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The Beast in Me Lyrics
The beast in me is caged by frail and fragile bars
Restless by day, and by night rants and rages at the stars
God help the beast in me
The beast in me has had to learn to live with pain
And how to shelter from the rain
And in the twinkling of an eye, might have to be restrained
God help the beast in me
Sometimes it tries to kid me that it's just a teddy bear
And even somehow manage to vanish in the air
And that's when I must beware of the beast in me
That everybody knows
They've seen him out dressed in my clothes
Patently unclear if it's New York or New Year
God help the beast in me
Restless by day, and by night rants and rages at the stars
God help the beast in me
And how to shelter from the rain
And in the twinkling of an eye, might have to be restrained
God help the beast in me
And even somehow manage to vanish in the air
That everybody knows
They've seen him out dressed in my clothes
Patently unclear if it's New York or New Year
God help the beast in me
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Clearly a song about addiction. His addict is of course the Beast, caged in frail and fragile bonds. Addicts are two people - the sane and the insane inhabiting the same body. The addict -- the insane, the Beast -- is the more cunning and clever of the two, pretending to be a Teddy Bear or to have disappeared entirely, but in the twinkling of any eye he is loose, acting out again and in need of restraint. The the Beast is our injured self who has had to learn to live with pain and to shelter from the rain. He is clearly deserving and in need of God's help.
As Lowe tells the story, he had one verse of this done and sang it for his then-father-in-law, Johnny Cash. Cash nodded and didn't say much, but then every time the two saw each other he would ask, "Nick, how's 'The Beast in Me' coming?"
Lowe eventually understood what Cash was saying to him: "That's a great song, dummy. Finish it!"