"Where Did You Sleep Last Night" as written by Huddie Ledbetter....
My girl, my girl, don't lie to me
Tell me where did you sleep last night
In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun don't ever shine
I would shiver the whole night through
My girl, my girl, where will you go
I'm going where the cold wind blows
In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun don't ever shine
I would shiver the whole night through
Her husband, was a hard working man
Just about a mile from here
His head was found in a driving wheel
But his body never was found
My girl, my girl, don't lie to me
Tell me where did you sleep last night
In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun don't ever shine
I would shiver the whole night through
My girl, my girl, where will you go
I'm going where the cold wind blows
In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun don't ever shine
I would shiver the whole night through
My girl, my girl, don't lie to me
Tell me where did you sleep last night
In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun don't ever shine
I would shiver the whole night through
My girl, my girl, where will you go
I'm going where the cold wind blows
In the pines, in the pines
The sun, shine
I would shiver the whole night through
Tell me where did you sleep last night
In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun don't ever shine
I would shiver the whole night through
My girl, my girl, where will you go
I'm going where the cold wind blows
In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun don't ever shine
I would shiver the whole night through
Her husband, was a hard working man
Just about a mile from here
His head was found in a driving wheel
But his body never was found
My girl, my girl, don't lie to me
Tell me where did you sleep last night
In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun don't ever shine
I would shiver the whole night through
My girl, my girl, where will you go
I'm going where the cold wind blows
In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun don't ever shine
I would shiver the whole night through
My girl, my girl, don't lie to me
Tell me where did you sleep last night
In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun don't ever shine
I would shiver the whole night through
My girl, my girl, where will you go
I'm going where the cold wind blows
In the pines, in the pines
The sun, shine
I would shiver the whole night through
Lyrics submitted by bonj, edited by Mellow_Harsher
"Where Did You Sleep Last Night?" as written by Huddie Ledbetter
Lyrics © T.R.O. INC.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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!
I don't know if Kurt intended any personal meaning to the song. Maybe it was a blast at Courtney. Maybe it entails all of his depression and suicidal thoughts, to say as the first line of his goodbye note, the "experienced simpleton who obviously would rather be an emasculated, infantile complain-ee." But maybe, and this is what I think most, and for his sake I hope it's true, maybe for his final performance for the world (whether he committed suicide, or just intended to walk away and was murdered for it, I think he knew this was his farewell) he just wanted to play a song he loved the best from a musician who was his "favorite performer." He said himself afterward that he could never top it. I think from the perspective of a musician that's the power of the song and the performance. I have no musical ability, but an intense love for it. The look, the moment when his eyes open was overwhelming when I saw it first, also the first I'd heard the song. I think I'd most have to call that look freedom and love. Love of music, and freedom, the feeling, the total deep down inner emotion more powerful than any other that he and so many others find in music. His goodbye note talks of how it wasn't the crowd he loved. There is no doubt though that he loved music as much as any man ever has. You don't get to be that good, you don't have that emotion in your songs without an absolute love of it. He lost that love at the end, but I'm all but certain that instant his eyes open he's feeling again the freedom in music that had been absent as his life spiraled out of control. I think having lost that feeling is what caused the spiral. I don't know. I can't know. To know the mind of that great a man must require an equal mind, and I'm not sure such a thing has ever existed.
No, the why and the what of this song don't carry any meaning at all, at least not any that can compare to the meaning of a man capable of such amazing performance and such raw emotion. That's what makes us all shiver.
Well said Spartacus51. Thank you for your comment. It truly describes how I feel about Kurt and his music. I just never really could come up with the words to sum it all up.
The 1st verse is him accusing her of the cheating "last night" when she didn't come home.
The 2nd verse is him leaving her, which is lonely, cold and dark. Like being alone in a forest is how he feels. Maybe it's a "pine" forest because he'll be pining (adj. for yearning, suffering)?
And the 3rd verse that's only said once is the guy's obituary from third person. A "hard working man," we are sympathetic with him when he's cheated on, and he apparently drives off and kills himself in a wreck. This is probably a sarcastic remark you might make after breaking up with someone, like "bye, screw you, I'm gonna go drive off a bridge!".
To me, this song has a different meaning than the original folk version, having different lyrics. Probably why Kurt chose it as it must have spoken to him more.
I believe that Kurt Cobain was one of the most fascinating and talented storytellers of his time, especially for the many of us who've had less-than-perfect childhoods and struggle to find that sense of self-worth that a divorce will steal from you as a child. He didn't tell stories to your mind, he told stories to your heart. I believe that he was consumed by emotions that not many people understand and I think that was part of his frustration. I think that he sang intensely personal songs that people interpreted as songs about sex and drugs and all kinds of crap. I think that he was a very simple, almost child-like, man who just wanted to be surrounded by all things beautiful and gentle.
To this day, over ten years after his death, I still get misty-eyed thinking about what he was...and what he could have been.
i got chills the very first time i heard it! If you've ever seen or heard Nirvana Unplugged you'll know what I'm talkin' about. It's amazing how Kurt's voice has that much impact.I don't know what the song means. It's hard when you blowing away by his tremdous voice! R.I.P Kurt Donald Cobain KDC forever!