I saw you baby dancin' in your x-ray gingham dress
I knew you were under duress
I knew you were under yer dress
Just keep comin', Jesus, you're the best dressed
You look dandy in the sky but you don't scare me
'Cause I got you here in my eye
In this lifetime you got my human gets me blues
With your jaw hangin' slack and your hair's curlin'
Like an ole navy fork stickin' in the sunset
The way you were dancin' I knew you'd never come back
You were strainin' to keep your old black cracked patent shoes
In this lifetime you got my human gets me blues
Well, the way you been, old lady, I could see the fear in your windows
Under your furry crawlin' brow a silver bow rings up in inches
You were afraid you'd be the devil's red wife
But it's all right, God dug your dance
And would have you young and in his harem
Dress you the way he wants cause he never had a doll
'Cause everybody made him a boy
And God didn't think to ask his preference
You can bring your dress and your favorite dog
And your husband's cane, and your old spotted hog
'Cause in this lifetime you got my human gets me blues


Lyrics submitted by Screwjack

My Human Gets Me Blues Lyrics as written by Don Van Vliet

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

My Human Gets Me Blues song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

5 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +3
    General Comment

    One of the standout tracks from Trout Mask, and propbably from the whole back catalogue. I'd agree with the above posts that this song is about God's dissolutionment with the human race (I mean, we are pretty terrible, I wouldn't be surprised if we did give God the blues). The theme of disintegrating humanity and the wish to escape these horrors is reoccuring throughout the entire album (Frownland, Sweet Sweet Bulbs, Ant Man Bee etc.). It's hard not to agree with the Captain's sentiments.

    Armitage Shankson February 27, 2009   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I love this song. I love the little analysis about how everybody made God a boy - how it turns out that the real reason he wants to dress girls "the way he wants" is that he never had a doll.

    I always thought the title "my human gets me blues" was Gods sadness about the cruelty of mankind. His human gets him blues so to speak.

    Prunesqualloron December 17, 2007   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    According to John French, Van Vliet wrote the lyrics about him (Drumbo) as a way of poking fun. Some of the recording/transcribing sessions for the songs were brutal and took a physical and psychological toll on Drumbo - and Beefheart would tease him for it. I'm sure he'll mention it in his upcoming book. Also, John is a Christian, and Van Vliet was apparently very condescending about his religion (preferring Eastern religion himself) so a lot of religious imagery in the lyrics may be jabs - perhaps good natured jabs in Beefheart's own mind - towards Drumbo. Who knows.

    Anyway, with that in mind, some of the lyrics do make a lot of sense: "i knew you were under duress", "jaw hanging slack", "fear in your windows (eyes)", etc. If Drumbo was physically and emotionally spent after some of these harrowing marathon sessions, he could have had his religion to fall back on and give him strength - which Van Vliet would of course know about (I don't think there were too many secrets in that house) and goad him for.

    This is all speculation of course - from one man's own account (well, two men if you count Harkelroad's own book and interviews) of the TMR sessions. Still, I see no reason why he would make anything up. He is still very respectful and really complimentary about Don's genius and clearly wishes that they could have remained friends.

    Hawkeye2008on March 13, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    i read someone else's idea on a website a while ago - they thought that this song is about jesus, sung from judas' perspective. my human gets me blues = God being sad about being a human as Jesus, etc etc. what do you think?

    NyanNyanPanicon January 18, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    In this lifetime you've got my human gets me blues: this is all about your soul being incarnated as a human but wanting to get back to the infinite.

    God dug your dance: compare Krishna and the milkmaids.

    futatoriuson July 08, 2007   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
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
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Album art
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Album art
Magical
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Album art
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.