Lyrics for Cactus as interpreted by riffic

Cactus Lyrics
Sitting here wishing on a cement floor
Just wishing that I had just something you wore

I put it on when I go lonely
Will you take off your dress and send it to me?

I miss your kissin' and I miss your head
And a letter in your writing doesn't mean you're not dead
Run outside in the desert heat
Make your dress all wet and send it to me

I miss your soup and I miss your bread
And a letter in your writing doesn't mean you're not dead
So spill your breakfast and drip your wine
Just wear that dress when you're dying

P I X I E S

Sitting here wishing on a cement floor
Just wishing that I had just something you wore

Bloody your hands on a cactus tree
Wipe it on your dress and send it to me

Sitting here wishing on a cement floor
Just wishing that I had just something you wore

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  • 36 Comments
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zot
07-19-2002

Rated 0 
it's about being separated from the one you love and, lets be frank, wanting to fuck them... but not being able to, and so instead wishing you had something to remind you of them

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Fred39
07-25-2002

Rated 0 
It's about missing someone so much you just wish you had something with their smell or scent on it in your possession

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FourEyedLame-O
08-16-2002

Rated 0 
David Bowie covered this song on his new album. I think that proves just how rad the Pixies are.

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hairyadventure
08-27-2002

Rated 0 
i agree with everything Foureyedlame-o said, excpet for the word "rad" thats just WRONG, the word "rad" is plainly and simply just WRONG

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paranoidandroid83
10-14-2002

Rated 0 
I heard somewhere that the character in this song is in jail(sitting here wishing on a cement floor). not sure if thats true, but its still a great song and further prooves that the pixies do indeed rock.

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Speedy Marie
03-15-2003

Rated 0 
paranoidandroid, i heard the same thing
also, seems there's murder or something involved
"bloody your hands"
"doesn't mean your'e not dead"
"When your'e dying"
i'm not sure what to make of it, but maybe someone more talented than me can make something of this lead

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HoldMyBones
06-18-2003

Rated 0 
It's actually spelling out "Catus" not "Pixies"

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caitsith01
07-06-2003

Rated +1 
I read what Black Francis said about this song - it is about a guy in prison. The references to the blood aren't about murder, though. The guy in prison misses his girlfriend and all he has is letters, when what he wants is something with her smell, something from her body, because "a letter in your writing doesn't mean you're not dead."

So he says she should cut her hands on a cactus, wipe it on her dress and send him that instead of a letter; alternatively she should get hot in the desert and sweat in her dress, or spill food on it - anything to get a smell that reminds him of her.

The Bowie cover is pretty cool, that whole album is good actually. I like to imaging Bowie sitting at home listening to the Pixies - kind of cements to me the importance of the Pixies in modern music.

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Potatoes9000
04-10-2004

Rated 0 
could be about a guy who killed his girlfriend and lies even to himself about it. or caitsith01 is right. i also thought it was about a stalker till i looked at the lyrics

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caitsith01
04-20-2004

Rated 0 
I heard Bowie do this track live the other day - totally awesome cover version! Rocked harder than the original in terms of guitar distortion etc. - not that anything could be better than the Pixies version, of course. He also talked about the Pixies, how great they are, and how people should check them out because they are reforming. It was very cool to hear him say that, because there were so many lame baby boomers at the concert who were only there because they have heard of Bowie, not because they're really into his music - at least the man himself is still in touch with the scene, anyway.

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oidimed
04-26-2004

Rated 0 
"Wear that dress when you DINE" its about a guy in prison

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Thesmellyone
06-05-2004

Rated 0 
I know I'm probably wrong, but it could be a guy in jail who left his girlfriend (like you would have to) while he was in jail, she then runs off and he's not sure if SHE'S writing to him, if she went off with someone else or she could even be dead.

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pumkinhed
12-01-2004

Rated 0 
oidimed, i think instead of dine its dyin'

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yowza_bean
12-04-2004

Rated 0 
I always thought it was dine, not dying. He's talking about spilling food and wine on the dress, so "dine" isn't much of a stretch.

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morning_star68
12-17-2004

Rated 0 
I've also always thought it was "dine."

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Mirza
03-21-2005

Rated 0 
Pixies were touring at the beginnig with Bowie, so there´s connection. He liked them a lot, called them " psychotic Beatles ".

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whiskeyclonehotel
09-17-2005

Rated 0 
So damn pervy - Brilliant

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Red_Left_Hand
10-10-2005

Rated 0 
Has any one noticed that as the song goes on and Black Francis's desire for the person he's missing grows, his instincts grow more and more primal. First he just wants her smell, then he wants the dress to be covered in wine and food then finally he wants blood.

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cupidkiller
04-19-2006

Rated 0 
yep gets very obbessesed.

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The Distorted
05-18-2006

Rated 0 
I think it also has a sadistic edge to it (and this comes through more as the song progresses).
Maybe why the guy's in jail in the first place(?)

And the cross-dressing reference also makes me think he's potentially a bit pervy:
"Just wishing that I had just something you wore
I put it on when I go lonely".

- Reminds me of the guy from Hitchcock's Psycho: he misses her so much, that he internalises who she is.

Basically, this guy (as alot of Black's personas in his songs) sounds pretty fucked up! lol

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goodmorningmisterben
06-03-2006

Rated +1 
Is it fucked up for a girl to put on the sweatshirt of someone she misses? No? Then why is it "pervy" or "fucked up" for a dude to put on a dress of someone he loves when he misses her? It's about that primal comfort that words and ideas just can't provide.

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infantcidelust
06-11-2006

Rated 0 
Holy shit I love this song. I do believe it deals with borderline obsession where you'll want to have/own a partical of clothing of that particular person. Wait, it seems quite healthy to me.

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Radio Saturday
07-31-2006

Rated 0 
The sexiest love song ever written.

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The Distorted
11-07-2006

Rated 0 
In reply to goodmorningmisterben:

I say this because of Black's track record with depicting morally-warped characters, and *as previously suggested* the fact that this guy is in prison in the first place connotes that he is a questionable character, and dude - the guy is most likely obsessed! I mean, he wants her blood!
Now when I say "pervy" I'm not speaking in sexual terms necessarily, but rather how his mind has become warped through his isolation from the one he has become obsessed with. I can see how using the term "cross-dressing" in the same sentence could've led you to think that differently though, now. However, the following comparison I made of his character to that of the guy (forget his name) in the Psycho movie was not of a person who is sexually perverted, but emotionally & mentally, through the internalisation of his deceased mother's memory. It just seemed to strike up a similar chord to me. Just making an observation & suggestion specific to this 'story', that's all - not a general analysis on a 'type of person'.
I'm not by any means making a personal comment on whether or not a guy should or should not take this action, but in the context of the rest of this song, it seems quite suggestive to me.
I maybe wrong, but it's just an interpretation as to what Black's trying to imply.

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RipShit
12-09-2006

Rated 0 
I think its about a guy in prison that pleads to his girfriend/lover to roll up her dress coverd in her blood/sweat and other such things and send it to him and he'd were it when he got lonely. Thats my guess...its ok, you guys dont have to have a fucking aneursym and attack me with what the lyrics REALLY mean. thats just what i think.

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