Miss Spiritual Tramp

Hey-
Anyone know if the song Miss Spiritual Tramp is in reference to J.D. Salinger's short story "A Perfect Day For Bananafish"??? If you've read it and know the lyrics to Spiritual Tramp then give input please...

Hey Stanfonz! Yes, the song title is definitely a reference to Salinger. That said, I haven't read the story, so I'm not sure if there's a connection with the lyrics or not. Anyone see any parallels? Maybe one of the BT dudes will hop on here and let us know...

Well this was posted a year ago but what the hell, right? "A Perfect Day for Bananafish" is in JD Salinger's (RIP) Nine Stories. At one point the main character refers to his wife as "Miss Spiritual Tramp of 1942" or some date in the 40s. Sorry, it's been quite a while since I have read the story. Anyway, as far as the actual story following the lyrics, if it does it's not that obvious to me. The song to me describes a woman, and seems lusty somehow, and the story is really more about an unfortunate gentleman. I suppose it could be a creative reimagining of the story and the wife herself. I would just say it's a badass song with a title taken from a great and slightly unsettling short story. I'm willing to bet the name was taken from the Salinger story, just because "spiritual" and "tramp" just don't seem to appear jointly in pop culture that frequently, for obvious reasons haha. But I suppose you never know.

This song is a reference to Salinger in title only. The narrative does mention a woman, but is mostly about a mob hit gone wrong, then rectified in the end by suffocation in an infirmary. "Miss Spiritual Tramp" just sounded like a cool title.

Interesting! I definitely never picked up on the mob thing, but hey maybe you're just blowing smoke ;) I suppose I was always distracted by the guitar in that song, it just demands to be heard. In a good way. Hey, I just realized I've single-handedly revived a year old thread- haha I wasn't actually expecting anyone to read or respond, I just somehow felt compelled to share my two cents on the short story, in light of Mr. Salinger's recent passing.