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Some Velvet Morning Lyrics
Male:
Some velvet morning when I'm straight
I'm going to open up your gate
And maybe tell you 'bout Phaedra
And how she gave me life
And how she made it in
Some velvet morning when I'm straight
Female:
Flowers growing on the hill
Dragonflies and daffodils
Learn from us very much
Look at us but do not touch
Phaedra is my name
Male:
Some velvet morning when I'm straight
I'm going to open up your gate
And maybe tell you 'bout Phaedra
And how she gave me life
And how she made it in
Some velvet morning when I'm straight
Female:
Flowers are the things we knew
Secrets are the things we grew
Learn from us very much
Look at us but do not touch
Phaedra is my name
Male:
Some velvet morning when I'm straight
Female:
Flowers growing on the hill
Male:
I'm going to open up your gate
Female:
Dragonflies and daffodils
Male:
And maybe tell you 'bout Phaedra
Female:
Learn from us very much
Male:
And how she gave me life
Female:
Look at us but do not touch
Male:
And how she made it in
Some velvet morning when I'm straight
I'm going to open up your gate
And maybe tell you 'bout Phaedra
And how she gave me life
And how she made it in
Some velvet morning when I'm straight
Flowers growing on the hill
Dragonflies and daffodils
Learn from us very much
Look at us but do not touch
Phaedra is my name
Some velvet morning when I'm straight
I'm going to open up your gate
And maybe tell you 'bout Phaedra
And how she gave me life
And how she made it in
Some velvet morning when I'm straight
Flowers are the things we knew
Secrets are the things we grew
Learn from us very much
Look at us but do not touch
Phaedra is my name
Some velvet morning when I'm straight
Female:
Flowers growing on the hill
Male:
I'm going to open up your gate
Female:
Dragonflies and daffodils
Male:
And maybe tell you 'bout Phaedra
Female:
Learn from us very much
Male:
And how she gave me life
Female:
Look at us but do not touch
Male:
And how she made it in
Song Info
Submitted by
planetearth On Apr 27, 2004
More Lee Hazlewood
Your Sweet Love
My Autumn's Done Come
The Old Man and His Guitar
Sand
Rainbow Woman
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
Great song ! I discovered it when Primal Scream made their splendid, strangely androgynous cover. I do love Lee's voice, which is bound to kill this girl's virginity... "When I'm straight / I'm gonna open up your gate" So much masculine appetite in his Texas' voice ! And Nancy, just like a little girl... Does anybody know Serge Gainsbourg ?
One can enter the gate(Eden's Gate)when one is "straight"meaning singularity of consciousness. Esoterically, Hazelwood is talking about the opening of the third eye or the opening of higher-self. Phaedra is the illusionary world of matter representing the female principle. Adam or Mankind(Man and Woman)in order to return to life must not "touch" or be conditioned to the illusion of the material world. "Look at us, but do not touch, Phaedra is my name. This means eating of the tree of good and evil. It is a trap because we are caught in the conflict of duality.
From: http://exclaim.ca/Features/Timeline/psychedelic_cowboy_rides_off-lee/Page/3
Hazlewood confesses that he doesn’t actually know what the enigmatic lyrics mean. "It’s not meant to mean so much,” Hazlewood will tell Eye Magazine. "I’m not a druggie, so it was never to do with that.” When Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra tour together two decades later, she would lament on stage, "I’ve been singing this song for over 20 years and I still don’t know what the damned thing means.” Hazlewood’s cryptic rely is "Ask me some velvet morning when I’m straight.”
Caribbean queen Now we're sharing the same dream And our hearts they beat as one No more love on the run
So why is this in my head?
Oh gee. Dragonflies and daffodils? Okay. But someone needs to learn to sing the first line because that's not how it goes. I don't know how it goes anymore because all I hear is this wrong way with emphasis on the wrong syllable, wondering if this is a tomato tomato deal. Is it? Some velvet morning when I'm straight.
Okay. I'll have forgotten by then. Thought so. (smile)
This song was given to me on a mix CD and I adore this song. It reminds me of the Velvet Underground and Lou Reed's voice, but better! I'm checking out more Hazlewood.
Hee Hee This song reminds me of ES4: Oblivion. I love it!
Nancy Sinatra sings the Phaedra part in the original. Slowdive also do a great cover of this song. Hats off to primal scream for turning the song on its head.
(still do)i used to lay awake at night and listen to art bell on am radio when i was a kid. i heard this song and it stuck in my head. for years it continued to creep in to my thoughts.i never knew who did it or where i could find it. yay!
@hobo-lifestyle wow similar to you—as a kid I would lay on the couch before school early in the morning hearing this song playing on the radio and it stuck in my head and thoughts for over 50 years—I envisioned a meadow of flowers…
@hobo-lifestyle wow similar to you—as a kid I would lay on the couch before school early in the morning hearing this song playing on the radio and it stuck in my head and thoughts for over 50 years—I envisioned a meadow of flowers…
My Dying Bride covered this song...I strongly suspected it was a cover, I never heard the origional, but the cover had some sense of the old west somehow...Lee is from Texas, which explains that then :)
does anyone know what Phaedra means?
@Wyndrake Phaedra is a feminine version of phaedrus, "brilliant" or "shining".
@Wyndrake Phaedra is a feminine version of phaedrus, "brilliant" or "shining".
@Wyndrake - In Greek mythology, Phaedra is the daughter of Minos and Pasiphaë, wife of Theseus, sister of Ariadne, and the mother of Demophon of Athens and Acamas. Phaedra's name derives from the Greek word φαιδρός, which meant "bright". Which is why we named our daughter Phaedra :)
@Wyndrake - In Greek mythology, Phaedra is the daughter of Minos and Pasiphaë, wife of Theseus, sister of Ariadne, and the mother of Demophon of Athens and Acamas. Phaedra's name derives from the Greek word φαιδρός, which meant "bright". Which is why we named our daughter Phaedra :)
@Wyndrake - In Greek mythology, Phaedra is the daughter of Minos and Pasiphaë, wife of Theseus, sister of Ariadne, and the mother of Demophon of Athens and Acamas. Phaedra's name derives from the Greek word φαιδρός, which meant "bright". Which is why we named our daughter Phaedra :)
@Wyndrake - In Greek mythology, Phaedra is the daughter of Minos and Pasiphaë, wife of Theseus, sister of Ariadne, and the mother of Demophon of Athens and Acamas. Phaedra's name derives from the Greek word φαιδρός, which meant "bright". Which is why we named our daughter Phaedra :)
@Wyndrake - In Greek mythology, Phaedra is the daughter of Minos and Pasiphaë, wife of Theseus, sister of Ariadne, and the mother of Demophon of Athens and Acamas. Phaedra's name derives from the Greek word φαιδρός, which meant "bright". Which is why we named our daughter Phaedra :)
@Wyndrake - In Greek mythology, Phaedra is the daughter of Minos and Pasiphaë, wife of Theseus, sister of Ariadne, and the mother of Demophon of Athens and Acamas. Phaedra's name derives from the Greek word φαιδρός, which meant "bright". Which is why we named our daughter Phaedra :)
Phaerda: In Greek Mythology, the daughter of Pasiphaë and wife of Theseus who killed herself after accusing her stepson Hippolytus of rape. Primal Scream does an awesome version of this.