Peaches

The Stranglers

Strolling along minding my own business
Well there goes a girl and a half
She's got me going up and down
She's got me going up and down

Walking on the beaches looking at the peaches

Well I got the notion girl that you got some suntan lotion in that bottle of yours
Spread it all over my peelin' skin, baby
That feels real good
All this skirt lappin' up the sun
Lap me up
Why don't you come on and lap me up?

Walking on the beaches looking at the peaches

Well, there goes another one just lying down on the sand dunes
I'd better go take a swim and see if I can cool down a little bit
'Cause you and me, woman
We got a lotta things on our minds (you know what I mean)

Walking on the beaches looking at the peaches

Will you just take a look over there (where?) (there)
Is she tryin' to get outta that Clitares?
Liberation for women
That's what I preach (preacher man)

Walking on the beaches looking at the peaches

Oh shit!
There goes the charabang
Looks like I'm gonna be stuck here the whole summer
Well, what a bummer
I can think of a lot worse places to be
Like down in the streets
Or down in the sewer
Or even on the end of a skewer

Down on the beaches, just looking at the peaches
Down on the beaches, just looking at brown bodies
Down on the beaches, just looking at all the shot glasses
Down on the beaches, just looking at all the peaches
Down on the beaches, just looking at all the peaches
Down on the beaches, just looking at all the peaches
Down on the beaches
Mmm-hmm, mmm-hmm, mmm-hmm, mmm-hmm
Mmm-hmm, mmm-hmm, mmm-hmm, mmm-hmm
Mmm-hmm
Mmm-hmm
Mmm-hmm, mmm-hmm, mmm-hmm, mmm-hmm


Lyrics submitted by butterflykiss84

Peaches Lyrics as written by David Greenfield Brian John Duffy

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Peaches song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

15 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +3
    General Comment
    "Peaches" was controversial because of its anarchist, non-conformist, "sexual" content, primarily aimed at shaking up the establishment and poking the eye of the new politically correct punk movement. The song's narrator is girl-watching on a crowded beach one hot summer day. It is never made clear if his lascivious thoughts (such as "there goes a girl and a half") are an interior monologue, comments to his mates, or come-on lines to the attractive women in question. Critic Tom Maginnis writes that Hugh Cornwell sings with "a lecherous sneer, the sexual tension is so unrelenting as to spill into macho parody or even censor-baiting territory". This just shows how values change with time. That a song that was rebelling against censorship and macho, misogynistic views of women could become a problem itself. In the past I would not have "got" the parody and taken the song at face value but now in 2018 the misogynistic lyrics make me uncomfortable and I'm a 50+yr old white male who thinks of women as equals.
    Alex1900on June 28, 2018   Link
  • +2
    General Comment
    As an American person, I would like to mention something I had to look up: it's spelled "charabanc" but pronounced "charabang," and it's basically a sightseeing/tourist bus, open-air, kind of like a trolley. He's basically joking that he'll have to stay at the beach (with the women) all summer because the tour bus has left without him.
    Dubious Meriton March 12, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Comment
    Firstly, I really don't think that she's trying to get out of her clitoris... that really doesn't make sense. The word should be clitares which is a french bathing costime (or so we were told at the time the record came out).
    Wyrmon May 15, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Comment
    Secondly, the original 'Radio' version replaced 'clitares' with 'bikini' as they didn't think the general population would understand - and 'bummer' with 'summer' just in case. Though UK radio played both versions.
    Wyrmon May 15, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    it's a great song. such a catchy tune. it makes me really happy whenever it plays.
    andrewhambletonon November 17, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    here we go then! how the hell can a lyric about a young man walking along a beach and having fantasies about the various women he sees be misogynistic? do you actually know the meaning of the word mysoginist, HazMatador, or is it a phrase you remember from some crappy music mag?
    Boss Manon July 02, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    this is a really great british song
    jabba1110on June 11, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    Hey wyrm. It makes sense to me. He say's "liberation for women, thats what I preach". In otherwords women liberated of ALL their clothes. I guess he'd prefer the beach to be a nude beach. Ha ha.
    skacore_dudeon July 19, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    Well I think this song is about raisins...They used to be fat and juicy and now they're twisted. They had their lives stolen. Well, they taste sweet, but really they're just humiliated grapes. Personally, I can't say I am a big supporter of the raisin council...
    dimpleson December 18, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment
    to true dimples... to true. i read in an interview they did!
    meathoofon December 18, 2006   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
Another Love
Tom Odell
I think the meaning is pretty clear. This person got really burned in a previous relationship, and because of this is unable to love and show care in his present one, even though he so badly wants to. It's lovely song, and very sad. You can really feel how defeated and frustrated he is with himself.
Album art
Sunglasses at Night
Corey Hart
In the 1980s, sunglasses were a common fashion for people who wanted to adopt a "tough guy" persona (note all the cop shows from that era -- Simon & Simon, Miami Vice, etc. -- where the lead characters wore shades). So I think this song is about a guy who wears shades as a way of hiding his insecurity after learning that his girlfriend is cheating on him. He's trying to pretend that he's a "tough guy" to hide the fact that his girlfriend's affair is disturbing him.
Album art
System
Mel And Kim
Just listening for the 784,654th time....and it's just perfect in every way. Just incredible. The only reason it was remade was to scoop up a boatload of money from a more modern and accepting audience. But it is a completely different song than the other one that sounds slapped together in a few takes without a thought for the meaning. This song captivates me still, after 50+ years. Takes me to the deep South and the poverty of some who lived thru truly hard times. And the powerful spirit of a poor young girl being abandoned to her future with only a red dress and her wits to keep her alive. She not only stayed alive, she turned her hard beginnings around, became self sufficient, successful and someone with respect for herself. She didn't let the naysayers and judgers stop her. She's the one sitting in the drivers seat at the end. So, not a song about a poor girl, but a song of hope and how you can rise up no matter how far down you started. There is a huge difference between a singer who simply belts out a song that is on a page in front of them, and someone who can convey an entire experience with their voice. Telling not just a story with words, but taking you inside it and making you feel like you are there, with their interpretation.
Album art
X French T-Shirt
Shudder to Think
This song is timeless, and nearly 20 years after its creation, still possesses the mystique it did the first time i heard it ~1994. To me, at first blush, all those years ago, it had some kind of homo-erotic allure. The line "so that the others may do" tells of something which must be done for others to follow suit. It felt like like some kind of roxy-glam-pop invitation to sexual liberation. Upon further introspection I think the song may not have an intrinsic meaning, but simply represents a sort of "holding open the door" for people who otherwise might be affronted by this song/band's unusual style. I know, as a sort of armchair rock-historian, that there have been few bands so daring and so true to the sound that wanted to emerge from within, whether the creator wanted it or not. This band handled it with elegance and grace seldom, if ever, seen.
Album art
Blank Space
Taylor Swift
This song is Swift's response to the negative reputation the media has given her. "I can make the bad guys good for a weekend" - the bad guys are the paparazzi to Swift, but are good to the "player" since association with Swift immediately gives publicity. Any publicity is good publicity and Swift knows this. "You can tell me when it's over" - the tabloids rumor relationships are over before the couple announces it officially. With this song Swift is portraying the way she is portrayed by the media. It is a sarcastic jab at how she views herself and how her "ex-lovers" only wanted to be with her to increase their fame. I applaud the brilliance in writing about how you always write about relationships. It is expected so Swift is giving the media what they want and profiting off the attention.