Oranges Coming of Age Quotes

These first three lines pretty much sum-up coming of age. It's a big transitional time. A time filled with lots of firsts. All that new experience can be exciting, but also a little intimidating. It seems like our speaker is still in touch with those transitional feelings.

Later, we find out that the speaker is "cold" because it's winter and he's "weighted down" with pockets full of fruit. But these feelings also refer to the way the speaker is feeling about growing up—alone, out in the cold and weighted down with the pressure and uncertainty of new experience.

Notice anything coming-of-age-y about these two lines? Well, how about the juxtaposition between those used (old) cars and the new trees? That used car lot represents the world of adulthood. Things aren't shiny and new anymore. You might be able to polish up the outside (consider The Real Housewives of… well, Anything), but old and used is old and used.

The speaker and his girl are like those trees. They are there, lining the street, doing their tree-thing, but they still have lots of growing to do. They aren't saplings, but they haven't reached their full potential.

Mmm, candy. Oh yeah, coming of age. This simile (the candy display is "tiered like bleachers" at a stadium) captures another aspect of coming of age: the feeling that everyone is watching you and that embarrassment is around every corner. The speaker feels like he's standing in front of an audience. All those new experiences, all those firsts, means there's tons of opportunity to drop the ball, make a mistake, and be humiliated. What a drag.