Me, My Yoke and I

Looks like most of you are getting it, but for those that aren't, here's the deal. (first off, yeah, the lyrics posted up top are totally wrong) Basically, this song is Kelis' Milkshake, but for guys. In the verses he's just calling out that he's got skills, and that ladies will be pleased, so they can form a line... But what makes this song interesting is the obvious pain in the delivery. It's not a celebration of his sexuality, it's more like a lamentation. He's saying, in short, "yeah yeah yeah, I've got all this great stuff about me. You're going to love me, even when I'm falling apart, you're still going to want me, but here's the deal...I'm going to cheat on you. Are you still in?" The song is called Me, My Yoke and I. A yoke is a device that binds beasts of burden together. It's also a link between two bodies. And it's also a metaphor for a burden that you have to carry. The line, repeated at the climax of each verse, is "My God gave me a rod for fishin'". You don't have to be Freud to understand what his "rod" is. And "for fishing" means, that he's going to use it, over and over again, to catch women and reel them in. The fact that he says "My God gave me..." means that he feels that he has no choice in this. And THAT is his yoke to bear. He's going to meet women, fall in love with them, and they for him, but his burden is that he knows that he's going to cheat on them. At least half the songs on this album are plainly about infidelity, and this is one of them. This song is genius, as is the whole album.

This song is about masturbation and sex, surprise surprise.

what makes you say that??

yeah. it's about sex. i love damien rice. haha.

Let's take a look at the metaphors, shall we?

Drum = rhythm: the raw, physical rhythm of sex. Book = story: a life story, finding someone to tell your life story to, using sex to make that person care, pay attention. Hand = hand: (just like it sounds). Fall = fallout: an emotional fallout from a tragic life story. Dog = an animal acting on instinct (see track 5). Rod = manhood, obviously, but within its context meaning "Hey, I'm a man, so of course I'm going to think with my penis". Shell = cowardice: like a turtle retracted in its shell.

It seems to me that this is a song about sex, and using sex to mask insecurity.

The words couple well with the music, as there is certainly not a hint of romance for all the raw, dirty lyrics.

In one live performance he introduces this song by saying: "There's this guy I knew who, when he was young, discovered this thing hanging out of his body. And one day he actually found out what to do with it. He used to feel so guilty about talking to this new friend of his that he used to donate money to charity. Until he got to the point where he didn't have any money to donate anymore"

I kept wondering what he was singing when he says "this shell"... which is the lyrics you have up here, and I thought maybe he was saying "to fish on" .... "my god gave me a rod, to fish on". Are you sure it's this shell? I mean that make sense with an egg, yoke, etc, but it's hard to understand him.

First of all, did you even listen to the song? You have the lyrics way wrong. These are the correct lyrics.

My drum, my drum, my drum Gonna make ya My drum, my drum, my drum Gonna make ya come

My book, my book, my book Gonna make ya My book, my book, my book Gonna make ya look

My hand, my hand, my hand My hand going under My hand, my hand, my hand My hand going understand

My fall, my fall My fall gonna break ya My fall, my fall My fall gonna break your wall

I'm mad, I'm mad, I'm mad Like a big dog I'm mad, I'm mad, I'm mad Like a big dog yeah

Cause my god, my god, my god Gave me a rod My god, my god, my god Gave me a rod

For fishing, fishing, fishing Fishing, fishing, fishing, yeah

My drum, my drum, my drum Gonna make ya My drum, my drum, my drum Gonna make ya come

My book, my book, my book Gonna make ya My book, my book, my book Gonna make ya look

My hand, my hand, my hand Going under My hand, my hand, my hand Going understand

My fall, my fall, my fall My fall gonna break ya My fall, my fall, my fall My fall gonna break your wall

I'm mad, I'm mad, I'm mad Like a big dog I'm mad, I'm mad, I'm mad Like a big dog yeah

My god, my god, my god Gave me a rod My god, my god, my god Gave me a rod

For fishing, fishing fishing Fishing, fishing, fishing, yeah yeah

Won't you beat my (repeated)

Fishing, fishing, fishing, Fishing, fishing, fishing, yeah. yeah. yeah.

My interpretation is way different. Its about his music and the effect he has on people

"My drum gonna make you come" = first I'm gonna get you with the sounds of my music "My book gonna make you look" = then I'm going to get you really thinking because of my lyrics "My hand going understand"= the way I put my music together will make you understand "My fall gonna break your wall" = you are going to relate to me because I've been through what you have "I'm mad like a big dog" =I'm mad and you can feel your emotions through my music "Cause my god gave me a rod for fishing" = I have a gift (a rod) for music, and its going to get to people in a way others can't

"Won't you beat my..." = so join the bandwagon, feel this music with me

Just my thought. Tell me what you think.

Yes this song is about sex. Damien himself has said that it is about sex many times in concert. Whare some of his other songs romance the idea of sex, this one is just about Sex.

and a hell of a good one at that