Mouthful of cavities
Your soul's a bowl of jokes
And everyday you remind me
How I'm desperately in need

See, I got a lot of fiends around
And they're peaking through nothing new
They see you
They see everything you do

See everything on the inside, out

Oh, please give me a little more
And I'll push away those baby blues
Cause one of these days this will die
So will me and so will you

I write a letter to a friend of mine
I tell him how much I used to love watch him smile

See I haven't seen him smile in a little while

Haven't seen him smile in a little while

But, I know you're laughing from the inside out
Laughin' from the inside out
I know you're laughing from the inside out
Laughing from the inside
From the inside
From the inside
From the inside
From the inside out



Lyrics submitted by bubbrock316

Track duration: 03:21

"Mouthful of Cavities" as written by Thomas Rogers Stevens, Christopher John Thorn, Shannon Hoon, Brad Smith, Glen Graham

Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Mouthful Of Cavities song meanings
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  • 0
    General Comment:This song for me is about being sick and tired of being a junkie. When you are a junkie who is using you feel like you are a joke and there is nothing left inside, you tell lies and try hide who you really are. Your "fiend" friends are always hanging around to see what stuff you have and what they can get from you, it's the same cycle everyday, nothing new, look for drugs and use, that's it. If you can just "get a little more" you can push away any emotion or problem and pretend that everything doesn't exist except the world you have created in your mind. It's hard to smile and pretend you are fine in this state of mind. I'm still pissed off that he's dead all these years later. Blind Melon speaks to my soul and it makes me sad that he is gone.
    Flag Jenafear13on May 02, 2012   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning:ok sorry to anyone who disagrees but the song is meant almost very literally, i'll do a verse by verse.

    there might be a 2nd application like a double meaning but the depth of the lyrics speak for themselves & is enough if you have the insight. great track though. it is perfection as far as music goes lyrically as well as production.

    -Mouthful of cavities
    Your soul's a bowl of jokes
    And everyday you remind me
    How I'm desperately in need-

    *********here richard(shannon)hoon is explaining that he has a friend who literally has a mouthful of cavities and a great sense of humor & how every time he talks to this guy it reminds him of what he is lacking. possibly the understanding of the cavities when, in conversations with the person, he turns away...in other words he wishes he could be more normal about it but it affects him and he reacts, but is still compassionate*********


    -See, I got a lot of fiends around
    And they're peaking through nothing new
    They see you
    They see everything you do-

    *********now he is speaking in 2nd Person for the friend. the fiends are the cavities themselves in the visible teeth of this friend. they're peaking through when he talks, nothing new. and the next 2 verses mean that the friend with the cavities sees the insecurites of the people he talks to when they react to his smile and look away or wince*********


    -I See everything on the inside, out-

    ********* a refference to the way the world appears from the friends perspective. in 2nd person for the friend of course. it would be a guess, but maybe for richard too. i see everything on the inside out means: the way the world treats this guy is shitty because of his 'bad' teeth but he is the better soul, and they are shitty for being that way and so on.*********


    -Oh, please give me a little more
    And I'll push away those baby blues
    Cause one of these days this will die
    So will me & so will you

    *********again speaking in the friends thoughts (voice): here he means, 'if you give me more of those looks when you see my teeth, i'll look away out of insecurity, (push your (baby blue)eyes away). cause one of these days this (my body) will die. so will me & so will you.*********


    -I write a letter to a friend of mine
    I tell him how much I used to love watch him smile
    See I haven't seen him smile in a little while
    Haven't seen him smile in a little while -

    *********this is spoken from shannon hoon's voice, it is meant to be taken literally*********

    but i know your laughin' from the inside out....

    ********** here it is also from shannon's voice again, also meant literally about how the friend with the cavities is laughing from the inside because he won't show his teeth but he has always been a happy person. he didnt always have cavities & he is still happy inside, because it gave him a better knowledge of the world. he is laughing from the inside out at the people who judge him. and not the outside (with his teeth). this friend either explained these things to shannon hoon in a conversation because they were great friends, or shannon hoon had such magnificent insight into the situation out of empathy. truly an amazing song! blind melon is sincerely missed*********
    Flag so33on October 19, 2011   Link
  • 0
    Memory:Hoon was the most underrated artist of his time. RIP Oct 21
    Flag replicant212on April 06, 2011   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:This is one of the first songs shannon wrote about his drug addiction and what it was doing to him and the people around him. A truly beautiful song from an amazing artist
    Flag AnHonestMesson February 24, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:The girl who sings in this song has an amazing voice, and it goes along great with this particular song. I love the acoustic guitar as well in this song, and the title Mouthful Of Cavities means to me the lyrics to this song that he expresses are coming from a hollow place from within him....You can hear the despair in the words and tone from Shannon Hoon.

    I sense an inner conflict, his spirit within him is a voice that get's him through his addiction over and over again through humor. And then there's another voice within him that fiends for drugs, and preys on his inner lust for drugs.

    Getting that good feeling from drugs is getting harder and harder, and it's fading out his smile through his humor until the drugs have totally consumed him. He figures one day he will quit, just not today....And why quit when eventually you're going to die anyways. And in general laughing from the inside out could just simply be his spirit getting him through the drug addiction regardless.

    Flag AbsentMindedon June 22, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:this song is about meth. "write a letter to a friend of mine tell him how much i used to love to watch him smile havent seen him smile in a littler while" is in there because he is refferring to anyone that has done meth it takes everything from u ur friends job money health family and ur smile. ( not including because of ur teeth rot) just think about it hard enough and you can get it I LOVE BM!!! RIP Shannon Hoon
    Flag marymon February 17, 2010   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:Like a lot of the songs on Soup, this one is about Shannon's fight with addiction, in this case, his (crack) cocaine addiction. While the song is written in 1st and 3rd person, I think he is referring to himself in both instances, showing the inner turmoil and inner conflict that is within himself during this time, almost like being two people in the same body, struggling for control.

    "Mouthful of cavities" refers to crack cocaine smoking which destroys your teeth, and "your soul's a bowl of jokes" refers to the emptiness and self-loathing that he feels.

    The "fiends" he's referring to is the personification of his addiction and "seeing everything you do" = consuming him.

    "Oh please give me a little more"... the words of an addict asking for just one more hit, just a little more, "And I'll push away those baby blues". Push is a term that refers to smoking crack (pushing the crack down in the pipe before taking a hit - see urban dictionary if you don't believe me) and "baby blues" refers to the uncertainty and doubt that he felt about becoming a father. In other words, give me another hit and I'll feel better.

    "Cause one of these days this will die" is talking about his addiction and inner struggle, and "so will me...so will you" is talking about his own mortality.

    In the lines "I write a letter to a friend of mine...I tell him how much I used to love watch him smile...See I haven't seen him smile in a little while", he is referring to himself and how his addictions have left him unable to be happy without drugs and his longing to be the person he used to be, the person that is still inside trying to get out before the addiction consumes his soul.

    RIP Shannon. Another great musician to leave us too soon because of drug addiction. This whole album chokes me up...the last words of a conflicted genius.
    Flag MagicBeanSpecialon January 28, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I don't know what I think this is about.
    I've tried so many times to form an opinion and it's just not happening.
    So I've decided to leave it at loving the song...
    And posting this useless comment.
    I may have no idea, but I figured it deserved something.
    Flag takeonmeon January 22, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i think this song definitely has to do with addiction. and all of the shady people that end up in your life because of it. i think in the first verse, hes talkin about himself, and how he truely feels about himself on the inside. the fiends are the shady ppl in his life, and they know everything he does, but do they really know who he is on the inside?? i think the second part of the song is just him using more to get over how he feels and how his life is, and making it seem better to himself because "hes young" and someday he wont do it anymore, and eventually he'll be dead, so why not live now. then he begins to think about a real friend he used to have, and how he really misses seeing a genuine smile from someone who he really cared about. or maybe he's even talking about himself in that part. either way, no matter how bad life is or how miserable he may be or seem, "i know you're laughing from the inside out"... thats my interpretation.

    I love shannon n' Blind Melon kicks ass =)
    Flag scarletbegonias18on January 12, 2010   Link
  • 0
    Memory:I recently found out my fiance was using heroin, listening to this song makes me tremble.
    Flag shermasmon November 09, 2009   Link

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