Inara’s unknown past. It is often wondered what or if she was running from something. It alludes to Malcolm calling her a whore through a quickly changed rhyme scheme.

The second verse was inspired by the episode “Shindig”. Malcolm attends a ball that Inara was hired to go to. He picks a fight with Inara‘s escort. With a little bit of luck, he wins the fight.

The third verse talks about Inara, and how she relates to Malcolm. She teaches him how to use a sword. She gets angry at him when they don’t go to “civilized” planets. And once again, the song alludes to her sexual career.

It’s the last verse though that makes me love this song so much. It’s subtle. Again unless you really know Firefly you might not get the joke.

The verse talks about finding her in a “down and out dirty place.” It revisits the idea that perhaps Inara is running from something. But then, in the final line, it’s revealed that the whole song is actually about Malcolm‘s spaceship Serenity.

Basically he is so sexually repressed that his great love, who is in fact Inara, is replaced with his other love, his spaceship.

This song makes me so happy. I guess because it also gives me a little bit of hope. At least there are people who are even more oblivious than I am.