Cuts You Up

Theory: A man is having an illicit affair. It forces them both to carry on charades, but especially the subject of the song, who is affectionate but then puts distance between them both. They both have to change colors, spin yarns, make up convincing lies. You have to look for what seems out of place so that the other husband won't catch on. Meanwhile, the woman you love refuses to leave the man who she is stuck with. I don't think drug abuse fits the themes here at all. Listen to the rest of the album and you'll hear a few binding threads, relationships being one of them.

I like the part when he says, "Move the heart, switch the pace Look for what seems out of place" because this song tells you how can you change your bad feelings into peace and love.

it's a great autumn song. i have certain songs that go with seasons and this one is one of my autumn songs. right before it gets too cold, you can still drive with the windows down, or walk with just a sweater on.

it reminds me so much of when i was younger...about 10 (when the album came out). i was at a party about two years ago when i was in college and the kid that was playing "dj" played it and i just screamed! no one understood why, only my friend the dj. i just sat, sang and smoked a cigarette while i drank a glass of rum. i loved it. i'd give anything to have those times back.

Peter Murphy is a Sufi. Sufism is the mystical tradition of Islam. He lives in Turkey with his Sufi wife. I'm not an expert on Sufism, but this song sounds very much like the mystical journeys Sufis so often write about. The Sufis are famous for their mystical poetry and music. There is more about Peter Murphy's Sufi lifestyle on his Wikipedia page.

I believe this song is addressing love in the first person. I believe it is about the angst of falling in love with someone. One is unsure of the other persons depth of feeling which results in fear of expressing the love. The feeling of love washes over you in the morning, but fear of expression keeps him moving the heart and shifting the pace, looking for what seems out of place with regard to perceived positive or negative reactions to his advances. Anyone who has experienced unrequited love will understand the feeling of trying again and the mistakes that you do mean defense mechanism which shields one from the devastation once again. It spits you out.....

I used to think this song was about love. Now I'm not sure but I think this song is more about life itself.

Peter's lyrics create an otherworldliness. They make no sense and yet they do. It's a good song.

Peter Murphy is an awsome writer. I bought this album when it was first released circa 1990. 16 years later I still love this song. It seems to me to have the flavor of Advaitic philosophy.

This seems to be like so many songs, especially really good ones, in that it leaves itself open to interpretation. It could be about a love relationship, or about depression, or even a variety of other things someone might be struggling with. I look at it more generally, as dealing with the trials and tribulations of life, its unpredictability, your attempts to get the upper hand with the problems of the day, and son on.

As such, I do get a bit of inspiration from it. And to Tithonus's comment: Yes, now that you mention it, the strings and overall sound do remind me a lot of The Sensual World. Come to think of it, I suppose this was Kate's "goth" phase. (-:

I suspect that Murphy was very influenced by Kate Bush; this song reminds me of songs from Bush's 'The Sensual World' (like 'The Fog' or 'Never be Mine')

I'm just now really getting into Peter Murphy's music. I don't know a lot about his personal life, other than that he is very religious. Based on what I have heard of his work, he does seem to draw inspiration from 'dark' things. I think that this song could have been written about a lover who has depression, or perhaps, it is a love song to depression itself. I think that sometimes in this song the 'you' (his lover) and the 'it' (the depression) are the same entity. Depression, horrible as it is, can sometimes be a great source of creative energy. I know that this is true for me...in fact, sometimes I feel like I HAVE to be depressed to get any sort of creative work done. I bet that Peter Murphy can relate to that need to go somewhere 'dark', and that sort of love/hate relationship that a person can have with mental illness. I feel like he describes my own experience fairly well:

'I find you in the morning After dreams of distant signs You pour yourself over me Like the sun through the blinds'

So if The Cure's 'Lullaby' is about that hopeless feeling you get when you're depressed and alone at night, the first few lines of this song are about that strange sense of peace that you get when you have SURVIVED a night alone with your depression. When I was living with my boyfriend, I used to have many nights where I would have go away to be by myself so as to not keep him awake; the sheer gratitude that you feel when, after you've cried yourself to sleep, someone that you love comes to find you in the cold and the dark and makes you feel safe again...that's just like that feeling you get seeing morning light through the blinds.

The 'distant wind', the 'secret wind' that he describes...that could be that bittersweet restlessness that is associated with anxiety and depression. He describes wanting to conquer this thing that 'throws about, takes you in and spit you out', this thing that 'leaves you dry, cuts you up and takes you high'...it's like being carried away by ones emotions. 'Twists and turns, Changing color, spinning yarns'; he could be talking about the 'mental chatter' that you experience when you're dealing with depression....the way the 'stories' that you tell in your own mind about your own identity/perception of reality are altered by mental processes that you can't quiet control...

The funny thing is, this thing that 'cuts you up' is also the thing that 'lifts you up' and 'keeps you walking' and 'never shouts' (never shouts? could he be talking about wind again? wind sometimes SEEMS to be shouting, but it can't really 'shout'...it's almost like a line from a riddle...) This 'thing' (depression and/or anxiety) can actually be a great motivator, even as it snatches up all of your motivation. It makes you want to change your life/behavior to overcome the suffering inherent in the condition...and yet, there is an 'immediacy' and a sort of clarity to ones experience when one is dealing with depression (I think because the left brain isn't able to 'filter' experiences in the way it usually does)....this feeling can actually be very beautiful, in a weird way.

I think that this song is very much about trying to experience that sense of 'flow' that can come with dark feelings, without being swept away by those feelings...I think that this song could very well be about Peter Murphy's own 'creative process'.

Idk, that was a long and rambling interpretation. Sorry for all the grammatical errors and whatnot...don't much care like editing myself right now though, lol.

Curious to see what everyone else thinks.