This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
There's a stain on my notebook
Where your coffee cup was
And there's ash in the pages
Now I've got myself lost
I was writing to tell you
That my feelings tonight
Are a stain on my notebook
That rings your goodbye
With the way that you left me
I can hardly contain
The hurt and the anger
And the joy of the pain
Now knowing I am single
They'll be fire in my eyes
And a stain on my notebook
For a new love tonight
From the lips without passion
To the lips with a kiss
There's nothing of your love
That I'll ever miss
The stain on my notebook
Remain all that's left
Of the memory of late nights
And coffee in bed
Now she's gone
And I'm back on the beat
A stain on my notebook
Says nothing to me
Now she's gone
And I'm out with a friend
With lips full of passion
And coffee in bed
Where your coffee cup was
And there's ash in the pages
Now I've got myself lost
I was writing to tell you
That my feelings tonight
Are a stain on my notebook
That rings your goodbye
With the way that you left me
I can hardly contain
The hurt and the anger
And the joy of the pain
Now knowing I am single
They'll be fire in my eyes
And a stain on my notebook
For a new love tonight
From the lips without passion
To the lips with a kiss
There's nothing of your love
That I'll ever miss
The stain on my notebook
Remain all that's left
Of the memory of late nights
And coffee in bed
Now she's gone
And I'm back on the beat
A stain on my notebook
Says nothing to me
Now she's gone
And I'm out with a friend
With lips full of passion
And coffee in bed
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
Black Coffee in Bed Lyrics as written by Glenn Tilbrook Christopher Difford
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
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The song is about a memory, but it's mostly about killing a memory. He's denying that this girl ever meant anything to him. She's not even given a name, she's "black coffee in bed". He's claiming that all she left behind is a coffee stain. We know it's a lie but it's a lie he's trying to sell himself. He even claims to be on to the next girl but we know he's not. He's constantly remembering something, a perspective-changing experience of intimacy, he's constantly trying to forget.
Squeeze founding member and guitarist Chris Difford writes their song lyrics. Says Chris: "This lyric was inspired by my picking up my notebook one day and seeing a coffee stain on it, which inspired the first line. It was a very vivid image for me and inspired this song of loss and regret."
Love this song :] My interpretation of it is that he has lost his love and is trying to replace her, but the 'stain on his note book' reminds him of her. Even though he says it means nothing to him, he is trying to cover up his true feelings and get on with his life. Others probabaly have a different opinion though.
I'm so glad I found this page. I always had a hunch that that's what song meant in general. But I'm a little confused about the specifics of some lines - and would love to get your opinioins.
"From the lips without passion To the lips with a kiss there's nothing in your love that I'll ever miss"
Is this more of him just pretending his new lover ("lips with a kiss") is warmer/better than the girl he's singing to ? ("lips without passion")?
"i was writing to tell you that my feeling's tonight are a stain on my notebook that rings your goodbye"
I'm embarrassed to say I'm not quite sure what "rings your goodbye" means here? Is this more "denial"? like I was opening up the same notebook where I found your stain in, originally just opening it up to write a new letter to tell you I'm over you...but found the stain? Or basically he's saying, "all you are is a stain"? nothing more? I guess the juxtaposition of the 2 lines together is what's confusing..or a bit subtle to get
lastly "now knowing I am single they'll be fire in my eyes and a stain on my notebook for a new love tonight"
just as simple as it sounds? he and his new lover will make their own stain? more attempting to forget - ?
@roy1020841 (Eight years later!!) About "rings your goodbye": in Western church bell ringing, up to 12 tuned bells are rung in different sequences for events such as matins, vespers, weddings or funerals. This "change ringing" has become the idiom "ringing the changes", to go through things in different orders to make things less monotonous, or to change one's practices due to a change in life circumstance. For me, he's associating the rings of coffee stains with an important life change, and the fact that he's thinking of her through seeing a stain rather than hearing a peal of bells may also be important. "Send not to ask for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee."
(About "From the lips without passion to the lips with a kiss there's nothing in your love that I'll ever miss": I think that's direct, that he's planning to get new kisses 'from a friend with lips full of passion'. The 'stain on the notebook from a new love tonight' is also probably pretty direct, with the last line implying it's from coffee in bed with the passionate friend. (Though Chris Difford was never shy of more explicit associations.)
I've always thought that "black coffee" was also a winking reference to the lost love's appearance, a la "brown sugar." The woman in the video was a blonde, but that was probably the director's call, not the songwriter's, so...
Working as a musician when this song was popular, it was understood to mean one thing, which is evident in the scene of a beautiful Black woman. Marriage ruined and Black coffee in bed. Needing to mask the meaning for a G rating and a time that was far less 'PC'.
@richardi9a You are spot on correct. There was nothing subtle about the meaning.
Near perfect lyric ... "With the way that you left me I can hardly contain The hurt and the anger And the joy of the pain."
Yeah i pretty much agree with butterfly kiss that everything he sees reminds him of his ex.
I concur with butterfly too. I love this song.
There many incorrect lyrics I think. Awesome song
Coffee in bed clearly sounds like "caught me in bed" at times, because this is the real meaning, he's just hiding the true meaning with words that rhyme.
Back on the beat is supposed to be "back on the beach" (even though he doesn't actually use the word beach). The beach is where he has to go to be reborn/start over. The water breaking on the shore is a metaphor for his next mother's water breaking and the ocean is where all the emotion/energy/life stems from (can't have life on a planet without water).
@realshitface “Back on the beat” is the correct line. Difford is a master of puns. The surface meaning is that he has moved on to doing what he did before the relationship… visiting the same pubs, etc, not unlike a cop has a beat, which is the places being patrolled. There is also a double entendre in this line with the second meaning being a reference to autoeroticism. These clever puns are in so many Squeeze songs, and one of the things that I’ve always loved about them.