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The Spiderbite Song Lyrics
When you got that spiderbite on your hand
I thought we would have to break up the band
To lose your arm would surely upset your brain
The poison then could reach your heart from a vein
[Chorus]
I was glad it didn't destroy you
How sad that would be
Cause if it destroyed you
It would destroy me
When you had that accident in your car
That whole thing just really seemed too bizarre
Dodging holes and telephone poles through the dash
A million to one that you could survive such a crash
[Chorus]
When you fell in love, it was all sweet
So devoted, completely swept off your feet
Love is the greatest thing our heart can know
The hole that it leaves in it's absence can make you feel so low low
[Chorus]
I thought we would have to break up the band
To lose your arm would surely upset your brain
The poison then could reach your heart from a vein
I was glad it didn't destroy you
How sad that would be
Cause if it destroyed you
It would destroy me
That whole thing just really seemed too bizarre
Dodging holes and telephone poles through the dash
A million to one that you could survive such a crash
So devoted, completely swept off your feet
Love is the greatest thing our heart can know
The hole that it leaves in it's absence can make you feel so low low
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this song sounds like a slow dance on a rain drop falling in slow motion into a circus. it is sooo beautiful. i think this song is about true friendship (which, of course, includes love) and how much the things (good and bad) that happen to your true friends can affect you and nearly crush you. i feel that way about my son and i think of him every time i hear this song. to see him go through his triumphs and near misses and failures and only really being able to watch him and listen to him because they are his experiences. you can't go make that girl fall back in love with him or turn the wheel of the car or kill the spider before it bites. it's about acceptance of that lack of control you have over the pain someone you love goes through. and that's what makes it dreamy and delicious.
You wonderfully describe this song. A slow dance on a raindrop falling in slow motion into a circus...yes, yes, yes! You're brilliant, marry me! On another note, I love how love is portrayed in this song. I remember falling in love and the level of devotion that, in hindsight, was consuming me. I truly was completely swept off my feet. The Flaming Lips articulate emotions in a way I can't begin to explain. What a gem of a band.
You wonderfully describe this song. A slow dance on a raindrop falling in slow motion into a circus...yes, yes, yes! You're brilliant, marry me! On another note, I love how love is portrayed in this song. I remember falling in love and the level of devotion that, in hindsight, was consuming me. I truly was completely swept off my feet. The Flaming Lips articulate emotions in a way I can't begin to explain. What a gem of a band.
"love is the greatest thing a heart can know the the hole that it leaves in its absence can make you feel so low" I think any of us can relate to that. It's really beautifully written, and a great song to listen to.
<3 flaming lips
What a beautiful and thoughtful line.
What a beautiful and thoughtful line.
A spider bit Steven Drozd's hand, and it became very much infected. Michael Ivins was involved in a freak car accident.
This song sort of works as a chronicle.
"In the meanwhile, a series of strange incidents (recounted in the 1999 song “The Spiderbite Song”) beset the band. Drozd’s arm was almost amputated needlessly due to what he claimed was a spider bite (it turned out to be abscessed as a result of Drozd's heroin use) and Ivins was trapped in his car for several hours, after the wheel spun off of another vehicle, into his windshield."
Thank you, wikipedia.
As said above, it chronicles some strange occurences that the band experienced. The last paragraph is about Mark Coyne, who left the band to get married.
I assumed that thi song was about Steven's heroin addiction, but I didn't know what the second and third verses were about. Thanks guys. I really like this song, and it's gets better everytime I listen to it. It has a different sort of style than most Lips songs, and Wayne's voice sounds awesome. Over time his voice and changed rediculous amounts. Go listen to "Be My Head" and then listen to "The W.A.N.D., you wouldn't evenm it's the same person... haha
When I heard this for the first time I was blown away. How could such unorthodox songwriting result in something so immediately beautiful?
Well said Pitchforkretentious. I think it's immediately affecting because of the sincerity of the lyrics.
you know, after years of songs like (as Mr. The Gloaming's talk brings to mind) Be My Head, I really am disinclined to care for the sincerity of such lyrics.
I don't like this song. But I see how you could if you felt like it.
The "Spiderbite" was from Steven's heroin addiction as someone said above. I also feel Wayne had to know this when he wrote the song, which makes it more powerful to me. Wayne was never one to confront him about his addiction, but I feel he uses the song to convey what having Steven around means to him-
"The poison then could reach your heart from a vein
I was glad that it didn't destroy you How sad that would be Because if it destroyed you It would destroy me"