You know you're gold, you don't gotta worry none
Oasis child, born and so wild
Don't I know you better than the rest
All deception, all deception from you

Your love is stag in the white sand
Wilderness for miles, eyes so mild and wise
Don't I know you better than the rest
All deception, all deception from you

Any way you run, you run before us
Black and white horse arching among us

Your love is stag in the white sand
Oasis child born into a man
Don't I know you better than the rest
All deception, all deception from you

Wilderness for miles, eyes so mild and wise
Oasis child, born and so wild
Don't I know you better than the rest
All deception, all deception from you

Any way you run, you run before us
Black and white horse arching among us



Lyrics submitted by mrkool

Track duration: 04:49

"Zebra" as written by Victoria Garance Alixe Legrand Alex Kristian Scally

Lyrics © CHRYSALIS MUSIC GROUP

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Zebra song meanings
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33 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:I feel that the song conveys a strong feeling of safety and reassurance... The nature and progression of the music adds meaning to the words, by painting the lyrics with affection and optimism.

    A soft, soothing, almost lullaby-like, simultaneously energizing and relaxing beat is established in the first seconds, and is maintained until the very end. When the drums finally kick in, softly, and in perfect harmony with the guitar, the established beat improves without changing. The music tells us that there's no rush, no pressure, and no uncertainty, through its calm, yet firm and steady beats that exude joy and a sense of safety.

    These unchanging, yet progressively improving beats act as grounding stimuli, such as the tic-tac of a clock. The music escalates, and gets richer without compromising its original nature; it surrounds and wraps, yet does not overshadow the vocals.

    Ongoing harmony, paired with the upbeat, optimistic mood, simultaneously comforts, captivates, and leads to an atypical catharsis, in which the music winds down and ends, but its contagious optimism remains in the air...
    Flag gatinhaon November 23, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:thank god i had a hard time thinking why would she say "A racist child born into the wild " :)

    how awesome is this song for an opening
    Flagged joninowon October 31, 2012   Link
  • +12
    General Comment:I always associated this song with my best friend whom I was in love with for much of my childhood/teen years. To me, the person who know him best (Don't I know you better than the rest?), he was unique and incredibly talented. But he tried so hard to fit in with people he had little in common with; he essentially "deceived" them (All deception, all deception from you). Of all my friends I believed he was the one with the brightest future, and no matter how much he tried to blend in, he was leaps and bounds ahead of the rest of us (Any way you run, you run before us). He never believed in himself, but I always did (You know you're gold, you don't gotta worry none).
    We were all horses - we were all the same - and he was a zebra - unique, not "domesticated" as we were - who was trying to disguise himself as a horse - or as domesticated, someone who had been broken in by society (Black and white horse, arching among us).
    Flagged nothingeveron May 30, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:In trying to determine the meaning of this song, Ive noticed it has pretty descriptive imagery. There are several references to a desert-like surrounding, "wilderness for miles, Oasis, white sand" everytime I hear it I imagine a zebra running in slow motion across a desert. In terms of the meaning I think it is about someone who is different being told not to worry and embrace their uniqueness. The person singing will accept them no matter what. Beach Houses "anyway you run you run before us" is to me their way of saying the similar nirvana phrase "come as you are"
    Flagged lingeronon May 11, 2012   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:It seems to be about that person you watch from the corner of your eye. Perhaps you don't know them, but you've always been intrigued. They seem melancholy or untouchable or altogether alien to you. But there's also this elusive beauty in them. Achingly so. Perhaps they aren't even aware of it themselves, and are deceiving themselves as seeing themselves as ordinary.

    In admiring said person's beauty, you in turn see yourself as an ordinary horse while this exotic creature arches before you. Unaware, you are the zebra the same as they are the zebra. The tragedy is that we can't see the exquisite qualities we possess without comparing their worth or unworthiness in relation to others.

    That's what it is for me.
    Flag Asterionon April 06, 2012   Link
  • 0
    Song Comparison:Check out Fran Healy's cover of this song.
    Flag Envy337on December 04, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:A Zebra can't change its stripes.
    Flag utsuprainfraon October 01, 2011   Link
  • -4
    General Comment:It's about Barack Obama.
    Flagged everythingson August 12, 2011   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:To me the song appears to be about a man that the narrator has known since he was were a boy. The description: "You know you're gold / You don't got to worry none / Oasis child born and so wild" I interpret as the man's cushy situation in life due to very successful parents; when the line "Oasis child" hits it makes me think that he is an only child, long yearned for and adored. But at the same time, he is isolated in many ways -- an oasis, despite its lushness, is still surrounded by desert. The isolation, resources available, and parent's spoiling enable the boy to be wild both in personality and action.

    When the narrator says they know the man better than the rest, a sense of history and real knowledge of the person is shown, and later, with the line, "Oasis child born into a man" this seems to imply it's a lifelong relationship of watching the man grow up.

    I'm less sure about the next verse: "Your love is stag / In the white sand / Wilderness for miles / Eyes so mild and wise". However, my guess is that the narrator is describing that oasis isolation, this time in terms of lovers and emotions. "Stag" in this context means alone but I also feel like it has several connotations (as most of the lines and words in this song do). I get a vision of this man standing in the sand looking out on all of the wilderness around him and feeling calm and satisfied like it's all his for the taking -- not that he is literally standing in an oasis looking out, but as a metaphor for how he interacts with the world, "the wilderness", which I believe to include potential lovers. This gives an underlining meaning to the phrase "Your love is stag" in the sense that he does not commit to any one person but gives his love in solo, fleeting connections. He is confident in his abilities to obtain what he wants and is skillful as a social manipulator and lover, but ultimately he is always alone and stays true to only himself.

    The chorus is where the lyrics really become brilliant: "All deception from you/ Anyway you run / You run before us / Black and white horse / Arching among us".

    When the narrator calls him a black and white horse, I think it's a clever way of saying that the man is two-faced. He is both black and white at the same time, all deception, never showing his real self. Saying that any way that he runs, he runs before them implies that he is both popular and constantly trying to stay one step ahead of everyone, weaving his lies and covering his deceptions. The chorus seems to be the perspective of the narrator on the man's behavior in their circle of friends -- this master manipulator, lying and charming (and probably buying) his way along from person to person. But the narrator knows him and his tricks. They watched him grow up, they know about his oasis and his black and white character.
    Flag grandiloquenton August 03, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This is actually the first song I ever heard from them. AWESOME from top to bottom. That voice...
    Flag giasintaon July 31, 2011   Link

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