Baboon
Lyrics
The sun came up above the strange white plain
Blood red flowers all wet with rain
And the spirit wasn't really willing anymore, but the flesh was very, very strong
And I've got very little money left and I've got no sense
But I'll have none of your goddamned impudence
The sun came up above the new white fields
Everything was new again
Pure power stripped of meaning
Sky burning, spring cleaning
Daisies on the hillside like cancer on the skin
Pretty little yellow eyes that flutter in the wind
I'd be grateful my children aren't here here to see this
If you'd ever seen fit to give me children
And my defenses may be working with a skeleton crew
But I'll be skinned alive before I'll take this from you
The sun came up above the ocean out west
All the colors of the rainbow
Stand up straight, you can see the house leaning
Day breaking, spring cleaning
Banter
- It’s about a couple of people and they live in the same house. They might be married, it’s hard to say. You couldn’t tell it by the way they treat each other. (2001-08-03)
- I feel bad about these people but nonetheless I continue to torture them. (2002-03-01)
- It's one of those songs where you write it, and then you say to your wife, "Honey, I've got this song! It's called Baboon! Wait 'til you hear it!" and then she says, "Oh really? What's it about?" and you say, "Oh! It's about these two people! They once loved each other, but now it's really bad, it's- they're so evil to each other-" "Oh? Well, let's hear it!" And you sing the song, and she's- "Oh! Well, that's a nice song, I guess." "No really, but-" "Well yes, let's hear no more of that song. Let's put on one of these lovely records we have so many of." "Oh, okay! Let's listen to the record!" But this is the song in question. (2002-11-01)
- So. Let's imagine a situation. In which, you're in a house. You live there. So does somebody you love. It's...you have to share the house. But, you can't just partition the house, you can't build a brick wall in the middle of it. That's stupid, and you don't know how to build brick walls, its hard to do. So there you are, with no bricks. And a house. And someone who once loved you fiercely. And now feels quite differently. And that's exactly how you feel too. Nobody wants to admit anything. Something's gonna break down somewhere along the line. That is what this goddamn song is about. (2002-11-08)
- This is a song... I say... that I want you to have in your heart when the day comes, that you see a person, whose lips, when they first met yours, fill you with a joy that you had not known before that day. When the day comes that those same lips, fill you, with the sense of revulsion you would save for an open grave. I want you to know that song. You may not want to sing it, you may not want to remember it, but I have sadistic tendencies, and I want you to remember me on that day, 'cause I'll be right down there with ya. (2004-05-26)
- This is a love song, but it's different from other types of love songs. In many love songs, not all, but in many, you hear a person expressing a feeling along the lines of 'Oh! I feel so warmly toward my intended that I want to express that feeling. I wanna let it out of myself, and share it with the world, and perhaps the world will in some way be enriched by sharing in my loving feeling.' And that's one kind. This is of another sort, where you say 'I have a feeling, and it was once such a loving feeling, and it's now so rotten, and smells so horrible. It's such a dreadful burden to carry that I want to inflict it on other people, that they might, just a small bit, of how angry I am, an anger which at one point focused toward a certain person, but which has, in its perversion, extended itself to all y'all.' (2005-11-04)
- There may come a morning when you say to yourself, 'I have some serious questions I need to ask myself,' and a friend may call, and you may say to them 'Look, I have some serious questions I need to ask myself,' and they may say 'What are you fucking talking about? I had some miniature golf in mind.' And you may say to them 'Wha- I- Well, but I have some serious—' and they say 'Yeah, I heard you. You're talking nonsense. Come, come to the miniature golf course, it'll be a good time,' and you may hang up the phone, on your friend. He'll forgive you! You have some things to think through. This song is about that morning. (2006-09-24)
Live Performances
Footnotes