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Muhammad my friend
It's time to tell the world
We both know it was a girl
Back in Bethlehem
And on that fateful day
When she was crucified
She wore Shiseido Red
And we drank tea by her side
Sweet sweet
Used to be so sweet to me
Muhammad my friend
I'm getting very scared
Teach me how to love
My brothers who don't know the law
And what about the deal
On the flying trapeze
Got a peanut butter hand
But honey do drop in
At the Dew Drop Inn
Sweet sweet
Between the boys and the bees
Moses I know
I know you've seen the fire
But you've never seen fire
Until you've seen Pele blow
And I've never seen light
But I sure have seen gold
And Gladys save a place for me on your grapevine
Till I get my own TV show
Ashre ashre ashre ashre
And if I lose my Cracker Jacks at the tidal wave
I got a place in the Pope's rubber robe
Muhammad my friend
It's time to tell the world
We both know it was a girl
Back in Bethlehem
It's time to tell the world
We both know it was a girl
Back in Bethlehem
And on that fateful day
When she was crucified
She wore Shiseido Red
And we drank tea by her side
Sweet sweet
Used to be so sweet to me
Muhammad my friend
I'm getting very scared
Teach me how to love
My brothers who don't know the law
And what about the deal
On the flying trapeze
Got a peanut butter hand
But honey do drop in
At the Dew Drop Inn
Sweet sweet
Between the boys and the bees
Moses I know
I know you've seen the fire
But you've never seen fire
Until you've seen Pele blow
And I've never seen light
But I sure have seen gold
And Gladys save a place for me on your grapevine
Till I get my own TV show
Ashre ashre ashre ashre
And if I lose my Cracker Jacks at the tidal wave
I got a place in the Pope's rubber robe
Muhammad my friend
It's time to tell the world
We both know it was a girl
Back in Bethlehem
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Tori's lyrics may not make any sense if they were prose, but as lyrics all the words work together to form a whole. Boys for Pele is about religion (well, most of Tori's albums have that theme in there, but this one most of all). And Muhammad My Friend is Tori saying outright what she kind of danced around in the earlier songs about Christianity.
The whole "we both know it was a girl back in Bethlehem" is part of how Tori says that the female side of God and women in religion have been neglected for a long time. I don't really feel like breaking down every line, especially since most of it is subjective, but you might be confused if you don't know who Pele is: the Hawaiian volcano goddess. So she's saying that the burning bush Moses saw can't compare to a volcano's fire. There's a lot of meaning just in that part. Also the part where she says "If I loose my Cracker Jacks at the tidal wave, I got a place in the Pope's rubber robe," she's criticizing people who, when they get scared about what's beyond this world, blindly take refuge in their religion. I have a question, though...ryankyles, what did Maynard do with this song? I can't see anything about him in the liner notes, although I could have missed it. Did he make a remix of it?
Thankfully somebody actually posting their interpretation not just babbling about Maynard's contribution. Cheers for clearing up a few things for me.
Maynard performed it live with her for RAINN.