He War

This was the first Cat Power song I heard and I have absolutely no idea what the "He War" is all about, but whenever I listen to it I have a sense of feeling remorse about something (I never meant to be the needle...) but at the same time knowing that you might be better off this way (Don't look back).

Impressionistic take:

Biology is destiny. Love & Lust are chemistry. Testosterone is Me. Me is He.

Touch my woman & I will go ballistic Stalinistic all-too-realistic on your ass!

Some guys just never learn. The only thing they ever understand is when they lose a few bloody teeth.

What you don't let go of, no one will take from you.

In Love & List, fight for what's yours or die trying.

The everlasting Garden of Eros awaits the warrior worthy of servicing the Goddess. Tend Her altars. Keep strong. Keep Her fires burning.

This is not some idle chatter. Its Old School stuff. As old as Men & Women.

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I actually believe it's a song about a girl who wants a guy that someone else has. (So, in this case, the video is correct.)

"I never meant to be the needle that broke your back" -- He knows that she wants him, and it bothers him. She's a problem for him, because he's with someone else.

When she sings, "He war, he war, he will kill for you" it's Chan singing that he loves the girl he's with and that he wouldn't leave the girl for Chan.

She's not the "hot new chick" -- she's not a girl attractive enough (physically and personality-wise) to pull him away from his current paramour.

It's her pining over someone she can't have, mainly due to the fact he will not abandon his current relationship with the girl he loves for her.

I think this song is directed to another girl, not the guy she's interested in. She likes the guy, but he's already involved, putting her and the girl she probably doesn't even know at odds with one another. Since he picks the girlfriend, she loses which leaves her longing for him and a little guilty for "fighting" a war for him in the first place ("I never meant to be the needle..." sounds guilty to me, anyway). The song tells the girl he loves that she won, and that the singer doesn't really feel like she had a chance anyway because she's "not that hot new chick" that could actually win him away from the one he loves.

I think this song goes rather well with the music video. I believe that the speaker has been involved with a man in the past and they have had a very rocky relationship. He blames her for their differences and she apologizes for "being the needle that broke your back" and he won't face the truth that he was part of the failure too but he constantly reminds her of the past problems they had. ("you were here, you were here, don't look back")

Now, the guy has found a new woman "that hot new chick" and he is playing her just like he played the speaker. He will kill for this new woman, but he probably is still seeing the speaker, leaving an ambivalence. The speaker wants things to get better and work things out, but since he is with this new woman, they can never work out--but both the women know that he is in between them. The music video is very telling component to all this...the last scene especially when they are at dinner and Chan looks at him through the wine glass--he goes on acting like they are together but she has been chasing him the whole time--he's distant, seeing another woman, and won't put forth the effort she needs. yet they are still together in the end. it's bittersweet.

I feel like the song is directed to a guy as he leaves her, trying to make him come back and trying to console herself that perhaps the relationship wasn't that great anyway because of how stubborn she was and perhaps how violent he is.

Compare: "i never meant to be the needle that broke your back." To the cliches: "the straw that broke the camel's back" and "like finding a needle in a haystack"

Notice how she joins these two? I think she's saying that she didnt mean to hurt him while at the same time saying that it will be hard to find another girl like her and that he shouldnt have left her. the words "dont look back" show this need to still call him back, to yell at someone, "fine. walk away and dont look back!" while at the same time telling herself that she should not regret the break up.

"he war he war he will kill for you"

i think i sense some sarcasm in this statement. he war. there is violence in their relationship. he will kill for you. he'll love you but it will be violent. on the other hand, she might be saying that he's fighting for something, that he's constantly lost in this war. he'll metaphorically kill for her. it think it's probably the latter as it says he will kill for you.

"I'm not that hot new chick And if you won't let me run with it We're on to your same old trick Get up and run away with it"

I think she's pointing out that while she doesnt want him to leave, she's still very stubborn about her role in the relationship. she's not gonna be his b*tch and that she wont live with his war(his same old trick). i think the line "get up and run away with it" has a similar meaning to the line "don't look back"

beautiful song.

I think this song is about being stuck in the past. For example, the line "you were here, you were here, you were here" is the woman looking back on her ex-lover, possibly the man of her dreams, who she hurt in some way (I never meant to be the needle that could broke your back), and has now since left her. She's caught up in the hazy memories of them when they were together, and getting back together with this person now is unrealistic, since he's moved on and has a less emotional and more attractive girlfriend (I'm not that hot new chick). As for the "we're onto your same old trick" line, I'm really not sure what that could mean, perhaps it represents the second stage of grief, denial, and she's denying that she's hurting this person, and he's somehow "tricked" her.

hmm but the video shows chan chasing a guy and looking desperate to get him back...as oppose to trying to leave him

hmm whateva. videos don't always fit their songs

this is the first cat power song i've heard too. i always thought it was an outsider looking in at a relationship between a guy and a girl. but.. "I'm not that hot new chick And if you won't let me run with it" ruins my theory

Hey hey hey He war he war He will kill for you this song is soo great its the best i agree wat everyone eles said