In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Down in the cellar
You're getting into making poison.
You slipped some on the side,
Into my glass of wine,
And I don't want any coffee homeground.
Offer me a chocolate,
No thank you, spoil my diet, know your game!
But tell me just how come
They smell of bitter almonds?
It's a no-no to your coffee homeground.
Pictures of Crippin'
Lipstick-smeared.
Torn wallpaper.
Have the walls got ears here?
[Chorus]
Well, you won't get me with your Belladonna, in the coffee,
And you won't get me with your arsenic, in the pot of tea,
And you won't get me in a hole to rot, with your hemlock
On the rocks.
Where are the plumbers
Who went a-missing here on Monday?
There was a tall man
With his companion,
And I bet you gave them coffee, homeground.
Maybe you're lonely,
And only want a little company,
But keep your recipes
For the rats to eat,
And may they rest in peace with coffee homeground.
[Chorus: x2]
With your hemlock on the rocks.
"Noch ein Glas, mein Liebchen?"*
With your hemlock on the rocks.
"Es schmeckt wunderbahr!"*
With your hemlock on the rocks.
"Und ?"
You're getting into making poison.
You slipped some on the side,
Into my glass of wine,
And I don't want any coffee homeground.
Offer me a chocolate,
No thank you, spoil my diet, know your game!
But tell me just how come
They smell of bitter almonds?
It's a no-no to your coffee homeground.
Pictures of Crippin'
Lipstick-smeared.
Torn wallpaper.
Have the walls got ears here?
[Chorus]
Well, you won't get me with your Belladonna, in the coffee,
And you won't get me with your arsenic, in the pot of tea,
And you won't get me in a hole to rot, with your hemlock
On the rocks.
Where are the plumbers
Who went a-missing here on Monday?
There was a tall man
With his companion,
And I bet you gave them coffee, homeground.
Maybe you're lonely,
And only want a little company,
But keep your recipes
For the rats to eat,
And may they rest in peace with coffee homeground.
[Chorus: x2]
With your hemlock on the rocks.
"Noch ein Glas, mein Liebchen?"*
With your hemlock on the rocks.
"Es schmeckt wunderbahr!"*
With your hemlock on the rocks.
"Und ?"
Lyrics submitted by weezerific:cutlery
Coffee Homeground Lyrics as written by Kate Bush
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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From an interview with Kate Bush on a Promo Cassette for Lionheart, 1978:
KB: "Yeah, well there's one called Coffee Homeground which was in fact inspired directly from a cab driver that I met who was in fact a bit nutty. And it's just a song about someone who thinks they're being poisoned by another person, they think that there's Belladonna in their tea and that whenever they offer them something to eat, it's got poison in it. And it's just a humorous aspect of paranoia really and we sort of done it in a Brechtian style, the old sort of jamming [??? vibe] to try and bring across the humour side of it."
gaffa.org/reaching/im78_lh.html katebushforum.com/forum/index.php