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Shadow Of A Doubt Lyrics

Met a stranger on a train
He bumped right into me
I swear I didn't mean it
I swear I wasn't meant to be here
Must've been a dream
From a thousand years ago
I swear I didn't mean it
I swear I wasn't meant to be here
From the bottom of my heart
He was looking all over me

"You take me and I'll be you"
"You kill him and I'll kill her"
Kiss me
I swear I wasn't meant to be here
I swear I didn't mean it
Kiss me
Kiss me in the shadow of
Kiss me in the shadow of a doubt
Kiss me
Kiss me in the shadow
Kiss me in the shadow of a doubt
It's just a dream
It's just a dream I had
Swear it's just a dream
Just a dream
Dream I've had
No
No
No
No
Made me do it
Made me
Just a dream
It's a dream
It's just a
Just a
No

Met a stranger on a train
Bumped right into me
Swear I didn't mean it
Swear it wasn't meant to be
Must've been a dream
From a thousand years ago
Kiss me
Kiss me in the shadow of a doubt
Kiss me
16 Meanings

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Cover art for Shadow Of A Doubt lyrics by Sonic Youth

The Hitchcock movie is based on the book Strangers on a train by Patricia Highsmith, where two strangers meet on a train, one talking about his cheating wife and the other talking about his dad. one of the men says he'll kill the others wife if he kills his dad, and they go through with it.

anyways, does it sound to anyone else like instead of "take me to it, take me to her, maybe, maybe its just a dream" its "didn't do it, didn't do it, made me, made me, its just a dream"? this part isnt in the booklet in the cd

I definitely hear, "Didn't do it, didn't do it." Honestly, this makes more sense to me with the rest of the lyrics and the book reference. Perhaps she wants to pretend it's all dream, and that it didn't actually happen. Perhaps it's regret.

Cover art for Shadow Of A Doubt lyrics by Sonic Youth

i just saw strangers on a train tonight and my sister and i came to the realization!!! throughout the whole movie she was telling us what happened....

a man meets a stranger on a train, bumps into him, the stranger tells him of a dream, where he kills someone for somebody and in turn the other guy kills his dad. then he kills the guys wife.

it's really intense. like this song.

Cover art for Shadow Of A Doubt lyrics by Sonic Youth

yeah, i'm definitely going with the hitchcock film reference here. the lines 'met a stranger on a train' and 'you kill him and i'll kill her' definitely elude to it. but without prior knowledge of the film, the other ideas (infidelity, etc) are very plausible.

this is my favourite song of all time. i am not sure why, either. it is just so intense and beautiful, distant and intimate at the same time. it is unlike anything i've heard before, and i never ever get sick of it. kim's voice is amazing. her whisper holds so much emotion and power, just the right amount for this kind of song. and the instrumention is so minimal, but i adore it, there's atmosphere, intensity, urgency and desperation.

Cover art for Shadow Of A Doubt lyrics by Sonic Youth

hmm i think its about how kim met a guy (no the train, obviously) and a one night stand that she regrets looking back on it.

ryan adams lists this song in his top 10 saddest songs of all time, thats how i found out about this song. it has a very sad feel to it but its not as sad as some songs i know.

Cover art for Shadow Of A Doubt lyrics by Sonic Youth

i always thought that this song was about getting married, about living your life with another person ("You take me and i'll take you") but first "leaving" your other life, or your life before the wedding ("you kill him and i'll kill her") The "Kiss me in the shadow of a doubt" refers to the uncertainty of everything and the love and strenght you get from your man/wife

Cover art for Shadow Of A Doubt lyrics by Sonic Youth

wow. not bad sean, i think you might be right

Cover art for Shadow Of A Doubt lyrics by Sonic Youth

This is like the most depressing song ever. But great.

Cover art for Shadow Of A Doubt lyrics by Sonic Youth

I'd agree that there's an element of infidelity of here, but I sense more ambivilence. It seems like a dream now, a thousand years ago, she says, seemingly distancing herself from it, as if speaking to her love (Thurston?), but at the same time she sounds perhaps more erotic here than on almost any other Sonic Youth recording. "Kiss me," he whisper playfully, repeatedly, while shouts of "No," also echo in the background. In some sense, it's the basic plot of Eyes Wide Shut reified.

Cover art for Shadow Of A Doubt lyrics by Sonic Youth

the song refers to hitchcock's movies shadow of a doubt and strangers on a train.

Cover art for Shadow Of A Doubt lyrics by Sonic Youth

Your interpretations make more sense than mine, considering the specific phrases connected to a movie. Yet I always thought of this song as kim bumping into a man on a train, falling in love, and without words she communicated "You'll kill him and I'll kill her" (as in each others spouses), then loosing eye contact and realizing it was all just her imagination. Regardless of interpretation, this is a very good song.

 
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