Iris

Oh, come on people, any Breeders fan should know what this song is about. Kim has explained its meaning many times -- it's about the menstrual cycle. Some people call it "the monthly visitor" or "Aunt Flo". Kim calls her period "Iris".

And the first line is "Four hours in the pod", which provides the album Pod its title. Kim's music publishing company is also named Period Music in reference to this song and Pod, the first Breeders album.

First time I heard it I thought it meant Kim was killing Iris "All our last night" but now I think it is just about two total stoners, both keeping themselves awake on bong or maybe even some crank or LSD.

i think it's about an overdose. and iris saves whoever o.d.'d.

I always thought it was about some type of drug trip too

i think it's sort of a combination of responses already posted. It is about drugs, two people who do drugs together. But the line "pour water on me til I live again" implies some sort of O.D. perhaps it is about two friends who do drugs together, but one does too much and has to save the other one.

possibly anyway

First heard this song in 1993, three years after it's release. It was on a compilation of tunes called No Alternative, which was produced by an organisation that supported equal access to healthcare - and especially involved in with AIDS relief at that time. All of the tunes on the album had some element associated with the reality of living with a serious or terminal disease and the social prejudice that followed. So while it may have meant one thing at its time of writting, it was later offered as relevent for another reason. Most likely the desperation in Kim's singing, being literally isolated and stuck and going through hell.

The song is in reference to the author Iris Murdoch...It's about staying up all night and reading books and the joy of getting lost in the philosophical musings of Iris Murdoch's literature.