Poetry Analysis

This week’s rock poetry analysis from guest blogger Ryan Tougas examines one of the most important rock songs of the 80’s, and perhaps of all time: Sister Christian

Sister Christian is sung as a power ballad by the author Kelly Keagy, who also performs drums on the classic track. The band, Night Ranger, was a seminal force in 1980’s rock and roll. Bands, from Nirvana to n’Sync, consider them as inspirations. Bob Dylan once said, “I was deeba. Down to my last idi…. When I heard Sister Krishna, I had an epfan…. I knew then that I couldna sappen toob betay.” Although, often misunderstood, Sister Christian stands the test of time to this day.

Sister Christian
Oh the time has come
And you know that you're the only one
To say O.K.

Where you going
What you looking for
You know those boys
Don't want to play no more with you
It's true

You're motoring
What's your price for flight
In finding mister right
You'll be alright tonight

Babe you know
You're growing up so fast
And mama's worrying
That you won't last
To say let's play

Sister Christian
There's so much in life
Don't you give it up
Before your time is due
It's true
It's true yeah

Motoring
What's your price for flight
You've got him in your sight
And driving thru the night

Motoring
What's your price for flight
In finding mister right
You'll be alright tonight
(repeat twice)

Sister Christian
Oh the time has come
And you know that you're the only one
To say O.K.
But you're motoring
You're motoring

Sister Christian is, at its core, an allegory for the difficulties of a religious vocation. One can sense the hardship and privation that a nun must feel when she gives over her life to her God. The boys that don’t want to play no more with her are probably the same ones that she had to forswear when she took her vow of chastity. The time came for her to give up all of her worldly possessions when she found “Mister Right”; an obvious reference to God.

One surmises that before Christian became a nun, she worked for an airline, hence the line “What’s your price for flight?” Keager has given us an archetypal character that has abandoned the material trappings of life in the 80’s for Mister Right. Despite the loss of her previous self, in the end, she has God in her sight and she’ll be alright tonight. Since she made the decision of her own free will, she’ll be okay. This feeling of fulfillment is felt by all of us and gives the poem its ultimate moral. Everyone can be glad that Sister Christian has taken her vocation seriously and her work will benefit others. That way we don’t have to do it.

When debating the meaning of Motoring it is important not to take it out of context and to look inward to our own souls. Keager could, just as easily, have used whittling or doodling or bubbling. The present active participle form of virtually any two-syllable action verb could have been used and made just as much sense. Upon deep reflection, it becomes obvious that Sister Christian took up motocross to tend to that section of American society; the downtrodden losers. There is no more noble calling. Perhaps she will be able to help some of those lost souls find Mister Right.

Ryan Tougas is the founder of the Rock Poet Society, a group with chapters all over the country. It was formed in 1997 to debate and discuss contemporary rock lyrics and occasionally jam.