When the earth was still flat, and the clouds made of fire
And mountains stretched up to the sky, sometimes higher
Folks roamed the earth like big rolling kegs
They had two sets of arms, two sets of legs
They had two faces peering out of one giant head
And they could watch all around them
And they talked while they read
And they never knew nothing of love
It was before the origin of love
Origin of love
And there were three sexes then
One that looked like two men glued back to back
Called the children of the sun
And similar in shape and girth were the children of the earth
They looked like two girls rolled up in one
And the children of the moon were like a fork shoved on a spoon
They were part sun, part earth, part daughter, part son
Origin of love
Now the gods grew quite scared of our strength and defiance
And Thor said:
"I'm gonna kill them all with my hammer
Like I killed the giants."
And Zeus said:
"No, you better let me use my lightning, like scissors
Like I cut the legs off whales
And dinosaurs into lizards."
Then he grabbed up some bolts
And he let out a laugh, said:
"I'll split them right down to the middle
Gonna rip them right in half."
And then storm clouds gathered above
Into great balls of fire
And the fire shot down
From the sky in bolts
Like shining blades of a knife
And it ripped right through the flesh
Of the children of the sun
And the moon, and the earth
And some Indian god
Sewed the wound up into a hole
Pulled it 'round to our belly
To remind us of the price we pay
And Osiris and the gods of the Nile
Gathered up a big storm
To blow a hurricane
To scatter us away
In a flood of wind and rain
And a sea of tidal waves
To wash us all away
And if we don't behave
They'll cut us down again
And well be hopping round on one foot
Looking through one eye
Last time I saw you
We had just split in two
You were looking at me, and I was looking at you
You had a way so familiar
But I could not recognize
'Cause you had blood on your face
And I had blood in my eyes
But I could swear by your expression
That the pain down in your soul
Was the same as the pain down in mine
That's the pain
Cuts a straight line down through the heart
We call it love
So we wrapped our arms around each other
Trying to shove ourselves back together
We were making love
It was a cold dark evening such a long time ago
When by the mighty hand of Jove
It was the sad story
How we became lonely two-legged creatures
It's the story of
The origin of love
That's the origin of love, origin of love, origin of love


Lyrics submitted by softasfire

The Origin of Love Lyrics as written by Stephen Trask

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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The Origin of Love song meanings
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8 Comments

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  • +1
    My Opinion

    Wow.

    What an amazing song. I mean the story is so great. Really beautiful.

    kokobabyon April 06, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I already commented on this song under some other artist, but I just wanted to say this is probably one of the best covers ever done. =P

    delialon May 21, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    who sang the original?

    subjectchangeron January 10, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    The original was from Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and in the movie I believe it was John Cameron Mitchell who sang it.

    This song makes me cry everytime I hear it, especially when he Rufus says:

    "But I could swear by your expression That the pain down in your soul Was the same as the one down in mine. That's the pain, Cuts a straight line Down through the heart; We called it love."

    If that's not the perfect description of love, I'll rip out my own heart and eat it.

    plummynightson February 12, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This follows along with the 'Myth of Er'-- that people were once joined to one another (some homosexual, some hetrosexual) and that Zeus got angry and split them all apart and we spend our entire lives looking for each other.

    It's so beautiful...

    _sparrow_on February 14, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    god, i don't even know why this makes me cry!

    i've never seen this theory before...that we were all joined together...

    i love it. I've always been a fan of Greek Mythology, but...agh.

    Rosemageon June 12, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This is by far my favorite cover that Rufus has done and he's done some amazing covers. This song just gives me chills.

    spastic_kittyon January 31, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This song is absolutely beautiful. Rufus's voice is amazing and I think his talent really shines in this song. Especially the verses "The last time I saw you..." you can hear the pain and longing in his voice and it makes me cry. It's so deep and moving. And I know he didn't write the song himself, nor did he sing it originally, but I think this was a wonderful song for him to cover. The song itself is beautiful, and I love the meanings and ideas and symbolism behind it. It's actually based off of Plato's "Symposium" I believe. Regardless, this is by far the best cover he has ever done and it so beautiful. He is a truly gifted man! :]

    StarkRavenMadon November 06, 2008   Link

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