In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Hey
Been trying to meet you
Hey
Must be a devil between us
Or whores in my head
Whores at the door
Whore in my bed
But hey
Where have you been?
If you go, I will surely die
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
"Uh" said the man to the lady
"Uh" said the lady to the man she adored
And the whores like a choir
Go "uh" all night
And Mary ain't you tired of this?
Uh
Is
The
Sound
That the mother makes when the baby breaks
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
Been trying to meet you
Hey
Must be a devil between us
Or whores in my head
Whores at the door
Whore in my bed
But hey
Where have you been?
If you go, I will surely die
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
"Uh" said the man to the lady
"Uh" said the lady to the man she adored
And the whores like a choir
Go "uh" all night
And Mary ain't you tired of this?
Uh
Is
The
Sound
That the mother makes when the baby breaks
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
We're chained
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first off, I only read the first page as a result of my attention span. so sorry if this has already been said. but, THAT said...
the emphasis of Black Francis on the "we're chained" and the sore/anguished sear of the guitar lead me to believe the aim is more at a deeper pain than just sex.
one aspect of it is that people, in a way that's more instinct and nature than simply choice, are pulled towards sex. there's the obvious tone of tiredness of the process-- whores and routine "uh"s and the continual stream of "heys" as the narrator goes for another. but of course, tug against it as much as we may, we're chained.
then it takes sex, that natural tendency of man, and goes on to say that it fuels on the next step of man, which both are met by a grunt of either pleasure or pain or boredom. the next time "we're chained" is sung, it still means the same as the first one, with us being chained by our natural instincts, but it adds the chain of our connection/obligation to the rest of mankind and the chain (from the child's perspective) of being born out of and into the "uh" all over again.
so I'd go as far as summing the point as- Man is forever bound to his instincts and to the people around him, so too bad, go ahead and keep to it.