This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
This is our "Music from A Bachelor's Den"
The sound of loneliness turned up to ten
A horror soundtrack from a stagnant waterbed
And it sounds just like this
This is the sound of someone losing the plot
Making out that they're okay when they're not
You're gonna like it
But not a lot
And the chorus goes like this
Oh, baby
Here comes the fear again, oh-oh
The end is near again, oh-oh
A monkey's built a house on your back
You can't get anyone to come in the sack
And here comes another panic attack, oh
Here we go again
So now you know the words to our song
Pretty soon you'll all be singing along
When you're sad, when you're lonely
And it all turns out wrong
When you've got the fear
And when you're no longer searching
For beauty or love
Just some kind of life
With the edges taken off
When you can't even define what it is that you're frightened of
This song will be here
Oh, baby
Here comes the fear gain, oh-oh
The end is near again, oh-oh
If you ever get that chimp off your back
If you ever find the thing that you lack
But you know you're only having a laugh, oh
And here we go again
Until the end
Until the end
Ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh, ooh-ooh
Ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh, ooh-ooh
The sound of loneliness turned up to ten
A horror soundtrack from a stagnant waterbed
And it sounds just like this
This is the sound of someone losing the plot
Making out that they're okay when they're not
You're gonna like it
But not a lot
And the chorus goes like this
Oh, baby
Here comes the fear again, oh-oh
The end is near again, oh-oh
A monkey's built a house on your back
You can't get anyone to come in the sack
And here comes another panic attack, oh
Here we go again
So now you know the words to our song
Pretty soon you'll all be singing along
When you're sad, when you're lonely
And it all turns out wrong
When you've got the fear
And when you're no longer searching
For beauty or love
Just some kind of life
With the edges taken off
When you can't even define what it is that you're frightened of
This song will be here
Oh, baby
Here comes the fear gain, oh-oh
The end is near again, oh-oh
If you ever get that chimp off your back
If you ever find the thing that you lack
But you know you're only having a laugh, oh
And here we go again
Until the end
Until the end
Ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh, ooh-ooh
Ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh, ooh-ooh
Lyrics submitted by Joekubrick
The Fear Lyrics as written by Jarvis Branson Cocker Candida Doyle
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This song has nothing to do with sex, at least not directly. This song is is exactly how i have felt during periods in my life when i have been depressed. The line about not even knowing exactly why you feel frightened - wow. In this song he is searching for something - anything - to make him feel normal again. This song really speaks to me.
Although sex is one of Jarv's fave topics, this isn't about sex... It's def about depression - he has recently said that the whole 'This is Hardcore' album was written at the lowest point in his life - in fact not long after it's release he was back in Sheffield and under medical supervision... I know cos I live in Sheffield and was told by a nurse! Nice to know your secrets are safe with the medics! It is all about expecting fame to be better than it is, feeling cheated and just wanting something normal to come to take the pain away - Monkey on your back - that would normally refer to a drug problem, and he did have one for a while, although his problems are more to do with depression...
Oh, and someone got quite a few of the lyrics wrong... I've pasted the whole lot below - If anyone wants to amend them (cos I don't know how to!) they can delete this post...
This is our "Music from A Bachelors Den" - the sound of loneliness turned up to ten. A horror soundtrack from a stagnant water-bed And it sounds just like this. This is the sound of someone losing the plot - making out that they're okay when they're not. You're gonna like it, but not a lot and the chorus goes like this:
Oh baby, here comes the fear again. The end is near again. A monkey's built a house on your back. You can't get anyone to come in the sack and here comes another panic attack Oh here we go again.
So now you know the words to our song, pretty soon you'll all be singing along. When you're sad, when you're lonely and it all turns out wrong. When you've got the fear. And hen you're no longer searching for beauty or love - just some kind of life with the edges taken off. When you can't even define what it is that you're frightened of this song will be here.
Oh baby, here comes the fear gain. The end is near again. If you ever get that chimp off your back. If you ever find the thing that you lack but you know you're only having a laugh and here we go again. Until the end.
This song is Pulp at it's top form. With access to better equipment and smooth as silk production, he still tries to hold on the mundane monstrosities haunting the everyman. In this song he paralells his post success breakdown with the relatable feelings of depression. He has succeeded but he still feels like a normal person, and now he's well into his thirtys (when this song was written) Jarvis was probably going through the same midlife crisis every man is prone to.
This song absolutely nails panic/anxiety disorder
The grim humour of the "chimp on your back" having established a pemanent residence there
"you're gonna like it/but not a lot"
I can laugh about it now...
THANK YOU, lapsedgenius! This one is an easy one to figure out if you've ever suffered from depression/anxiety. Absolutely nails those feelings, but with typical Jarvis cleverness.<br /> <br /> If I here one more cliche about, "Jarvis is obsessed with sex!" Im going to strangle someone!!! Jarvis writes about what is on his mind, what he feels and observes. I'm willing to bet all of us think about sex the same amount of time Jarvis does.....we just didn't have a vehicle like Pulp to broadcast our thoughts!!!
WHAT?? This song's been out for years and I'm the first to comment on it?? What's wrong with the world?? Anyhoo... love this song. The way Jarvis sings the chorus is lovely. Also I love the lines about the monkey on your back. Sounds abstract.
The world works in twisted ways, and unfortunately, this happens to be one of those ways
This song is about Pulp and Jarvis Cocker's life after Pulp went froma very small band to a massive band with the release of Different Class. It is Jarvis saying "Here we are, we are famous and we have got everything we wanted and it is all a bit rubbish really."
One of my favourite Pulp songs ever
The lyrics are wrong, but somebody's already said that. I agree, this isn't really about sex - it's about being lonely and depressed and scared. Especially the line 'when you cant even define what it is that youre frightened of' - I love that line. It's so true. And I love that even if he only put it in because it rhymes, the 'this song will be here' makes me feel less alone when things get bad. Thank you, Pulp. Thank you, Jarvis♥