Waking up dead inside of my head
Whenever never do there is no med
No medicine to take
I’ve had a chance to be insane
Asylum from the falling rain
I’ve had a chance to break

It’s so bad it’s got to be good
Mysterious girl misunderstood
Dressed like a wedding cake
Any other day and I might play
A funeral march for Bonnie Brae
Why try and run away

Chorus:

Slow cheetah come before my forest
Looks like it’s on today
Slow cheetah come it's so euphoric
No matter what they say

I know a girl she worked in a store
She knew not what her life was for
She barely knew her name
They tried to tell her she would never be
As happy as a girl in a magazine
She bought it with her pay

Slow cheetah come before my forest
Looks like it’s on today
Slow cheetah come it's so euphoric
No matter what they say

Everyone has so much to say
They talk talk talk their lives away
Don’t even hesitate
Walking on down to the burial ground
It’s a very old dance with a merry old sound
Looks like it’s on today

Slow cheetah come before my forest
Looks like it’s on today
Slow cheetah come it's so euphoric
No matter what they say

Slow cheetah come before my forest
Looks like it’s on today
Slow cheetah come it's so euphoric
No matter what they say



Lyrics submitted by quazy_qual

Track duration: 05:20


Slow Cheetah song meanings
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  • 0
    Song Meaning:I feel this song is a reflection of his struggle with addiction and past experiences with drugs and women.

    Waking up dead inside of my head
    Whenever never do there is no med
    No medicine to take
    I’ve had a chance to be insane
    Asylum from the falling rain
    I’ve had a chance to break

    I feel this is referring to the point were he was totally addicted and not even the pills they were offering him were not even helping him through the withdrawals. There is also a part in his book were he is held in custody to see if he is mentally capable of being out on the street and not insane, and it gives him shelter from being out of the street, also hes broken his spirit plenty of times through his life but he was able to get through it.

    It’s so bad it’s got to be good
    Mysterious girl misunderstood
    Dressed like a wedding cake
    Any other day and I might play
    A funeral march for Bonnie Brae
    Why try and run away

    I feel this verse is describing him off his addiction, he always had a way of describing women in very creative ways, but it seems the girl is still using but in his mind is if you would have caught me sooner i would have joined you in what is so bad but feels so good. Also the funeral I think he might be referring to not going to his best friends funeral from an OD because he was also so lost in the drug but it didn't make sense in running away from his friend but still did it.

    I know a girl she worked in a store
    She knew not what her life was for
    She barely knew her name
    They tried to tell her she would never be
    As happy as a girl in a magazine
    She bought it with her pay

    I feel this is yet another experience with a past girlfriend who was also using but her addiction was holding her back from a career in modeling. So she pursued her career in shooting up.

    Everyone has so much to say
    They talk talk talk their lives away
    Don’t even hesitate
    Walking on down to the burial ground
    It’s a very old dance with a merry old sound
    Looks like it’s on today

    This verse here I feel is him explaining what he has said so many other times, no one will ever know what is like to be an addict until you are an addict. Yet people still talk and tend to think they know what its really like, referring to the burial ground, I think he means he feels so close to death and the feeling has come and gone so many times that it feels almost normal, but today he feels as if it is the day he will die.

    For most of you that didn't know, Anthony has been struggling with addiction his whole life, and I would say he would be one of the HARDCORE users of many different things he has put in his body. If you haven't yet I would recommend his book, somewhat sad but it shows you what drug abuse does to you and that there is still a way out of it.
    Flag eroc42724on May 02, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This song is directly reflecting my battles right now.
    Flag AndyWoodon May 02, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:The cheetah is death, surely, and it comes before his forest. I love RHCP because they're music is so ladden with death, love, sex, and drugs. I was born in the 80's and was raised in a drug fueled sex ladden society. I love their music so much and as a fellow opiate addict can relate to almost every song as they make clear undeniable evidence to their drug use and how it kills them. The IV drug use, which I love, slowly kills me, like a cheetah. The girl reference is also clear as someone mentioned earlier that she buys the ideas of others but it has nothing to do with the clear meaning of the song, which is the heroin which slowly kills him. If you shoot IV you will clearly relate to much of RHCP's Music
    Flag seaniguliion November 09, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:As a 10+ year opiate IV drug user this song is easy : The slow cheetah is heroin. It's coming for his forest. The forest is his health and the slow cheetah is coming to kill him. It's a slow way to die but very euphoric in the process. I know that my opiates are going to kill me and I love them nonetheless. And many people die in the process but we do it anyways even though we know it's going to kill us. It kills us slowly, like a cheetah, surely, but we love what we love :)
    Flag seaniguliion November 09, 2012   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning:Mysterious girl misunderstood
    Dressed like a wedding cake
    Any other day and I might play
    A funeral march for Bonnie Brae

    I know a girl she worked in a store
    She knew not what her life was for
    She barely knew her name
    They tried to tell her she would never be
    As happy as a girl in a magazine
    She bought it with her pay



    ----->>>> This is a clear reference to the superficial media and the way it promotes eating disorders and depression- these disorders were so prominent in the 90s
    Flag RHCPJS18on November 27, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This song is just a giant oxymoron basically. All the lines contradict themselves like a slow cheetah and such. It's a beautiful song and I love it. Honestly it's my favorite off of Stadium Arcadium. I think it's also about breaking the social norm, like not being a normal apple pie life kinda person.
    Flag Robbyace21on September 17, 2011   Link
  • +1
    Song Meaning:RHCP is amazing... my favorite band of all time.

    I agree with tesseract... this song is about death and death is the slow cheetah.
    The first time I heard this song it made me think of my own mortality.

    I think it is Anthony's way of describing death in a Native American way. The cheetah is an inescapable predetor, but death is slow from the sense that it takes a whole lifetime to catch you. It starts from the day you are born but is inevitable... so know that and make the most of the time you have... don't waste it!
    Flag Just1on August 30, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:It's about waking up, going thru withdrawls, about going to rehab, and having to deal with the post acute withdrawl symptoms and having to have this animal that comes and visits and when it does its euphoric, and when it comes it's on your gonna love it.. Bonnie Brae is where he scored his drugs so a funeral march to bonnie brae is going to score a drug that might kill ya, but you do it anyway....
    Flag Arbs33on August 05, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Obviously about drugs, but then again it can take several other meanings. The reason I say drugs is because of the Bonnie Brae reference where Anthony bought drugs. His favorite stuff was heroin and cocaine, a combination called speedball that Hillel Slovak died from. The heroin would slow you down, but the coke would speed you up. A slow cheetah.
    Flag Cooper290on July 13, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:hmm .. I think it's about heroin relapse after rehab. questioning himslef to do it or not to ...

    Waking up dead inside of my head
    Whenever never do there is no med
    No medicine to take

    when you're getting of heroin and abstinence crises is over .. you just don't know what to do with yourself ... everything is boring, addict gets depressed ...like he is "dead inside his head " that's why relapses are often happening. "Whenever never do" -> it's like he's questioning himself to do some heroin again or not. no medicine to take .. he has no drugs.

    It's so bad it's got to be good,mysterious girl misunderstood - like he want to convince himself it's heroin is ok .. but he know it's not ...

    "Everyone has so much to say,they talk talk talk their lives away,
    Don't even hesitate,walking on down to the burial ground
    It's a very old dance with a merry old sound,looks like it's on today"

    he's still bored with people around him and their hypocrisy or something and he just can't stand it.
    i think "walking on down to the burial ground" refers to getting drugs ... seeing people who torn their lives because of the drug habit. "It's a very old dance with a merry old sound,looks like it's on today"
    like he's saying - old habit with good feeling ... I'm gonna do it again today.
    Flag aibreannon July 08, 2011   Link

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