Let me kiss you on the mouth
All my childhood toys with chew marks in your smile
Let me hold your syrup close to mine
Let me watch you, Hollywood and Vine
And I want you like the movies, touch me now
I love you madly, just keep watch
You wipe my lips
You turn me on
My attentions are turned to you
In the Arizona sun?
I can see you there with lunar moths
And watermelon gum
I woke up in the sleeping bag
With nowhere else to run
You're standing in the bathroom
Telling me it's all in fun
I love you madly, just keep watch
You wipe my lips
You turn me on
My attentions are turned to you
I can write a calendar year
I can wing around your Saturn smile, shout at the moon
I walked the tension wire line
And I learned to disrespect the signs
And I want you like a Pisces rising, even though
I love you madly, just keep watch
You wipe my lips
You turn me on
My attentions are turned to you, you, you, you
This song continues to grow on me even now, 20 years later. Dark ugly mean lusty seedy semen. This is the ugly side of sexuality.
This song is about Stipe's relationship with River Phoenix apparently. "Did I dream you were a tourist, in the Arizona sun?" is a typically oblique reference from Stipe. The album (Monster) is dedicated to him as well.
Monster is one of their best albums, and the best they did in the 90s (along with Automatic For The People)
I both agree and disagree with charlieray's and Marquez's interpretations of this song, above:
Yes, Monster is filled with songs that can be described as "mean and creepy", but I DON'T necessarily think "You" is one of them. It could be about River Phoenix; guess we'll never know, but in any case Stipe confirmed he wrote it to a man. (No big surprise there)
To me, this song is like a lust-drenched dream from which the singer wakes up yearning for the person he was dreaming of - someone who seems to be unavailable to him in real life for whatever reason.
Maybe the object of the singer's love/lust has died or changed dramatically somehow. Or maybe it's an unrequieted love situation or a relationship that's already broken up. Regardless, the singer stills wants this person desperately and is feeding his fantasies with past memories.
what album is this on?
It's on the "Monster" album, which came out in 1994
this song is so hot.
i think i am one of very few people who love this album.
I don't see how anyone could not like this album even in the least bit. Automatic, Monster, and Hi-Fi are their best works.
no, murmur, Reckoning, document, automatic, & Hi-Fi are the best they've ever done. but regardless this album is still quite solid, just requires a few more spins than most of their albums to grasp its depth.
i think its a song about lust, only one thats drenched in dirty guitar. maybe thats symbolic - that sort of relationship. one of monsters high points in my opinion. i love the line 'i learned to disrespect the signs' - makes me think that he no longer trusts his instinct