I wish I had an evil twin
Running 'round doing people in
I wish I had a very bad
And evil twin to do my will
To cull and conquer, cut and kill
Just like I would
If I weren't good
And if I knew where to begin

Down and down we go
How low no one would know
Sometimes the good life wears thin
I wish I had an evil twin

My evil twin would lie and steal
And he would stink of sex appeal
All men would writhe
Beneath his scythe
He'd send the pretty ones to me
And they would think that I was he
I'd hurt them and I'd go scot free

I'd get no blame and feel no shame
'Cause evil's not my cup of tea

Down and down we go
How low one would not need to know
All my life there should have been
An evil twin


Lyrics submitted by Eamon

I Wish I Had an Evil Twin Lyrics as written by

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I Wish I Had an Evil Twin song meanings
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  • +2
    General Comment

    You know, I was listening to the song and I think that the last line might have a double meaning as far as a wish and possibly the wish that any evil he had done in his life could be erased from his conscience. He goes through his list of evil acts and at the end he expresses the wish slightly differently using the past tense and not the present conditional tense. Also, he says that he is basically a good person and it wears thin. Maybe he is saying that when he does evil it bothers him and his past evil acts still prey on him and that an evil twin would help erase the evil within himself. Just a thought.

    afilaccioon April 30, 2008   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    mmmm i dunno, i think he really means he wish to have and evil twin. just based on all the other stephin merrit's lyrics, i doubt he is more evil than good. i think what he means in this song is that we wish he could make a vengeance for all the bad things he has been through and he actually can't because that not the way he really is.

    magnetic girlon August 30, 2008   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Don't we all just wish we had evil twin's?

    shatteredstaron December 07, 2004   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I wish I had more songs about evil twins so I could make a mix about them, is that the same thing?

    windmills221bon December 14, 2005   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    This song seems to just convey the message that evil is sexy. The twin would "stink of sex appeal" and "all men would writhe beneath his scythe" and then "bring the pretty ones to me/and they would that I was he." Given Stephin Merritt's sexual orientation, this would be more than agreeable. And also, it would seem that it doesn't make much since that the twin would stink of sex appeal when Stephin doesn't, but then you realize that the sex appeal comes from the fact that the twin is evil.

    Conclusion: the song is about how evil is sexy.

    Rocketeeron June 01, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    lol absolutely

    hab204on July 20, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This song totally rocks! I wish I were the evil twin...

    gnoxyzon August 25, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I think you definitely have to listen to this song and recall the story of the Ring of Gyges: that mythical ring that turned its wearer invisible, and thereby able to do anything without repurcussions ("and they would think that I was he // I'd hurt them and I'd go scot-free"). For those who have read your Plato, remember that this device was used by the character Glaucon to demonstrate that no-one is perfectly virtuous. Just as the narrator feels himself to be good ("cause evil's not my cup of tea") but seeing how he would actually use his evil twin, we see this is not the case.

    With the fairly strong connections to earlier ethical Gedankenexperiments, this song may be thought of as almost a social commentary about the nature or good and evil, and how people are good because for fear of getting caught being evil.

    Physcheron October 08, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I love the idea of having an evil twin so that when I'd do all the bad stuff, they'd blame her instead of me. "All my life there should have been/ An evil twin" That's how I feel sometimes. What a wonderful song.

    oniontearson April 15, 2008   Link

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