Lyrics for You're A Wolf as interpreted by chyeah

You're A Wolf Lyrics
I’m walking on the southern street, cut to the river ‘fore I run too low.
I’m walking on the southern street, cut to the river ‘fore I run too low.

Old gypsy woman spoke to me, lips stained red from a bottle of wine.
Old gypsy woman spoke to me, lips stained red from a bottle of wine.
“The one that you are looking for, you’re not gonna find her here.”
“The one that you are looking for, you’re not gonna find her here, here.”

I’m runnin’ on the northeast street, cut to the ocean ‘fore I run too low.
I’m runnin’ on the northeast street, cut to the ocean ‘fore I run too low,
Cut to the ocean ‘fore I run too low.
“The one that you are looking for, you’re not gonna find her here.”
“The one that you are looking for, you’re not gonna find her here, here.”

Old gypsy woman spoke to me, said, “You’re a wolf, boy, get out of this town.”
Old gypsy woman spoke to me, said, “You’re a wolf, boy, get out of this town.”
“You’re a wolf, boy, get out of this town.”
“You’re a wolf, boy, get out of this town.”
“You’re a wolf.”
“You’re a wolf.”
“You’re a wolf.”
“You’re a wolf.”

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sterile.stars
05-08-2007

Rated 0 
this song will be big one day

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elisameetsworld
05-08-2007

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this song is amazing

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thejlar
06-17-2007

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I think the lyrics are actually "stream" instead of "stream" and instead of "cut to the river/ocean before I run too low" should be "Get to the river/ocean before it runs too low" - "it" being the stream. The EP this song is on is called "Get To The River Before It Runs Too Low" so I think it's fair to say those are also the lyrics. This is based only on listening to this song a whole bunch, though. Fantastic song by the way. Can't really speak to its meaning though.

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petitchou
07-10-2007

Rated 0 
marvelous

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petitchou
07-10-2007

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marvelous

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cedarchip
07-22-2007

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It is "get to the river", which can be confirmed on the band's MySpace. I thought the meaning to this song was pretty obvious. The narrator of the song is trying to find his true love before the river "runs too low" or he runs out of time i.e. meets his death. The narrator cannot find his true love in the isolated "river" and so must expand his horizons and look in the vast "ocean" instead. He seems discouraged, though, because according to the "old gypsy woman" he's a wolf. In other words, he feels self-conscious and thinks that no one will love him. The lyrics are amazing despite the fact that they are quite simple. Great song.

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epicfail
11-05-2007

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Halloween reminded me of the 1941 "Wolf Man" movie, in which an old gypsy woman can seen the cursed man's fate in his palm. She tells him the curse can only be removed by a silver bullet from his true love. Which leads me to...

The "gypsy woman" is his disillusioned lover. She can see into his true wandering, lone-wolf ways. She knows she is not his true love and tells him so after some dutch courage. So he moves on, looking to remove the curse of the loveless.

For me, the stream refers to tracking. Somebody (a werewolf/selfish lover) on the run from tracking hounds (angry ex/their conscience) would walk down the middle of a stream to break their scent and footprint trail. I agree that the stream merging with river/ocean is a desire for oblivion, a leaving behind of a cursed fate. But he's running low. It's tough to outrun fate.

Of course, the song is probably about cuddling with kittens. Everybody loves cuddling with kittens! I'm going out to find a kitten to cuddle with right now!

A perfect song.

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TriangleMan
11-28-2007

Rated 0 
Mmmm, kittens. Yes, everyone loves kittens.

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shipsandshoes
02-03-2008

Rated 0 
the actual lyric booklet for 'leaves in the river'
has you're a wolf lyrics as:

"i'm walking, i'm a southern stream
get to the river before i run too low"

and then
"i'm running, i'm a northeast stream,
get to the ocean before i run too low"

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tackybird
02-04-2008

Rated 0 
I think that the stream/river/ocean bits are about him running towards a final goal (maybe death). Like epicfail, the song immediately reminded me of a classic werewolf story, where only his true love can kill the wolf. I think that perhaps the gypsy woman was foreshadowing that he would have to search far and wide for his true love, and once he did, it would be his demise.
Maybe by getting out of the town, he's trying to run away from something, like himself.
Also, the song makes me think of a lone wolf theme, like he's looking for love, and feels alone, but he has a long way to go before he finds her.

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FGranola
02-07-2008

Rated 0 
I defiently got the lone wolf vibe. I think the song is about how he keeps chasing after things that aren't good for him, or he doesn't need. The gyspy women is more like his sipirt guide telling him to go elsewhere thats why he has to get to the river/ocean, he needs to go somewhere else if he is going to get what he is looking for.

It's huge in Socal.

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chiledog75
02-18-2008

Rated 0 
When I first heard this song the fealing of it matched my mood, and then I listened to the lyrics and it hit me even more. For me the lyrics "Get to the ocean/river before I run too low" means that he is about to hit rock bottom, and he needs to wash away his problems. A sort of baptism, trying to start over new. And the lyrics "you're a wolf boy get out of this town" means, nobody wants you boy just disapear.

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ka_rosko
02-29-2008

Rated 0 
There have been a lot of allusions to wolves in indie-rock of late. Beside all those wolf bands (Wolf Parade, Sea Wolf, Patrick Wolf, etc.), there was also Josh Ritter's album "The Animal Years", in which he had several allusions to wolf. I think it's because the wolf is such a fresh image that can mean so many things. There's obviously the "lone wolf" thing as a symbol for loneliness. Josh Ritter uses the ferocious diligence of wolves to symbolize the nature of his demons, which always come back to haunt him. I think in this song, though, Sea Wolf might be using a wolf not only to describe his "lone wolf" nature, but also to describe his place in society. It's been said that one is either a sheep or a wolf. I'm not sure of Alex Brown Church's upbringing, but he or the character he has created in this song may have grown up in a small town, only to realize that the town just was not big enough for his talents, thus "You're a wolf, boy, get out of this town." The old gypsy woman is giving him advice on how to handle his songwriting (or otherwise) talent. The fact that he refers to himself as a stream running to the river as fast as he can could indicate that his life has flowed towards and lead him to bigger cities and bigger things. I'm curious where ABC lived before he went to NYU and moved to LA (that's a lot of acronyms in one sentence).

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heididrake
05-01-2008

Rated 0 
I was tutoring a 5th grader and he is an expert (obsessed) with Killer Whales. I discovered that, another name for a killer whale is "seawolf." Killer Whales or "Seawolves" sometimes travel up rivers (I am not so sure about streams) When I first heard this song (which i love) I thought it was "street" too. I thought the story was about a famous artist (maybe musician) in a smalltown that was not accepted by the locals including the gypsy (for some reason I picture her as a street person that is not that mentally stable) Basically, he's being told to get out of town - we don't want your kind - don't look for love around here because your not going to find it - your "kind" isn't accepted. When I discoverd the song said "stream" and not street I was confused but when I learned that killerwhales are called seawolves, I thought, its a comparison of a seawolf (aka Killer Whale) going up a river and how he really doesn't belong or "fit" (literally) Even though the Killer Whale can travel up rivers no other animal really wants him there. Basically, he doesn't belong - he belongs in bigger waters - he is huge - larger than life and must swim with the big fish and leave the "smalltown" life behind. At first he doesn't want to leave but then he ends up running back "to the ocean" where he belongs.

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Cher to the Z
05-09-2008

Rated 0 
I can't help thinking about the movie "The Wolf Man" as somebody already has pointed it out.

In my somewhat imaginative mind (sorry for that) I like to think that he is actually a werewolf...and the gypsy is prophesizing that he needs to leave.

I know it's far fetched but it's fun to think about.

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laurenelizabeth.
06-05-2008

Rated 0 
this song is gorgeous.
c:

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oolongtea
06-17-2008

Rated 0 
favorite line: "get to the ocean ‘fore I run too low"

i like how the music sounds as well as how he sings it. even though he has sung it two times before that part it is different at that moment in those three seconds. i also like the change of music during:

"Old gypsy woman spoke to me, said, “You’re a wolf, boy, get out of this town.”

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Esanab
07-12-2008

Rated 0 
It's beautiful.

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peaceasy
07-28-2008

Rated 0 
Simple and a bit repetitive, but calm and pretty. :)

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the big crunch
08-22-2008

Rated 0 
i've loved sea wolf for a while, and i've always had a liking for this song- it's pretty, and makes me think of a movie i saw once but can't remeber the name. :)

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Corelila
09-17-2008

Rated 0 
What it reminds me of is that not everyone is suited for a life in a small town. Personally i've wrestled with this issue, not fitting in and yet trying my best.
It also seems to say that i may not find my soul mate here, but I will eventually.
The narrative is very good. Particularly the part about "her lips being stained red from a bottle of wine" it conjures up an image not only of red lips, but of a gypsy woman that is so vivid, if I were to see her in the real world, I would probably recognize her.
"You're a wolf, boy, get out of this town."
Magic.

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1 Reply
Knackwurst
12-11-2008

Rated 0 
oops...that wasn't supposed to be a reply to the last post...but i stick to my story!


You guys this song is OBVIOUSLY about the Little Red Riding Hood and the wolf...the one that he (Wolfy) is looking for he's not gonna find her (Goldilocks) here. old gypsy woman is all "you're a wolf boy get the f*%! outta here!"

duh

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katieschwag
03-23-2009

Rated 0 
I always thought the "you're a wolf boy get out of this town" part was a reference to that one story The Boy Who Cried Wolf. I dunno. Just and idea I had.

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johngold
06-13-2009

Rated 0 
to me as an objectivist the logic behind this is that hes living his life that the world around him has tought to just be as much as a small streem and that he has no power to learn the big picture and that bothers him so he trys to have faith in religion (gypsy) but learns that the gipsy is only a drunken worthless mistic whos only retaliation is to tell him hes evil to doubt religion so he must leave their world if he truly wants to show his value of logic

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