I passed by silent tigers
The ailing ape
The forgotten llama
The penguin face down in the water
I retreat into the nocturama
When will I ever be your husband?
When will you ever be my bride?
When will you take me from this place
With hope and hopelessness collide?
To be by your side
To be by your side
To be by your side
To be by your side
To be by your side
To be by your side
To be by your side
Again and again
Baby I'm not that strong
I got a chain around my ankle
And it's dragging me down
Oh nothing moves behind the glass
Deep inside this artificial night
The tiny eyes blink from the darkness
Saying everything will be alright
It'll be alright
It'll be alright
It'll be alright
It'll be alright
To be by your side
To be by your side
To be by your side
To be by your side
But again and again
Baby I'm not that tough
When night falls round here
It's never not enough
To be by your side
To be by your side
To be by your side
To be by your side
To be by your side
To be by your side
To be by your side
To be by your side
Well it will be alright
It'll be alright
It'll be alright
It'll be alright
To be by your side
To be by your side


Lyrics submitted by smallwonderrobot, edited by TheEcho

Nocturama Lyrics as written by

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management

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Nocturama song meanings
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4 Comments

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  • +2
    General Comment

    FoiNaCruz, a nocturama is something they have in zoos. It's a special area which is kept nearly dark during the daytime so the nocturnal animals are fooled into going about their daily routine. Otherwise the visitors would never get to see them! This seems to be a particularly grim zoo as all the animals are miserable, sick or dead; but in the nocturama everything seems OK. Weird.

    morbid moragon October 19, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    best track on B-Sides And Rarities Volume III. anyone where is nocturama??

    FoiNaCruzon August 22, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I like how this is the title track of the album it never appeared on.

    Stray Caton September 08, 2008   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation

    This sounds like the singer is also a part of the zoo (the chain around his ankle, him mentioning how he wants out).

    Although it can be read literally, it almost sounds like a metaphor for fame.

    The lines "When will you take me from this place Where hope and hopelessness collide?" are pleading whomever he is addressing in the song.

    It is tempting to see this as autobiographical but sometimes a song is just a song. The way Cave is singing here is wonderful, however.

    TheEchoon January 11, 2013   Link

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