"Woman of the World" & "Pandora's Box"

Mind you, this is not high-minded stuff. This song actually pre-dates Aerosmith (originating with Tyler's earleir band, The Strangeurs) and does sound a slight bit out-of-step with the rest of the album, but manages to cohere into a good exercise in the band's dynamic, led by Tyler's vocal, with bursts of fanfare-like guitar underlining everything he says about this woman. Here, the predatory dynamic of "Lord of the Thighs" and other songs is inverted somewhat: Tyler is now pining after a woman he can't obtain. It's a sweet song in a way and you sense that Tyler's narrator-character is eager to match wills with this woman, in all his sleazy, seductive glory.



There are a lot of Aerosmith songs that are more overtly sexual in nature: they performed songs about having sex on a train, elevator, and space-station (or was that just my interpretation of "I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing?") whereas this song is just about visiting a nude beach, seeing a pretty girl, and stumbling over yourself a bit ("I got to watch what I say, or I'll catch hell from the women's liberation" - see, he's sensitive!) Truth is, despite the request to "Open up your door-a for me", the language he eventually settles on is "Mama crack a smile, for me, just for me." All he wants is attention. Wink wink.

It's really all about the pursuit. In songs like these, the fucking itself is done in the music, in the rhythm and guitar play. Tyler's voice is voyeuristic, a way to bridge the gap between the listener and the character. He embodies the persona of someone who does have a huge appetite for women, but still sees himself as having to chase, to pursue, to prove himself, rather than treating them as targets to feed his craving. It's a weirdly reverent form of sexuality, I think.