Seether is neither loose nor tight
Seether is neither black nor white
I try to keep her on a short leash
I try to calm her down
I try to ram her into the ground, yeah

Can't fight the seether
Can't fight the seether
Can't fight the seether
I can't see her till I'm foaming at the mouth

Seether is neither big nor small
Seether is the center of it all
I try to rock her in my cradle
I try to knock her out
I try to cram her back in my mouth, yeah

Can't fight the seether (seether)
Can't fight the seether (seether)
Can't fight the seether
I can't see her till I'm foaming at the mouth

Keep her down, boiling water
Keep her down, what a lovely daughter
Oh she is not born like other girls
But I know how to conceive her
Oh she may not look like other girls
But she's a snarl tooth seether, seether

Can't fight the seether
Can't fight the seether
Can't fight the seether
I can't see her till I'm foaming at the mouth

Can't fight the seether (seether)
Can't fight the seether (seether)
Can't fight the seether
I can't see her till I'm foaming at the mouth

Yeah


Lyrics submitted by spliphstar

Seether Lyrics as written by Nina Gordon

Lyrics © Hipgnosis Songs Group

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Seether song meanings
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52 Comments

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  • +18
    Song Meaning

    You guys are so funny.... In a radio interview in Australia, 1994 on Triple J, Louise explained the song was about her vile and uncontrollable temper. She would scream the most vicious abuse at her family and friends when she had one of these massive tantrums, saying things she would feel terrible about later. She, her family and her closest friends saw her as a completely different person when she was in this state, so she tended to think of her temper in the third person, someone she called The Seether. Louise explained that she could feel this temper coming on, but there was nothing she could do nothing about it, gentle or harsh: 'Keep her on a short leash', 'rock her in my cradle', 'knock her out', 'cram her back in my mouth'. The Seether of course 'is not born like other girls' because she comes from within and Loiuse 'knows how to conceive her' because The Seether is part of her. As an extension, The Seether could also live in other girls of all ages, sizes and races, something she could identify with and talk about, because if a guy sang about the same thing he would be considered sexist. During the interview both girls were laughing about all the whacky meanings people had attributed to the song. Read the lyrics though with this in mind and they all make sense.

    walternateon February 05, 2013   Link
  • +5
    General Comment

    I think it comes from when you're seething with anger and lose control. You're so angry that you can't control your own actions, the person who's in control is "the seether". There's a girl who lives inside us all called the seether and she comes out when we're mad, even if we try to stop her.

    I like the line from "Volcano Girls" - "the seether's Louise" - because my name's Louise and I get that way sometimes.

    Lougolason May 17, 2004   Link
  • +4
    General Comment

    It may not have been intentional on their part, but there's also another very interesting connection with this song. The word 'seether' is derived from and related to the Old Norse word 'seiðr' (pronounced 'SAY-ther'), which is basically the shamanic mystical tradition of Northern Germanic heathenry and was traditionally practiced by women. A seiðu is a practitioner of seiðr, and that word is also related via their common Indo-European origins to 'saddhu', the Sanskrit word designating a 'holy man' in India. So the way 'seether' is described in this song is very closely descriptive of the energy-states experienced by someone practicing seiðr. 'Boiling water' and 'seething' are also ideas used by the South African !Kung tribe ('bushmen') to describe their trance-energy state achieved by ecstatic dancing. It can't be fought, it boils up within you, is both calm/healing but also powerful and dangerous (analogous to kundalini or "serpent fire"). Try to push it down but you can't - also this is the root of language itself, speaking being a manifestation of that very same energy opening up the throat chakra. And in the song video, many of the images - especially all the cats! - are also very symbolic and indicative of this. It's that ultra-wild, seething, raging, feline, serpent, Kali energy. Absolutely brilliant song imo.

    smallpebbleon September 09, 2011   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    angry song

    candice061093on July 18, 2008   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    this is the first veruca salt song i ever heard. immediately afterward i died, literally. when they brought me back to life, this was my favorite song.

    sation April 15, 2002   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Well, that's a lie by either Walternate, or Louise, because Louise didn't write the song, Nina did. And Nina said in a recent interview with Spin that she wrote it after her friend got pregnant and failed at trying to give her self an abortion, and couldn't afford to have it done professionally. So, there you go.

    Filepon August 28, 2014   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Right... Well, I don't really get this song. Anyone want to help explain?

    Master_Bateson June 19, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    the seethers louise.....

    swindler123on July 18, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Veruca Salt rocks, and this song is awesome. Wish it made sense to me though. lol

    -=TiedToTheTracks=-on July 23, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    no its not.....

    WhoTookTheBompon August 21, 2002   Link

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