Where are we?
What the hell is going on?
The dust has only just begun to form
Crop circles in the carpet
Sinking, feeling
Spin me around again
And rub my eyes
This can't be happening
When busy streets
A mess with people
Would stop to hold their heads heavy

Hide and seek
Trains and sewing machines
All those years
They were here first
Oily marks appear on walls
Where pleasure moments hung before
The takeover
The sweeping insensitivity of this
Still life
Hide and seek
Trains and sewing machines

(You won't catch me around here)
Blood and tears
They were here first
Mm, what'd you say?
Mm, that you only meant well
Well of course you did
Mm, what'd you say?
Mm, that it's all for the best
Of course it is
Mm, what'd you say?
Mm, that it's just what we need
You decided this
Mm, what'd you say?
Mm, what did she say?

Ransom notes keep falling out your mouth
Mid-sweet talk, newspaper word cutouts
Speak no feeling, no, I don't believe you
You don't care a bit, you don't care a bit
Ransom notes keep falling out your mouth
Mid-sweet talk, newspaper word cutouts
Speak no feeling, no, I don't believe you
You don't care a bit, you don't care a bit

(You don't care a bit)
Oh, no, you don't care a bit
Oh, no, you don't care a bit
Uh-uh, you don't care a bit
You don't care a bit
You don't care a bit


Lyrics submitted by music*ismyboyfriend, edited by frenzydiamonds

Hide and Seek Lyrics as written by Imogen Jennifer Heap

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Capitol CMG Publishing

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Hide and Seek song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

610 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +10
    Song Meaning

    I've read that Imogen said that this song was about her parents divorce, and her father later getting a new wife. The lyrics are about how his new relationship made her feel estranged from him.

    rraccoonon October 04, 2012   Link
  • +7
    General Comment

    hahaha imogen IS frou frou, dummy dummy dum dumsssss

    kimberon May 20, 2005   Link
  • +7
    General Comment

    She uses a lot of imagery of an empty house; "oily marks appear on walls" describing the clean outlines in the dust of hung pictures that have been removed, and "crop circles in the carpet" referring to the circles left by furniture after it's been moved. Since it probably isn't really just about furniture, it makes me think of the raw impressions that would be left exposed on a person once a friend of family member that they've depended on for years has been removed.

    The whole thing seems to me to be describing the trauma of a split household from the perspective of a child that doesn't understand, using the strangeness of a changed home or a new house as a metaphor.

    Sends chills down my spine every time.

    Richehon October 21, 2013   Link
  • +5
    General Comment

    This song to me is about someone leaving and the person who was left is just realizing what is happening. "Crop circles in the carpet", from furniture that had been there but is now gone, "Oily marks appear on walls Where pleasure moments hung before" pictures that are no longer there, "Mmm, What'd you say? Mmm, That it's just what we need You decided this" indicates that the person that is being left doesn't want it to be that way. It's a leaving song which makes perfect sense for them to play it when they did on The O.C. ...anyways, thats just my opinion.

    crappypunkrock99on May 21, 2005   Link
  • +4
    General Comment

    Signed up JUST to comment on this song! ;)

    To me, this song is about a life left and a new beginning for a new one. The song speaks to me through the eyes of a child who as been stripped away from a life and brought to a new unrecognizable place filled with memories of another family.

    "Where are we? What the hell is going on?"

    • Just arrived at the new house, still can't believe what's going on, that they left a life and are starting a new...

    "The dust has only just began to fall / Crop circles in the carpet"

    • The previous family have left not to long ago (from the dust that has just started to settle), but have lived there a long time, so long that the furniture has left imprints in the carpet...

    "Hide and seek / trains and sewing machines"

    • Hide and seek symbolizes the hiding from the new life as well as seeking out to begin it... or possibly, what we did as kids in a new place... seeking out the hidden cracks and cubby holes and hiding. Trains and sewing machines; trains being how they arrived, and sewing machines, not in the literal sense but "fixing" machines that will attempt to repair the old life they once lived.

    "All those years / They were here first"

    • All those years they lived here before

    "Oily marks appear on walls / Where pleasure moments hung before"

    • Again, evidence of a life lived here before in the house...

    "The takeover / The sweeping insensitivity of this"

    • this speaks of the takeover of the house and how insensitive it is that one can just strip another of a life once lived in a house filled with so many memories...

    "Mmm, What'd you say? Mmm, That you only meant well / Well of course you did / Mmm, What'd you say? Mmm, That it's all for the best / Of course it is Mmm, What'd you say? Mmm, That it's just what we need / You decided this"

    • This is expressing that the child never wanted to leave and that the parents made all the decisions without thinking about how the child would feel...

    anyhoo, I didn't mean for this to drag on... just thought I'd express my two cents. I guess this song touched me this way because I went through this and the sinking feeling she speaks of is exactly how I felt and that I didn't feel my folks cared about how I felt at all.

    Funny how songs can tell the story of our lives so sweetly sometimes...

    Cheers

    nyxon May 23, 2005   Link
  • +4
    General Comment

    Imogen's parents divorced when she was only 12 years old. (wikipedia)

    This song is about a child full of hurt and pain at why her parents would do this.

    "The dust has only just began to fall"-a fresh seperation, the dust will keep falling since they are going seperate ways.

    "Crop circles in the carpet, sinking, feeling"-Where the furnature once lie, indetaions in the carpet.

    "Spin me around and rub my eyes"-Imogen's is telling her father to spin her around once more as when she was little, but this time rub her eyes because she is so full of pain.

    "This can't be happening"- a child confused at whats going on

    "When busy streets a mess with people Would stop to hold their heads heavy"-the child realizing all of the pain the world is in.

    "Hide and seek"- the girl needs somewhere to hide from the world

    "All those years They were here first"- the girl thinking her family has been there, and they were here first.

    "Oily marks appear on walls Where pleasure moments hung before"-Obviously pictures that have been taken down for the seperation.

    "Mm what'cha say? Mm that it's all for the best Of course it is" -This is the girl realizing that it is for the best, but she is still hurt.

    "Mm what'cha say? Mm that it's just what we need You decided this?" -the child has NO say in this situation and she is feeling anger because it was in the hands of her parents.

    "Speak no feeling; no, I don't believe you" -Her parents say they still love her and it is not her fault, she doesn't believe them. You don't care a bit You don't care a bit

    LOVE this song. Could be played for so many hurting children in America.

    bird-lover05on December 20, 2008   Link
  • +4
    General Comment

    simply beautiful. someone told me that she explained that this song is about her parents getting a divorce. makes sense.

    alyDISTORtionon July 18, 2010   Link
  • +4
    General Comment

    I always feel like this song is read wrong. If you put it into sentence format, it becomes a lot less unambiguous. Where are we? What the hell is going on? The dust has only just begun to form cop circles in the carpet. (As in, the dust is forming the crop circles, because its only now beginning to settle, as opposed to the dust forming and the crop circles being two separate entities.) Sinking feeling. Spin me around again and rub my eyes. This can't be happening. When busy streets -- a mess with people -- would stop to hold their heads heavy. (As in, all these people on the streets stop to hang their heads.)

    Hide and seek, trains, and sewing machines, all those years, they were here first. Oily marks appear on walls where pleasure moments hung before. (Ever notice how your handprints leave behind marks on the walls you touch?) The takeover, the sweeping insensitivity of this still life. (The still life referencing the aforementioned "oily marks" as opposed to the "pleasure moments").

    ackeibleron December 02, 2012   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    I think this song is about someone discovering and dealing with the fact that thier lover is leading a second life with them. "Hide and Seek" symbolizes the mistresses' search for the truth about her lover's love life, which he tries desperately to hide. The "trains and sewing machines" would represent the cheating lover's child and wife, respectively, who were "there first", before the beginning of the adulterous relationship. The mistresses' reaction to the idea of her lover belonging to another woman is expressed through "the takeover, the sweeping insensitivity".

    His censorship of the truth and of his feelings are represented through "newspaper word cutouts" and "mid-sweet talk". The "ransom notes" falling out of the cheater's mouth signify how he has freed his mistress by breaking off the relationship, but has taken her heart in exchange. She feels used, and thus does not believe any expression of emotion her cheating lover tries to appeal to her with ("speak no feeling, no, I don't believe you"), stating only that he "doesn't care a bit".

    Maybe off but it makes sense to me.

    la_ritchieon May 22, 2005   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    I first heard this song on the KCRW streaming feed (kcrwmusic.com) a couple of months ago and was immediately captivated by the ethereality of the vocal performance and the incredibly evocative chord voicings that were used to trigger the vocoder. As for the lyrics, I guess I'm the only one who associates the lyrics with nuclear holocaust. Anyone who has seen the archival footage of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki ruins can't help but be moved by the ghost images on the walls of people who were instantly vaporized by the blast ("Oily marks appear on walls"), piles of bodies and skeletons randomly strewn about the city streets ("A mess with people"), and the shots of mutilated survivors with looks of bewilderment in their faces ("What the hell is going on?", "Rub my eyes, this can't be happening"). Footage of subsequent nuclear tests shows how ashes fall like snow after a blast ("Crop circles in the carpet") and the utter finality of the carnage ("The sweeping insensitivity of this"). The rest of the song seems to focus on the perpetrators of the apocalypse ("...That you only meant well... that it's all for the best ... that it's just what we need ... Oh no, you don't care a bit"). Anyway that's how I see it IMHO. Truly an amazing, haunting, gut-wrenching and beautiful song.

    doctecon August 31, 2005   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
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Album art
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version. Great version of a great song,
Album art
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
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.