This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Say, say, my playmate
Won't you lay hands on me
Mirror my malady
Transfer my tragedy?
Got a curse I cannot lift
Shines when the sunset shifts
When the moon is round and full
Gotta bust that box, gotta gut that fish (my mind's aflame)
We could jet in a stolen car
But I bet we wouldn't get too far
Before the transformation takes
And blood lust tanks and
Crave gets slaked
My mind has changed
My body's frame, but, God, I like it
My heart's aflame
My body's strained, but, God, I like it
My mind has changed
My body's frame, but, God, I like it
My heart's aflame
My body's strained, but, God, I like it
Charge me your day rate
I'll turn you out in kind
When the moon is round and full
Gonna teach you tricks
That will blow your mongrel mind
Baby doll, I recognize
You're a hideous thing inside
If ever there were a lucky kind
It's you, you, you, you
I know it's strange, another way to get to know you
You'll never know unless we go, so let me show you
I know it's strange, another way to get to know you
We've got 'til noon, here comes the moon
So let it show you
Show you now
Dream me, oh, dreamer
Down to the floor
Open my hands and let them weave onto yours
Feel me, completer
Down to my core
Open my heart and let it bleed onto yours
Feeding on fever
Down on all-fours
Show you what all the howling is for
Hey, hey, my playmate
Let me lay waste to thee
Burned down their hanging trees
It's hot, hot, hot, hot here
Got a curse we cannot lift
Shines when the sunset shifts
There's a curse comes with a kiss
The bite that binds, the gift that gives
Now that we got gone for good
Writhing under your riding hood
Tell your grandma and your mama too
It's true, true, true, true
We're howling forever, oh, oh
We're howling forever, oh, oh
We're howling forever, oh, oh
We're howling forever, oh, oh
We're howling forever, oh, oh
Won't you lay hands on me
Mirror my malady
Transfer my tragedy?
Got a curse I cannot lift
Shines when the sunset shifts
When the moon is round and full
Gotta bust that box, gotta gut that fish (my mind's aflame)
We could jet in a stolen car
But I bet we wouldn't get too far
Before the transformation takes
And blood lust tanks and
Crave gets slaked
My mind has changed
My body's frame, but, God, I like it
My heart's aflame
My body's strained, but, God, I like it
My mind has changed
My body's frame, but, God, I like it
My heart's aflame
My body's strained, but, God, I like it
Charge me your day rate
I'll turn you out in kind
When the moon is round and full
Gonna teach you tricks
That will blow your mongrel mind
Baby doll, I recognize
You're a hideous thing inside
If ever there were a lucky kind
It's you, you, you, you
I know it's strange, another way to get to know you
You'll never know unless we go, so let me show you
I know it's strange, another way to get to know you
We've got 'til noon, here comes the moon
So let it show you
Show you now
Dream me, oh, dreamer
Down to the floor
Open my hands and let them weave onto yours
Feel me, completer
Down to my core
Open my heart and let it bleed onto yours
Feeding on fever
Down on all-fours
Show you what all the howling is for
Hey, hey, my playmate
Let me lay waste to thee
Burned down their hanging trees
It's hot, hot, hot, hot here
Got a curse we cannot lift
Shines when the sunset shifts
There's a curse comes with a kiss
The bite that binds, the gift that gives
Now that we got gone for good
Writhing under your riding hood
Tell your grandma and your mama too
It's true, true, true, true
We're howling forever, oh, oh
We're howling forever, oh, oh
We're howling forever, oh, oh
We're howling forever, oh, oh
We're howling forever, oh, oh
Lyrics submitted by SphagnumEsplanade, edited by Uranium, Icarus42, shadowboxerxxx, rosieroys
Wolf Like Me Lyrics as written by Jaleel Bunton Babatunde Omoroga Adebimpe
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Hipgnosis Songs Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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More Featured Meanings
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
"just ate my baby" LOL WTF LOL.
I think a shady fellow (the werewolf!) is showing a virginal girl, a Little Red Riding Hood type, that there's plenty o' pleasure in being bad. He's trying to convince her that deep down she's a wolf, too, which I so get! We, people, pretend to be so civilized and wear suits and ties and glasses to make ourselves different from lions, who spend all their days rolling around with each other and killing their enemies in a way that to us is not dignified of a human, but sometimes our caveman selves escape us, like the fight or flight instinct coded into our DNA that does not succumb to our "modern" selves. No matter how sweet Little Red Riding Hood appears, she's transparent to the Wolf, who sees she's "a hideous thing inside." I think that when the song reaches "dream me, oh dreamer" and it gets all slow and dazed, that's when they're both giving in to their animal selves, and probably having hot wolf sex. I mean, "open my hands and let them weave onto yours"? They're holding hands. He's awakening her with her own animal truth, she's becoming poisoned by the werewolf's bite, and they both are slaves to the full moon and nature. "Show you what all that howlin' is for" = lolz, she's howling... get it!? And, also, I think "the bite that binds the gift that gives" is pretty cool-sounding grammar-wise. THE bite THAT binds THE gift THAT gives.
Gah, what a great song.
@earthstar_puffball I love this! If you were a big boy, I'd wanna hit it.