Wromises are sweet,
We hold out our pans, lift our hands to catch them.
We eat them up, drink them up, up, up, up
Heyyyyyy, let me in.
Mister fisherman, to a less peculiar ground.
He gathered up his loved ones and he brought them all around
To say goodbye, nice try.
Heyyyyyy, let me in. Let me in.
I’ve got tar on my feet and I can’t see.
All the birds look down and laugh at me.
Clumsy, crawling out of my skin.
Heyyyyyy, let me in.
Heyyyyyy, let me in. yeah yeah yeah
Heyyyyyy, let me in.
This song has been my favorite REM song for such a long time, and I really LOVE REM and I LOVE this album, but after I heard that it was about Kurt Cobain's suicide it had so much more meaning. It really has some of the most haunting lyrics ever...the best of which are (and I am going to change the punctuation to how I think it really should be): I've got tar on my feet, and I can't see all the birds look down and laugh at me, clumsy crawling out of my skin. With the punctuation that way, as opposed to how it's listed here, it's like he's stuck and he can't look up to see that everyone is making fun of him but he knows he is a fool, and even the birds are better than him and he wishes he could just get away from himself. Such a sad thought...Michael Stipe is a sensitive person, he was a friend of Kurt's, he must have really known his pain as much as a third party can, and he really felt a loss when he was gone.
Beyond that, the distortion is beautiful...seriously, just beautiful....
~I've got tar on my heels...~ Being stuck in a slow death a la the dinosaurs who got stuck in tar pits
~And I can't see all the birds look down and laugh at me~ Being buried, in a coffin, ostracized from the world above you.
Both are about being stuck in death - unable to get to the heavens above (Let me in)
Yes, the song is about Kurt Cobain. I interpreted the first stanza of this song with him in mind, and his struggles with accepting fame.
"Yeah, all the stars drip down like butter, Promises are sweet, We hold out our pans, lift our hands to catch them. We eat them up, drink them up, up, up, up"
I think Stipe is making a comment on the nature of fame and celebrity here. All the "stars" are celebrities that we put on pedestals, like Cobain often sang about himself ("Rape Me," "Smells like Teen Spirit" in the line "here we are now, entertain us"). The "we" here are us, the general public who take and consume what the "stars" have to give, their talent. "we eat them up, drink them up, up, up, up" It's a lopsided, one-way relationship. They could be said to be "dripping" because of this.
this song is awesome, actually it is kinda wierd but it touches ya, ya know
this is about kurt cobain. he died whilst the band were recording 'monster' and they even previewed some of their new songs to him, as he and Stipe were good friends. it's basically about how guilty he feels and that he doesn't feel he ever knew him so well. when you know what it's about, it's kinda beautiful, in a static-fuelled way. anyways, that's what i think...
i'm not sure if this song is about Kurt Cobain, but i know there's a definite association between it and him. on the Monster Tour, everyone switched instruments for this song, and Michael Stipe played a guitar that Kurt was once Kurt's.
Monster was inspired partly by the deaths of River Phoenix and Kurt Cobain, both good friends of the band. That's supposed to be the reason the album is so dark and uses so much distortion, especially like in this song.
yea it is about cobain, stipe said that alot
Yeah it's about Kurt Cobain.... So. Don't ge me wrong, I love Nirvana as much as the next person, but it doesn't matter who it's about. The fact is this is an amazing song, the lyrics bring so many images to mind.... "Stars drip down like butter". BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!! "I've got tar on my feet and I can't see" Totally random but SOOOO moving! If I died and someone wrote a song about me I'd be so touched (not that I'd be around to appreciate it...) I'll shut up now.
hey all, gret song, check this interview out that was in 1994 with Stipe... http://www.nirvanaclub.com/articles/09.26.94.html