Like Cockatoos

it's a vicious song. anyone who has heard a cockatoo knows what a hideous screeching noise they make. and a flock of them is agonisingly loud. for a night to sing out like cockatoos would be horrible.

Yeah it seems pretty 'to the point' with the lyrics. its funny though cause only Australians or anybody living in Australia would know what a flock of cockatoos sounds like, its pretty distinct. I sought of understand what he means with the cockatoos though, that feeling you get when you've f***ed up real bad, and you feel like many voices from within you are screaming at you, telling you that you shouldn't have done it. Thats pretty similar to a flock of cockatoos.

"And kissed his feet she fell Her head an inch away from heaven And her face pressed tight ." She is on her knees, face at his crotch. She has met with her lover and performs fallatio on him. (Wanting to keep this fairly PG-13, so I won't say anything more 'vulgar' even if it is appropos) Then he basically breaks up with her and leaves. And she is only left with her memories of him with the night shrieking horribly in her ears. The first mention of the night singing out like cockatoos is probably foreshadowing (and it balances out the lyrics, with one in the middle, one at thend, too, so if it wasn't deliberate foreshadowing it worked either way). This is how I always heard the song interpreted. The girl's in love with him, she greets him hungrily, then he dumps her. It is a horribly beautiful concept. Such cruelty and beauty. I love this song, but I tend to weep after hearing it (however, there are many songs by The Cure I wind up weeping to).

Ahhh the power of human relationships and the devastating effect some of those that fail can have on us...

I think the boy is abusive to the girl, but she still loves him and is sad when he leaves. dark, sad, beautiful song.

First of all, I just signed up, to tell you my interpretation of this song. It's strange seeing all those comments from years ago.

So I think it's about a secret and abusive love.

"she walked out of her house / And looked around / At all the gardens that looked / Back at her house "

• She is leaving the house and is afraid of being spotted leaving it so late. You'll see why I think she is leaving the house by afternoon or at night

"(Like all the faces That quiz when you smile)"

• Probably she is not a very happy kind of girl, so people get curious if they see her smile.

• Another thought I had is, that she might was beaten and she came up with a silly story, that she laugh it all off in the end. That's usually what a person do, if someone asks, what happens... "I walked into a door, silly me... hahaha", and the others wonders.

"And he was standing At the corner Where the road turned dark"

• He was already expecting her. Somewhere, where he can't be seen (At the corner / where the road turned dark). Another indication, that their relationship was a secret, maybe forbidden. Maybe he is married or in another relationship?

"A part of shiny wet Like blood the rain fell Black down on the street"

• A foreseeing event? "Like blood the rain fell" --> blood is a sign of violence and rain usually represents depression. If you look at word like "shiny" which indicates something precious, it could stand for her viewing of him. He means the world for her. "Blood", like I said the violence, "rain" for depression, "black down" could mean the end.

"And kissed his feet she fell"

• So he could mean two things in my opinion. Either

• he refers to the rain, that it's kissing his feet, since it drops down (rather unlikely) or

• He means she is kissing his feet. Since in some cultures it's a sign for worshipping someone special/holy. (rather likely). But it's not like, she is acually on the ground kissing his feet, I think it's just the metaphor to show the listener, how much value he has for her.

• "She fell" it's also a metaphor for a sloppy excuse if someone was beaten."What happened to you?", "Oh I fell". He probably beat her shortly after she arrived.

"Her head an inch away from heaven And her face pressed tight"

• She probably just fell an inch away from the corner of the curb, which could indicate her death, if she fell on it. (Her head an inch away from heaven)

• She received a brutal wound, that let her head feels heavy, like somone is pressing it tight. (And her face pressed tight).

""There are a thousand things" he said "I'll never say those things to you again" And turning on his heel"

• Very straigt forward. The thousand things he said are probably those, who made her losing her heart for him. He'll never say them again. And then he is leaving the scenery.

"He left a trace of bubbles Bleeding in his stead"

• The bubbles refer to her dreams, that now start to burst.

• Her blood runs over the curb, where he stands a second ago, from the wound she received by hitting the curb. (Bleeding in his stead)

"And in her head A picture of a boy who left her Lonely in the rain"

• Also pretty straight forward. She pictures this situation. She refers him as a boy, either he is still one, or he is behaving like one, or is immature too understand the true meaning of love. I also thought, that maybe she was pregnant and she feels like she is losing the child through the fall, but that's too far fetched.

"And all around the night sang out Like cockatoos"

• The singing of the "Cockatoos" represents the laughter and the rightous "I told you so" of all the those people, who didn't know what she was actually hiding. But she knew their answer, even though she never actually tell them about her secret relationship. She had hope, that he might change, that the situation will get better. But in the end, she lies there bleeding on the street, alone, hearing all the laughter of the voices (in her head), who told her to stop thinking with her heart and start thinking with her brain.

If my english sounds a bit off, then sry. I'm actuallly no native speaker. Seeing all those comments from years ago, give me the feeling, that mine will also be read in a few years for the first time. But I hope this interpretation will help you to get a sense for this song. I don't know, if I'm right... I only know, that I love this song, even though I never was in a situation like that. Well... mentally we were all in such a situation.

Good night.

i love this song. i dont think there is a lot to it though.. its clearly about some kind of parting in a relationship.. but for me its more about the mood...the imagery... its dream-likeness. i could be wrong. perhaps there are some references and allusions im not sure about....

The song is self-explanatory so I get the lack of comments on this song. It's really sad though, she doesn't want to let go but I think her happiness is "fake" because what I get out of: "Like all the faces That quiz when you smile... " is people don't either believe her happiness or the guys happiness in the relationship. Needless to say he doesn't feel the same way anymore, and well left her there.

She's remembering. He's dead, hence the blood and all the words he can't say anymore. The gardens looking back are about all the good folk adding sympathy