The lyrics are based on a dream I had a while ago. I was dreaming that a poisonous snake was living in my house. We had a weird "relationship" as the snake would preferably move on my naked skin (that is, under my clothes), moving fast and without restraint. It was a frightening sensation but at the same time it felt special. I felt special. The fear outweighed the positive emotions though, and I started phantasizing about life-threatening situations involving close company...
More and more, the scene blended into another situation: A relationship or an affair with dangerous layers underneath the surface. A "snake" is the perfect metaphor for an untrustworthy individual and I remembered a scene from "Natural Born Killers" when an Native American tells the story of a woman who finds a frozen snake in the winter woods and nurses it back to life, only to be bitten by the snake when summer comes. Dying, the woman asks the snake: "Why did you do this? – After all, I saved your life". But the snake replies "You knew that I was a snake, when you picked me up, bitch". I thought it was a nice fable. It's easy to be mistaken about the nature of things. Can this happen in relationships? I do think so, and I am pretty sure that many people have their own "Poisonous Friend". Torn between approach and withdrawal. Lyrically, the contrast between the good and the bad in the "Poisonous Friend" is expressed through a link between the words "care" and "scare". These terms are so similar in the English language that they almost provoked this play on words.
Back to the initial (fearful) situation: Somebody is in your house and has access to your most private environment. Like in old suspense movies, where there are secret doors through which traitors or seedy people enter your refuge. Penetrating...
"Poisonous Friend" has a strong sexual undertone. A snake on bare skin is something some of you might find stimulating or at least interesting. Like an anxious (sexual) expectation of what might happen with a partner you can't predict. Danger and lust. Almost biblical, I guess. If Eve had only listened...
The lyrics provide yet another twist: "And I wonder how it feels to annihilate a friend" can be interpreted in two different ways. Of course, the main character wonders what the snake might feel if she eventually killed him. But he also considers becoming a murderer himself. Maybe he should kill her. Or maybe he dreams of teaming up with her to become the "lethal couple" in a "Bonny and Clyde" fashion – even if it only was to save himself and direct the action towards the outer world.
As posted by Frank Spinath at seabound.de:
The lyrics are based on a dream I had a while ago. I was dreaming that a poisonous snake was living in my house. We had a weird "relationship" as the snake would preferably move on my naked skin (that is, under my clothes), moving fast and without restraint. It was a frightening sensation but at the same time it felt special. I felt special. The fear outweighed the positive emotions though, and I started phantasizing about life-threatening situations involving close company...
More and more, the scene blended into another situation: A relationship or an affair with dangerous layers underneath the surface. A "snake" is the perfect metaphor for an untrustworthy individual and I remembered a scene from "Natural Born Killers" when an Native American tells the story of a woman who finds a frozen snake in the winter woods and nurses it back to life, only to be bitten by the snake when summer comes. Dying, the woman asks the snake: "Why did you do this? – After all, I saved your life". But the snake replies "You knew that I was a snake, when you picked me up, bitch". I thought it was a nice fable. It's easy to be mistaken about the nature of things. Can this happen in relationships? I do think so, and I am pretty sure that many people have their own "Poisonous Friend". Torn between approach and withdrawal. Lyrically, the contrast between the good and the bad in the "Poisonous Friend" is expressed through a link between the words "care" and "scare". These terms are so similar in the English language that they almost provoked this play on words.
Back to the initial (fearful) situation: Somebody is in your house and has access to your most private environment. Like in old suspense movies, where there are secret doors through which traitors or seedy people enter your refuge. Penetrating...
"Poisonous Friend" has a strong sexual undertone. A snake on bare skin is something some of you might find stimulating or at least interesting. Like an anxious (sexual) expectation of what might happen with a partner you can't predict. Danger and lust. Almost biblical, I guess. If Eve had only listened...
The lyrics provide yet another twist: "And I wonder how it feels to annihilate a friend" can be interpreted in two different ways. Of course, the main character wonders what the snake might feel if she eventually killed him. But he also considers becoming a murderer himself. Maybe he should kill her. Or maybe he dreams of teaming up with her to become the "lethal couple" in a "Bonny and Clyde" fashion – even if it only was to save himself and direct the action towards the outer world.