Too dangerous to keep.
Too feeble to let go.
And you want to bite the hand.
Should have stopped this long ago.

Go now, you've been set free.
Another month or so you'll be gorging on me ("poisoning me" on 2nd and 3rd times)
With your lovely smile.
I see you slither away with your skin and your tail,
Your flickering tongue and your rattling scales
Like a real reptile.

Had you coiled around my arm.
How could you ever know
How I loved your diamond eyes?
But that was long ago. (Chorus)

And I should have believed Eve.
She said we had to blow.
She was the apple of my eye.
It wasn't long ago. (Chorus)


Lyrics submitted by mrtrout

Reptile song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

13 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +2
    General Comment

    This was an amazing song for it's time! truly underrated.

    fatcatx2lon April 14, 2005   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Maybe this song's about the Garden of Eden, or how Adam and Eve were kicked out of it:

    • told from Adam's POV = "I should have believed Eve"
    • the reptile refers to the snake that tempted them (didn't the snake lose it's limbs when kicked out of paradise?).

    But maybe the Garden of Eden theory is a metaphor for something else entirely?

    strider3005on June 01, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    This song is getting at that same damn thing. 'too dangerous to keep, too feeble to let go' the speaker's relation with that same object of the imagination that stares back at you with 'diamond eyes'. 'you want to bite the hand', the hand that feeds is that alterna subject within but this certain object, feeding it, is robbing this subject of what it wants to do. 'should have stopped this long ago' consolidates this. and yes, if you ask you will be extricated from it, but alas you were too feeble to let go, but it is too dangerous to stay suspended about it indefinitely. and yes, in another month or so you'll come back to gorge on it, which has to do with I it was never you, in the first place.

    hehkateon March 09, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    i love the guitar in this. just makes me wanna dance!

    Gutteron May 22, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    The dirty sounding guitar really makes this song, it almost seems out of place in a song like this but works so well.

    I agree with bear hug, it's just a clever way of describing a failed relationship.

    Muzzyon June 22, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Wow, what an awesome song! The guitar is excellent. One of the Church's best. Another great but under-rated 80s band

    monster36604on January 12, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Could be about smack - "Had you coiled around my arm". Maybe.

    DrLorenzoon May 23, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Awesome, thanks for reptile ringtone!<a href="predatorpets.co.uk/">Reptile supplies</a>

    Reptilesupplieson August 10, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Adam and Eve and the serpent, slightly reinterpreted by Kilbey. He does stuff like this a lot.

    The authors listed seem to be highly erroneous--those names do not appear in the credits of any version of this record that I own.

    maddpsyintyston May 22, 2014   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Time for some corrections!

    "too feeble to let go"? wtf? at what point does the narrator describe the other person as "feeble"? It's ridiculous.

    The actual line is "Too dangerous to keep/Too evil to let go".

    Can anyone think of a reptile that can "rattle" their "scales"? NO. THAT'S STUPID.

    The actual line is "I see you slither away with your skin and your scales/your flickering tongue and your rattling tail/like a real reptile"

    Other than that, thanks for posting.

    ogami1972on March 12, 2019   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988. "'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it." "There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Album art
No Surprises
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Album art
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
Album art
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
Album art
Page
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.