Soundgarden – Spoonman

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Send "Spoonman" Ringtone to Cell

Feel the rhythm with your hands
Steal the rhythm while you can, Spoonman
Speak the rhythm on your own
Speak the rhythm all alone, Spoonman

Spoonman, come together with your hands
Save me, I'm together with your plan
Save me

All my friends are Indians
All my friends are brown and red, Spoonman
All my friends are skeletons
They beat the rhythm with their bones, Spoonman

Feel the rhythm with you hands
Steal the rhythm while you can, Spoonman

Thank you, good night people

Send "Spoonman" Ringtone to Cell


Lyrics submitted by jt

Track duration: 04:06

"Spoonman" as written by Chris Cornell

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Spoonman song meanings
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83 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:i always thought it was about heroin, which was very prevalent in those days. You put it on a spoon and hold the lighter up to it then suck it up the syringe then inject it. all my friends are brown and red, i thought that was about the trip. maybe the spoonman is the dealer and the addict needs him to come save him with another dose of heroin..
    Flag wattrockson May 26, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I have no idea what the meaning is but this needs to be Ryan Spooner's goal song.
    Flag chiefs20on March 31, 2013   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:I'm very disappointed. All this time I thought the name of the song was
    "Strong Man". I thought the lyrics went:

    Strong Man, come together with your plan
    Save me, I'm together with your plan
    Save me

    All my friends are brown and red, Strong Man

    A "strong man" is a charismatic dictator who controls by force, usually appearing during times of hardship. Classic examples are Hitler (brown) and Stalin (red).
    Flag strumboreon February 10, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I agree with most people here... "Spoonman" is about the Spoonman. Ja'mon with your spoons, Spoonman! Ja'mon and save me, Spoonman!
    Flag DigitalDubon January 11, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:You can tell what's important in people's lives by how they interpret the world around them. What does that say about people who think every song they hear is about drugs and masturbation?
    Flag DF Ashon March 25, 2012   Link
  • +2
    General Comment:From a 1994 interview with chris cornell

    Interviewer: Getting back to Superunknown, the first single was "Spoonman." The song is superficially about Artis the Spoonman, but the underlying sentiment is that rhythm and music have healing properties.

    Chris: It's more about the paradox of who he is and what people perceive him as. He's a street musician, but when he's playing on the street, he is given a value and judged completely wrong by someone else. They think he's a street person, or he's doing this because he can't hold down a regular job. They put him a few pegs down on the social ladder because of how they perceive someone who dresses differently. The lyrics express the sentiment that I much more easily identify with someone like Artis than I would watch him play.
    Flag aza9999on October 15, 2011   Link
  • -1
    General Comment:i used to think this song was about heroin as well, as far as what sugarmagik said, there are alot of songs that are about drugs but are hidden with metaphors and whatnot. I have a past with that drug and i can sense that heroin was in their thoughts when coming up with this song, Oh Pea explains it well
    Flag Spartan1024on July 13, 2011   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:hmm, double meaning, triple meaning, herion, tribute to the spoonman, domination and elimanation of indians, music that makes me think, we all win
    Flag Phonzheadon May 21, 2011   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:I agree with the fact that this song is most likely about the Spoonman artist which seems pretty obvious not only from the lyrics but the video. Even though music videos usually don't convey the actual message of the lyrics it seems apparent that they agree with what the words are saying. However, I would like to expand upon the possibility that this song, despite talking directly about Spoonman, is talking on a more metaphorical level about musical expression in general. "Feeling the rhythm" and "speaking the rhythm" is something that a lot of musicians have lost today, most notably the ones who use chords as a backdrop for a stale storyline of how some teenager had his love leave him. I know I'm preaching to the choir saying that on a lyric website under a Soundgarden song, but I feel this song very appropriately addresses how important "feeling the rhythm" is for music (something that has been forgotten by many who instead only feel what their record company tells them to feel).
    Flag Whitericeisboredon January 09, 2011   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning:Spoonman is not about heroin. Spoonman is about spoonman and if you dont know who spoonman is look him up hes pretty cool.
    Flag alej6on October 18, 2010   Link

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