Lyrics for The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is O... as interpreted by addictedtosound

The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is O... Lyrics
Thinking outrageously, I write in cursive
I hide in my bed with the lights on the floor
Wearing three layers of coats and leg warmers
I see my own breath on the face of the door

Oh, I am not quite sleeping
Oh, I am fast in bed
There on the wall in the bedroom creeping
I see a wasp with her wings outstretched

North of Savanna we swim in the Palisades
I come out wearing my brother's red hat
There on his shoulder my best friend is bit seven times
He runs washing his face in his hands

Oh, how I meant to tease him
Oh, how I meant no harm
Touching his back with my hand, I kiss him
I see the wasp on the length of my arm

Oh, how I meant to tease him
Oh, how I meant no harm
Touching his back with my hand, I kiss him
I see the wasp on the length of my arm

Oh great sights upon this state, hallelu–
Wonders bright, and rivers, lake, hallelu–
Trail of Tears and Horseshoe Lake, hallelu–
Trusting things beyond mistake, hallelu–

We were in love, we were in love
Palisades, Palisades
I can wait, I can wait

I can't explain the state that I'm in
The state of my heart, he was my best friend
Into the car, from the backseat
Oh, admiration in falling asleep
All of my powers, day after day
I can tell you, we swaggered and swayed
Deep in the tower, the prairies below
I can tell you, the telling gets old
Terrible sting and terrible storm
I can tell you the day we were born
My friend is gone, he ran away
I can tell you, I love him each day
Though we have sparred, wrestled and raged
I can tell you, I love him each day
Terrible sting and terrible storm
I can tell you

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Solid Snake
01-15-2006

Rated 0 
This song always reminds me of my best friend, and how if i ever lost him I'd just lie in bed too because I would have nothing to do.

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misterent
01-17-2006

Rated 0 
I get a childhood memory sort of feel from this song. I think people are right about how he sees a wasp in his bedroom, and it reminds him of the time his friend and he were at the palisades. Not quite sure what the lights on the floor or any of that is. Maybe writing in cursive and thinking outrageously is writing in a journal or something?

I don't think the narrator is supposed to be a girl, even with the legwarmers mention. I do think that the boys in this song are supposed to be good friends, and quite young. The way I understand it is that he teased his friend (perhaps seven times) until his friend just broke down and cried and ran away with his face in his hands (hiding his face, so it doesn't look like he crying, maybe just saying that he's "washing his face" so he doesn't look stupid?) The narrator feels bad. He didn't mean to make his friend feel so badly. He comes up behind his friend and says he sorry, kissing him (figuratively, or literally: sometimes little kids do that sort of thing because that's how they learn to express how they feel.) He sees the "wasp" on the length of his arm. In other words, he sees that he can sting his friend just as badly as any wasp can.

The we were in love thing is tricky that way though. It could be about two boys that like each other and were just exploring and then the other boy freaked out and stopped being friends with the narrator. However, I think that Sufjan could be talking about a different sort of love. Kids are more apt to admit that they "love" their friends. In actuality, we do love our really good friends, it's just not the diehard love. It's a family sort of love.

He says his friend ran away. It could be that they had a fight and aren't friends. It could also be that the friend actually ran away from home and the narrator doesn't see him anymore. Either way, this friend is gone, and the narrator has remembered his friend, and how much he loved him. That even when they fought, and even though he's gone, he still loves his friend. I'm not sure about the car thing (maybe just remembering car rides with his friend-- little kids are usually in the backseat) or the tower thing.

Anyway: I took it as a love between friends that no longer see each other for whatever reason, and the memories of what they had.

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GoodOmens
01-18-2006

Rated 0 
GOd I love this song ... I keep playing it over and over .... the melodies are just great!

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unclealex
01-18-2006

Rated 0 
I have a GREAT idea.....next time someone goes to one of these "question and answer" sessions, why not suck it up and ask him if the elusive strain of homoeroticism in his songwriting is due to the fact that he is gay or bi? I mean, thats a direct way of putting it, maybe the question could be worded more delicately, like "the lyrics of certain songs like wasp can be interpreted as homoerotic -- is that a false interpretation, or is it correct, and what do you have to say abou it?"

I'm imaging that awkward scenario -- Sufjan taking questions, a throat cleared and the big question broken -- "are you gay?" -- so blunt, I love it. would that be rude? would it be awkward? would the crowd boo me? But I wanna know so bad!!

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Skruffylooking
01-25-2006

Rated 0 
I think we're beating around the bush with the fact that he is in fact homosexual. Yes, its a bit of turnoff (i'm straight), but I still listen to his music. So what?

Now that you establish a gay relationship in this song, and many other songs, then yes, the song makes sense. If you think its a dog, or a brother, or some wack childhood 'experimentation love' then believe what you want. Heck, I could say its about a white anglo saxon protestant male who stole his lover which then ran off with the WASP and whenever he sees a WASP, he goes into vietnam flashbacks. But I'm not.

Its merely a song about them (gay lovers) spending time on a vacation, the wasp is an actual object of something that happened while on vacation, and for whatever reason, they broke up and parted paths, now he remembers the good ol' memory.

Painless?

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couldBanyone
01-27-2006

Rated 0 
Skruffylooking, good work getting to the point

Side Note: Sufjan Stevens won Woman of The Year for 2006. Got the point?

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kaitlynn
01-28-2006

Rated 0 
"the wasp is an actual object of something that happened while on vacation"

i went to on of his shows, and like people have posted previously, he explained the song. he said the wasp was something exaggerated by him and his friend. it wasn't "something that happened while on vacation".

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raindog
02-07-2006

Rated 0 
OKAY KIDS. when i saw sufjan in concert he explained this song so your prayers are answered :D
it's about sufjan and his best friend at camp when he was younger. not necessarily a homosexual relationship-it's just the love between these two boys who are best friends! the predatory wasp of the palisades is an exaggeration; sufjan saw the shadow of a moth or something in his cabin and they exaggerated it, it turned into a game for them (you know, like little boys do!) BUT his friend DOES get stung by something and that is why he kisses him, where he's stung...i love the lines 'oh how i meant to tease him, oh how i meant no harm' which illustrates the perfect friendship between these kids and 'i am not quite sleeping, i am fast in bed' which to me is just a perfect line...he's not fast asleep but he is fast in bed...i love it.

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dustinmust_decrease
02-10-2006

Rated 0 
i think this song has been sufficiently picked appart. but i just can't let it pass without giving it my two cents.
first off. the language of the first verse is just- well, basically beautiful.

secondly- i think the whole part about about what happened with the wasp it's self is just he and his friend playing with eachother, making up stories... i can see it now:

"oh! it has bit you!! seven times!!-- and now it's on me!!!-- here, i'll kiss it, that makes things all better"

oh the innocence. the undefiled love of youth. oh God that we could love one another with such sweet passion and such unbridled purity.

D.E.S.

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unclealex
02-18-2006

Rated 0 
oh skruffylooking, why ya gotta be so skruffythinking? is it really a turn-off to you that stevens might be gay? hello and please welcome to 2006. I'd wager than queers (gay men, woman, whatever) have had some kind of involvement in the production of a greater portion of your most cherished music than you'd ever imagine. awkward wording that, but you know what I mean. you still listen to stevens even though he's gay? wow, how open minded of you.

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margolove
02-20-2006

Rated 0 
I guess I've never really read anything into quite as deep or symbolic as other posters have.

Every time I listen to it, I think of every childhood friend I had that I lost. The "north of sylvanna" part seems to describe so many of my own childhood memories.. or even just any time, when life is at its most glorious and beautiful and you're happy just to be alive. It's always bittersweet because things can't get better from there; only worse.

Also.. another thing I could read into it is the evolution of a friendship between a boy and a girl. When you're young there aren't really any obstacles to it, but as you grow older it becomes a lot harder. Other things enter into the picture, and things can never be as innocent or pure as they were before. Maybe it evolves into something more than friendship. I know the feeling, and it fits so perfectly with this song. "I can wait I can wait" - you want nothing more than your hopes to be realized, to tell the person how you feel, but they're your best friend, and when/if you do tell them, nothing will ever be the same again. Maybe you grow apart with time, maybe your paths separate and you don't see them much. But you still think about them, are reminded by little things. It's innocent love and it never really dies, especially if you did hold back and it was never fulfilled.

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margolove
02-20-2006

Rated 0 
I guess I've never really read anything into quite as deep or symbolic as other posters have.

Every time I listen to it, I think of every childhood friend I had that I lost. The "north of sylvanna" part seems to describe so many of my own childhood memories.. or even just any time, when life is at its most glorious and beautiful and you're happy just to be alive. It's always bittersweet because things can't get better from there; only worse.

Also.. another thing I could read into it is the evolution of a friendship between a boy and a girl. When you're young there aren't really any obstacles to it, but as you grow older it becomes a lot harder. Other things enter into the picture, and things can never be as innocent or pure as they were before. Maybe it evolves into something more than friendship. I know the feeling, and it fits so perfectly with this song. "I can wait I can wait" - you want nothing more than your hopes to be realized, to tell the person how you feel, but they're your best friend, and when/if you do tell them, nothing will ever be the same again. Maybe you grow apart with time, maybe your paths separate and you don't see them much. But you still think about them, are reminded by little things. It's innocent love and it never really dies, especially if you did hold back and it was never fulfilled.

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jans0n
02-25-2006

Rated 0 
I noticed no one had any comments about the relationship between this song and Casimir Pulaski Day, track 10 on illinois. two glaring similarites I noticed were between this songs content and facts about Casimir Pulaski, a revolutionary war hero with his own holidy: Casimir was shot in Savannah (Goergia, but Savannah none the less), and died abored a privateer called the wasp. The praeries also referense the track 20, and thematicly Sufjan interlaces alot of his songs, so perhaps in context of one another, this song and Casimir Pulaski Day make alot more sense. Thoughts?

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tree123456
03-06-2006

Rated 0 
The more I listen to this song, the more it reconfirms my original thoughts. It's basically Brokeback Mountain but with wasps instead of horses and two other people who haven't won any oscars. Sufjan basically fancies a bit of action off his friend. Nothing wrong with that...except they were kids, which should be illegal.

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dannececoholic
03-18-2006

Rated 0 
My hats off to this site. Its nice to see different interpretations for a single song.

Next, i would like to state a point that having interpretations is relative to a person regarding the essence of the song is the whole point of music =>.

Yes, the songwriter conceptualized the whole essence he would like to impart to the consuming public. But he has his own interpretations of that essence, his own interpretations according to how he will digest and apply the essence to his life.

Same goes to the listeners digesting his work. The fact that numerous interpretations have been made, it simply states that this is a great song! It has achieved its purpose of having people digest the essence, and making the essence their very own through finding its relativity to himself. =>

Having said all that, the song is ergo greater than great =>. I laud this song.

Hence, on my opinion, i do believe all that has been said regarding the song's interpretation are all possible due to relativity.

I LOVE ALL OF MR STEVEN'S WORKS!!!

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quirky_but_kewl
03-24-2006

Rated 0 
I believe this song has so many layers it is not possible to slice them all up and microscope examine them. The complexity of it all just soars over your head and all you can do is sit back in wonder and let the current of mr. stevens melody carry you away. there maybe some literal interpreation dealing with hcildhood memories and death but the invited reading of this song is plainly love and loss: best friend ran away, in a cold room by themself thinking over their past, a wasp signifying death...but then again its open to what ever translation fits most comfortably around your head. truely a work of aural art. i salute you, mr. stevens! (*stands up, checks that no-one is watching, and salutes*)

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rome23
03-30-2006

Rated 0 
I think this song is about the narrator losing his faith in God:

I agree with previous posters about the first part of this song. Sufjan is definitely talking about being at camp with his brother/friend, (Sufjan said so himself) The site of the camp has been transerred from wherever it was in Michigan (where Sufjan grew up) to the Palisades campground in Illinois for the sake of the album's IL theme. He then talks about his friend literally being stung by the wasp, and Sufjan teases his friend by kissing his shoulder where he was stung.

I think the 2nd part of the song is where things get more interesting. A clue from the first part that the song is about religion is that his best friend is stung seven times. The number seven is a very religously symbolic number and appears over and over again in the bible.

Then I think the key to the song is the chant:

"Oh great sights upon this state! Hallelu-
Wonders bright, and rivers, lake. Halelu-
Trail of Tears and Horseshoe Lake. Hallelu-
trusting things beyond mistake. Hallelu-

and the second one is:

Lamb of God, we sound the horn.
Hallelujah!
To us your ghost is born.
Hallelu- "

Here Sufjan talks about the natural wonders of IL, Trail of Tears is a state forest in IL I believe. He says:
"Trusting things beyond mistake"
I think this is a reference to faith in God
Then he says:
"Lamb of God, we sound the horn.
To us your ghost is born."
A shepard's horn is sounded to gather the sheep. Here Sufjan is saying we are calling out to God, but we get no response, thus God's ghost is born. More symbolism for someone losing faith in God.

In the second part of the song Sufjan talks about losing his friend. I think that he is talking about losing his faith in God. Remember in the first part of the song he is trying to fall asleep in his shitty apartment or wherever he is. When he says:
"oh admiration in falling asleep"
in the second part of the song he is talking about admiring the memory of himself as a child, how happy he was at the palisades, before he lost childhood hapiness, carefree attitude and his faith in God. How innocent he was and so on.

I also think that when he says "We were in love", he is talking about he and his brother/friend being in love with life, not with each other. The terrible sting and storm symbolize growing up, falling out of love with life, losing faith in God etc...

This intepretation lines up well with other songs on the album such as "UFO Sighting Near Highland" and "Casimir Palaski" It may line up with other songs as well but I haven't listened to the entire album yet because I listen to every song 50 times and analyze the hell out of it. One of the best albums/artists I have ever listened to (so far)

I love the contrast of the happy childhood memories at the Palisades in the past in contrast to the dingy setting that is laid out for the present at the beginning of the song. GREAT SONG!!

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dan356
04-02-2006

Rated 0 
Obviously, it's true that this song can be interpreted anyway you want, but I'd just like to say I doubt it has anything to do with death.

And also, as a "gay" person myself, I'd just like to point out that this song, to me, is clearly about romantic love between two boys. The gestures, like the hand on the back while kissing, and falling asleep in the car ring true to me. I don't know for sure, but I think this song sums up what it feels like to be in love with a person of the same gender.

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seed211
04-05-2006

Rated 0 
I reply to rome23:

"Lamb of God, we sound the horn.
To us your ghost is born."

This is not a statement of losing faith. The "Lamb of God" is Jesus (John 1:29 and other places, actually first prophesied in Genesis 28), who was the perfect sacrificial lamb. A horn in the Old Testament was often blown as worship to the king. Before Jesus ascended to heaven he spoke his Holy Spirit indwelling those who believe (John 20:21-22).

I hope this helps.

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JOSHY G
04-06-2006

Rated 0 
how can you say this song is about a boy running away because his best friend kissed him. the boy ran away before he even mentions the word kiss. i think the wasp is the teasing and the tension. at first, he just sees it on the wall, not bothering anybosy but its still there. Kind of like the teasing isn't bothering anyone. finally, the wasp stings, meaning someone was hurt by the teasing. Eventually, he apoligizes, which is what i think the kiss means. nothing more than a friendly "i'm sorry" ok, so the wasp is still on his arm, meaning he has to be careful that he, or the wasp, doesn't hurt anyone again.

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dan356
04-06-2006

Rated 0 
Um, I apologize if this sounds like a personal affront, but how often do you kiss your best friend of the same sex to apologize to them? If it's a metaphor for an apology, it's extremely bizarre, and I think Sufjan (he has an MFA in creative writing) knows what metaphors are effective and which ones aren't.

Plus, the "we were in love" and the falling asleep and the car are just too romantic sounding. So I think either Sufjan is writing from a woman's perspective; or this song is really about some sort of feelings between two boys. Regardless of whether Sufjan himself is gay or not, in his music he empathizes with all sorts of people, and I don't see why he couldn't empathize with gays just as easily as anyone else.

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rome23
04-07-2006

Rated 0 
I reply to Seed211:

Maybe you are right. I am not a religious person and don't know as much about the bible as you do. I was not aware that horns were blown to worship the kings in the Old Testament. I was aware of the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. The chant could be Sufjan talking about the natural wonders Rivers Lakes etc... and then saying that we should praise God for it. It could go the other way though. You would have to agree that it makes sense when intepreted both ways and with Sufjan's writing style that may not be an accident.

Anyway I would be interested in hearing your take on what the song means.

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couldBanyone
04-07-2006

Rated 0 
I think it's more homophobic to attempt, despite overwhelming evidence (already mentioned), to paint this as a simple childhood "game." Whether or not Stevens really did just make a game out of the wasp or not is irrelevant considering the homosexual nature of the piece. I have no problem with this, neither should anyone else. End of story.

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Serilliant
04-09-2006

Rated 0 
I'm surprised that so many people interpreted the narrator as an adult whose childhood memories are triggered by the wasp - the thought never occurred to me! The entire melody exhudes childhood; if it's possible, I think Sufjan's voice is lighter, airier, more delicate. "Thinking outrageously, I write in cursive" - this statement is so innocent, as though writing in "cursive" is so monumental. I saw the story as linear, no flashbacks.

I also thought the narrator was male, but that's another story. =)

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parttimecynic
04-17-2006

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Serilliant, I completely agree. Being bundled up with clothes, on the floor, "thinking outrageously" and writing in cursive in a journal, just.... screams adolescence. I think the best friend incident is indeed a flashback, but not from that far into the future.

Secondly... I had always interpreted this as being between two boys. Someone said that if Sufjan had intended this to be from a woman's perspective he would've made it more clear, and I agree. They're very young, and just discovering their feelings... the 'best friend' seems to be more conflicted with this than the narrator, thus, the running away.

Innocence, yes, but laced with the dawning of realization.

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