Dirty Creature

Split Enz

Dirty Creature come my way
from the bottom of a big black lake
Shuffles up to my window
making sure I'm awake
S'probably gonna pick my brain
Got me in a vice-like grip
He said one slip, your dead. Ha.

Dirty Creature of habit
Little horror here to stay
Anyone in his right mind
would tell it to go away
but the river of dread runs deep
full of unspeakable things
The creature don't mess around
I don't want to mess with him

I don't want to sail, I don't want to sail
I don't want to, I don't want to sail tonight
Dirty Creature's got me at a disadvantage from the inside.

Tentacles on the brain keep me from falling asleep
I'm rooted to the spot
The beast don't know when to stop
Sneaking up from behind
Binds and gags my wits
Dirty Creature got my head exactly where he wants it

I don't want to sail, I don't want to sail,
I don't want to, I don't want to sail tonight,
Taniwha is waiting for me just below the surface so bright (Yeah)
Even as we speak the Dirty Creature springs a nasty surprise.

Dirty Creature knows my type
Found it in a magazine
He's seen the look of fear before
splattered all over the screen
The animal magnet thug
draws me out of myself
I need a dragon-slayer
who can save me from myself

I don't want to sail, I don't want to sail,
I don't want to set sail for the middle of nowhere tonight
Dirty Creature's got me at a disadvantage from the inside (Yeah)
I don't want to sail upon the waters of invention tonight

[a Taniwha is a New Zealand dragon/sea monster type "dirty creature"]


Lyrics submitted by planetearth

Dirty Creature Lyrics as written by Nigel Philip Griggs Brian Timothy Finn

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Royalty Network, PFIVE Entertainment Mexico, MUSHROOM MUSIC PTY LTD, Hipgnosis Songs Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Dirty Creature song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

6 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +2
    General Comment

    It's about Tim Finn's nervous breakdown, that's what he said in the Enzology podcast thingo. Its so cool though... I love it!!! Best Band EVER!!!!!!!

    dizrythmia girlon February 12, 2008   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I thought it was about depression, nasty pasty that it is.

    amy darlingon November 13, 2004   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Go Kiwi Rock!!!

    Metaphorically, it could be about Depression. Lyrically, it seems to be just about a Taniwha (Maori monster)

    bkat004on March 24, 2005   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    absolutely no doubt in my mind its about the demon of addiction. whether its sex, drugs or whatever the addiction, the lyrics seem to me finns battling with the little fucker pushing him to take another hit of white pony, or going out and getting a ho suck hes wang.

    well thats how it seems to me

    grazmataz71on June 03, 2017   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Wow! Monsters!

    I like the bit where he gets his head chopped off in the video.

    amy darlingon March 12, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Songs about A-Grade drug addiction are, like the addiction itself, kinda cool and ruthless

    exobscuraon August 18, 2020   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
Standing On The Edge Of Summer
Thursday
In regards to the meaning of this song: Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.” That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Album art
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him. There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
Album art
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988. "'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it." "There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Album art
When We Were Young
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Album art
No Surprises
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.