Porcelain
Are you wasting away in your skin?
Are you missing the love of your kin?
Drifting and floating and fading away
Porcelain
Do you smell like a girl when you smile?
Can you bear not to share with your child?
Drifting and floating and fading away

Little lune
All day
Little lune

Porcelain
Do you carry the moon in your womb?
Someone said that you're fading too soon
Drifting and floating and fading away
Porcelain
Are you wasting away in your skin?
Are you missing the love of your kin?
Nodding and melting and fading away

Little lune
All day
Little lune

Little lune
All day
Little lune


Lyrics submitted by The Marine, edited by uselessaffluence

Porcelain Lyrics as written by John Anthony Frusciante Michael Peter Balzary

Lyrics © WORDS & MUSIC A DIV OF BIG DEAL MUSIC LLC

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Porcelain song meanings
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106 Comments

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  • +5
    General Comment
    The song is beautiful.The song was written by anthony kiedis after they were working on a bunch of songs for the californication album. One day someone began playing an ultra sparse riff that sounded like nothing they had ever done. The lyrics were about a young mother anthony met at a meeting. She was living with her baby girl, trying to get sober but failing miserably. The beauty and sadness and tragedy and glory all warped into one of this mother daughter relationship. Porcelain refers to the simple beauty yet the fragile situation. "Are you wasting away in your skin"- are you wasting away in your fleshly desires, "are you missing the love of your kin"- because of her addiction she could not fully give herself to her daughter as a mother. "Drifting and floating and fading away"- pretty self explanatory.
    onewithmusicon May 18, 2009   Link
  • +4
    General Comment
    this is my FAVORITE song by rhcp (i dont even know what it means) it always makes me cry. i think its coo that they can write shit like "i wanna party on your pussy" and then bust out a ballad like porcelain.
    rhcpbekon September 04, 2002   Link
  • +2
    General Comment
    This is a song about a parent growing old and losing connection with there child. Very sad if you really look at the lyrics.
    KrazyKyle15on April 30, 2002   Link
  • +2
    My Interpretation
    It was quite interesting feeling to read Your comments, Your interpreations. I have never seen this site before, so it was novel for me, to read the feelings of strangers about something, that has touched me deeply in the last few days. The other interesting thing I recognized, how different people write about this song, most of You have mentioned souch ideas, I would have never thought of. Everyone writes those event, which exist in ones life and thoughts. How different we are. Now see my interpreatation, please forgive me, it is a bit dark. For me this is about a caricature of life. To abuse the holiness of life. A girl, a porcelain doll, who would like to be like enyone else, just a plain everyday girl. But she is not given that gift. All she has is her skin, she is empty inside, want touch and feel the love of humans, but jus can't fit inthere. She is not like the others, and that love is incomprehensible to her. She aspires for something she can't understand and can' reach. She aspires in her honest childish way. But what she want, that is impossible, so she is wasting her life. Smell like a girl, when you smile. She is trying to be alike, but all she can touch is the surface. Carry the Moon in your womb. This is the part I usually beginn to be is tears, for a woman to have a child is a part of the maning of life. This girl, this doll can never have one. The Moon symolises for me barrenness. Or to give birth something inanimate. It's meaningless. Nothing comes off, everything turnes aside in a strange and odd way, all her attempts are a bit pathetic. And she is fading and melting away without making her dreams some true. Her mission, is not to live a complete and happy life, she is expected just to serve, just to be pretty. And I think many people live in this planet, who are born as normal children, just they shoulderd to become a porcelain doll. I think it is not worth it. Here is a video, that has came in my mind, while listening to this song. I don't think the message is the same, not at all, just the feelings. And the images. youtube.com/… Sorry if something is not to understand, it's been a really long time, I last spoke english.
    IJGon May 31, 2009   Link
  • +1
    General Comment
    Also, porcelain, refers to the doll, and how perfect it looks but is also dead of life, and empty inside. Emptiness with the doll, the moon, the mothers feeling and the baby. All empty of life.
    DylanLon December 28, 2010   Link
  • +1
    General Comment
    Although some think it's about a mother who already has a child, which is what influenced the song. It really is about a girl who is pregnant and struggling with Heroin abuse. "can you bare not to share with your child" ... Share life. "are you wasting away in your skin"..."someone said that you're fading too soon"... the wear of the body from the heroin. A beautiful woman who is addicted to herion and struggling to get clean.. someone who used to be so beautiful and now lost her family and herself and now a child who has had a chance at life... like a porcelain babydoll. But I do like that comment about maybe the woman already had a child and lost it.. or maybe had an abortion and cant forgive herself so she drift and fades and nods away on herion because she feels like she has nothing... I know someone just like that... my ex. so sad. it was our child and i made her have an abortion and now she may never be able to have kids due to endometriosis.. I cry thining about it and wish i wasnt such a selfish piece of shit... a child is truely a gift no matter what stage or part of life your in.. i hate abortions and if we wouldve had that baby... she wouldn't be using herion right now... a part of myself hates myself...but know that it's not my fault for her using ,but as much as I tell myself that i still feel responsible
    zima1984on December 30, 2010   Link
  • +1
    General Comment
    This song is about someone who is addicted to sedatives/depressants(probably heroin) "Porcelain, are you wasting away in your skin Are you missing the love of your kin Drifting and floating and fading away" I think that by nick-naming this person porcelain it means how fragile the person really is, they fall and they break, they are wasting away in their own skin because of their use of drugs and how that has affected their way of life,missing love in general,being an addict is very lonely, thats why i think by kin means a human, just a human that loves you honestly. "Porcelain are you wasting away in your skin Are you missing the love of your kin Nodding and melting and fading away" Sedative drugs make you nod when taken in excess, and you become so sedated as if you were melting if you are laying down somewhere,you feel how your consciousness is fading away, just as i feel right now. maybe everything im saying doesnt make sense and im projecting onto the song im under the influence of sedatives right now and listening to this song is making me cry, very hard, i was obsessed with this song when i was 12, and hadnt listened to it since then oh how times have changed.
    sophie1031on December 20, 2016   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    this song makes me cry everytime....its so....so.
    silverpuppiezon June 01, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    when im sad..and i wish to b sadder..i listen to this song..because it truly like...lets the tears flow? soda speak... in ne-case..this song is very good, and i think that this is 1 of RHCP's best hits, b/c Under the bridge and all there new stuff hit big too... :-) -Pö£ô-
    glo151on June 07, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    This song could be about a misscarriage(i have no idea how to spell it, sorry) I don't know though. Because it says "Are you wasting away in your skin" and also it mentions a womb. The mom would be horribly sad and maybe thats why it says "Can you bear not to share with your child...drifting and floating and fading away." I think this song is sad and deep too. Just my thought. Thanks and luv you all! ~*~Tessa~*~
    Flychick773on June 12, 2002   Link

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