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Lights out, punching your lights out, punching your, hello, they call me, I am on the prowl (he's on the prowl) hello, they call me, I am hailing a cab (he puts his hand to the air) what kind of verman are creeping on the streets tonight.
I'll save my life for something good, oh yeah, for something good, oh yeah, for something good, and when you're punching her skull on the bathroom floor, oh yeah, does it get you, oh yeah, does it get you off to know that sometimes we all blackout.
Lights out, poor thing that I am, all along (he's standing cold in the rain) hello, they call me, I am raging lightning (he puts his hand to the air) what kind of verman are swimming on the street tonight. It's 4 am and I am coming after you tonight.
She'll save her life for something good, oh yeah, for something good, oh yeah, for something good. and when he's punching her skull on the bathroom floor does it get him off, oh yeah, does it get him off, oh yeah does it get him off to know that sometimes we all blackout.
Suck it up, dry your tears, I'll lift you up, says the angel here, little girl, feel the rage, turn your head, walk down that hall and put yourself to bed.
I'll save my life for something good, oh yeah, for something good, oh yeah, for something good, and when you're punching her skull on the bathroom floor, oh yeah, does it get you, oh yeah, does it get you off to know that sometimes we all blackout.
Lights out, poor thing that I am, all along (he's standing cold in the rain) hello, they call me, I am raging lightning (he puts his hand to the air) what kind of verman are swimming on the street tonight. It's 4 am and I am coming after you tonight.
She'll save her life for something good, oh yeah, for something good, oh yeah, for something good. and when he's punching her skull on the bathroom floor does it get him off, oh yeah, does it get him off, oh yeah does it get him off to know that sometimes we all blackout.
Suck it up, dry your tears, I'll lift you up, says the angel here, little girl, feel the rage, turn your head, walk down that hall and put yourself to bed.
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The lyrics start out with "punching your lights out" and then directly to "hello they call me, I am on the prowl" At the end of the first chorus "does it get you off to know that sometimes we all blackout" and then directly to "Lights out, poor thing that i am, all alone" implying that he's done what he's done to that person, they've blacked out, and he's moving on to his next "victim" "it's 4 am and I am is coming after you tonight"
My take on the song is that it's about the supremacy and sovereignty of God. If He is the cause of ALL things, then by logic, He is the direct cause of all evil and suffering in the world. Just to make it known, I'm a Christian and I don't believe this (free will and sovereignty intertwine throughout scripture), but I do believe this is what the song is about. Shepard seems to have a really negative view of God in this song "what kinds of vermin are creeping on the streets tonight, It's 4am and I am, is creeping on the streets tonight"
The angel part at the end confuses me a little. Although I think the "blackout" is referring to sleep. In other words, we're all creatures who get tired and have to sleep. God even commanded us to do it (sabbath day of rest). So I think Shepard is implying that this somehow gets God off to know that we have to rest and he doesn't (after all He's 'prowling' around during the wee hours of the morning when most are sleeping) and maybe the angel is commanding the girl to do what God has already commanded, conforting her, while almost apologizing for his (God's) wrathful ways.
Thoughts?
Shepard has said in interviews that the lyrics on this record were brutal and that "Spiders" was about Voyeurism, so this song meaning wouldn't surprise me, but curious what everyone else thinks..
but i believe this song is about the loss of innocence, accepting it, and forgiveness.
I AM, yes referring to God.
lights out- taking innocence away.
punching your lights out- takings someones innocence away (little girls, possibly?), noticing that even a person thats completely close and dedicated to God can be the worse.
loss of innocence is written all over this.
does it get you off to know
that sometimes we all blackout.- everyone sins.
She'll save her life
for something good, oh yeah, - accepting the fact that humans can be horrid. so she will not be that way, or try not to be. know what im trying to say lol?
Suck it up,
dry your tears, - teaching acceptance.
walk down that hall and put yourself to bed.- forgiveness, bed symbolizes a home, a bed is also where your let go of everything and pray. forgiveness.
those are just a few of my thoughts, maybe im crazy.
"Hello they call me, I am
Hailing a cab"
As for the rest of the song, I think he's talking about a guy who's walking through the streets of a city, trying to get a cab cause it's raining. And while he's walking around he sees all the abuse going on in the buildings around him, not just physical but any abuse. I think he's also trying to say that everyone abuses everyone or has the potential to abuse someone, therefore everyone is vermin, even him.
"What kind of vermin are creeping on the streets tonight
It's 4AM and I am creeping on the streets tonight...
I am raging lightning
What kind of vermin are swimming on the streets tonight
It's 4AM and I am coming for you tonight"
So he witnesses the abuse and realizes that abuse is everywhere, even in him, and he decides to " save his life for something good ".
The girl I think, is just another witness to the abuse and she's being comforted in the end. But yeah, it really is a mysterious song with numerous meanings. I like how he can make everyone think and feel their own special way to the song and give it their own meaning :)
Sometimes, the most unlikely of situations can meet the most innocent people, and it can get us off and make us reconsider what we take for granted at face value upon this realization.
"It's 4 am and i am coming after you tonight."
should read:
"It's 4 am and i am is coming after you tonight."
that part gets me.
it's like creepy but very alluring.(sp?)
and just the way he says it.
i feel like it IS about god... hello they call me "i am"
that very much makes sense
and someone commented on what the "vermon swimming on the streets" has to do with god
well from what i took it as... we are the vermon... sinners...
and this girl... even though she is going through some awful situation at home, shes getting through it, she knows she will make it... and the part about "getting him off to know we all blackout"
the girl in question idk if its right to say finds it humorous... not really humorous but you know what i mean i think... she maybe laughs at the fact that the man that is hurting is getting pleasure out of thinking she is "blacking out" when really she is getting through it... so maybe the girl in the song is just laughing at the fact that he thinks hes hurting her, but reallly shes only physically hurt, because she has god, and knows that everything is going to be alright... idk but thats just me
and also
i love this song... i listen to it every day... and it really makes me feel like im not alone in the world :)
fjsklasfdj the punching your skull thing.
it's about abuse and this person; "i am" or, God is walking around the streets at 4 in the morning witnessing what happens in the world,
and it says "does it get you off to know that sometimes we all blackout" like, does it get you off tha tyou're killing this girl? that she's going to blackout due to you punching her skull in in the bathroom. get it? but i kind of agree with the explination above me, also. who knows