Hey little dog, can you fly?
Hey little dog, can you fly?

Hammering the cramps
Hammering the cramps
Hammering the cramps

Hey little car, can you fly?
Hey little car, can you fly?

Hammering the cramps
Hammering the cramps
Hammering the cramps

Captain Howdy's here but
We can't see him
We can't see them

Hammering the cramps
Hammering the cramps

Hammering the cramps
Hammering the cramps
Hammering the cramps

Oh yeah


Lyrics submitted by twitty

Hammering the Cramps Lyrics as written by Mark Linkous

Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

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Hammering the Cramps song meanings
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10 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment

    The lyrics to this song are at once disturbing and so simplistic as to mean nothing. But I like the song anyway. I dig the guitar, I think.

    toadtwson January 07, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    No idea what this song means but it sounds awesome. Like all of their songs.

    Aurora7on September 09, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    why are the lyrics disturbing? i dont find them to be. i also...do not understand the song haha i just love the guitar though, the whole sound of it too.

    luey_babyon February 18, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Captain Howdy is from the exorcist. Before the girl gets possessed she shows her mom a Ouija board and says "Captain Howdy moves it" then she says something like "you can't see him". I still don't get it, at all.

    wheettreezon November 03, 2008   Link
  • 0
    My Opinion

    It's seems to me Mark it's trying to coop with the fact that things are changing. the reason he's asking "Can you fly?" is because things are changing, like vehicle = planes This type of imagery is simply genius and is very hard to explain. And the "hammering the cramps" is simply saying that he's trying to deal with the changes until some great god like figure appears, "captain Howdy", "we can't see him" "we can't see them"

    see he adds Him and Them.....Him being the god like figure and Them being the angels he sends down. I could be very much wrong, but this is just an idea. Wasn't he doing Herion at the time?

    dewithon December 13, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Hammering the cramps. To me, It's like trying to cure a disease but the more you try, the worst it gets. I think this song is about being high. This could sound a little offensive but is my interpretation.

    jorgek92aon June 15, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Perfect song for me tonight! Aspirin and IbProfen are NOT working and soon I'm going to resort to a hammer to feel pain elsewhere! Actually, it's a foolish song and I doubt even the band knows about that which it sang ;)

    ASweetPeaon September 27, 2011   Link
  • 0
    My Opinion

    I think, even though Mark is a tremendous song writer, this song is one that might have been thrown together for phonetic reasons rather than lyrical. Loads of songwriters do it, not a bad thing at all unless maybe every song on the album is done in this way. Anyway my interpretation is maybe Mark had been hammering The Cramps on his stereo a lot that month.

    CheersBudon May 31, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    to me its about coping with herion withdrawal cramps being the most common physical problem.when the heroin is wearing off .hammering means getting rid off something .sadly in this case probably taking more smack

    matt104882on August 03, 2016   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning

    The song is about a time he was riding his motorcycle and came across a bird that was wounded. He picked up the bird took him to his house and called wildlife people to come and take care of the bird. He changed the song from hey little bird can you fly to hey little dog can you fly.

    Mattb1260on May 16, 2017   Link

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