Lyrics for The Kick Inside as interpreted by weezerific:cutlery

The Kick Inside Lyrics
I've pulled down my lace and the chintz
Oh, do you know you have the face of a genius
I'll send your love to Zeus
Oh, by the time you read this, I'll be well in touch

CHORUS
I'm giving it all in a moment or two
I'm giving it all in a moment for you
I'm giving it all, giving it, giving it - giving it
This kicking here inside makes me leave you behind
No more under the quilt to keep you warm
Your sister I was born - you must lose me
Like an arrow shot into the killer storm

You and me on the bobbing knee
Didn't we cry at that old mythology he'd read
I will come home again, but not until
The sun and the moon meet on yon hill

CHORUS

Interaction
Mail to a friend Send Lyrics to a Friend
Share on Facebook

Stumble It
Add to Del.icio.us Add to Del.icio.us




  • 9 Comments
  • Printer Friendly Lyrics
oldest first     Expand All
Lici
10-12-2004

Rated 0 
The themes of this song are quite controversial but i've always loved that Kate isn't scared to experiment with sensitive subjects. I do wonder where she gets the inspiration for songs like these though! It's about a woman who's having a sexual relationship with her brother and finds herself pregnant with his baby...i told you it was controversial! It's like a suicide note aimed at her brother in the form of a song. She plans to kill herself because of all the shame she's brought upon herself and her family.

Log in to reply
maruree
07-11-2006

Rated 0 
I don't think "the kick inside" means that there's actually a baby kicking inside her. And I don't think that the song is about her having sexual relations with her brother.
I think trhe kicking inside symbolises an urge to go out and explore the world, and that's why she has to leave him behind. When she says "your sister I was born" she doesn't mean they're blood relatives, but brother and sister in other ways.

Log in to reply
starpatroller
08-25-2006

Rated 0 
Well, either one of the above comments could be correct.

Lici's idea is supported by:

---"I'll send your love to Zeus
Oh, by the time you read this, I'll be well in touch"

which pretty much undoubtedly means she'll be dead. She's killing herself.

---"This kicking here inside makes me leave you behind
No more under the quilt to keep you warm
Your sister I was born - you must lose me"

To me, "your sister I was born" means that they are brother and sister...under the quilt means sexual relations...the kick inside can very well mean a baby.

"You and me on the bobbing knee
Didn't we cry at that old mythology he'd read"

The bobbing knee is them when they were little and innocent on their father's knees, while he told them tales of a mythology, probably a Greek one, which explains why she'll give her love to Zeus and not the Christian God.

So I think I agree more with Lici. The clues are all there, and this is something Kate would definitely write about. Though Maruree could be right too.

Either way, beautiful song to end a beautiful album from a beautiful woman.

Log in to reply
musicatokc
10-29-2006

Rated 0 
this is definately about brother/sister incest, the resultiing pregnancy, and her decision to commit suicide rather than bring shame on her brother.....i read in one of her bios that this lyric is based on an old folk song/tale.....kate reads a lot and was introduced to a great deal of poetry and lore by her oldest brother, poet/photographer, John Carder Bush!

Log in to reply
trinity_tragedy
03-21-2007

Rated 0 
A note on the origin of this song: "Lizzie Wan" (alternately "Lucy Wan") is an 18th-century English/Irish folk ballad, best known as The Ballad of Lizzie Wan, which recounts the tragedy of Lizzie Wan, who falls in love with her brother and then kills herself while carrying his child. Kate's original lyrics in the demo version of The Kick Inside included the line "Welling eyes from identifying with Lizzie Wan's story" making it clear that her own story refers to a modern pair of siblings who face a similar crisis. In the finished version as heard on the album, the explicit reference to the early folksong was removed, making the song's inspiration harder to identify. But her intent remains, as indicated by this excerpt from the original:

When will you return again,
My son, come tell to me?
When the sun and the moon set on yonders green hill,
And I'm sure that never can be.

Log in to reply
Theresa_Gionoffrio
04-06-2007

Rated 0 
The album, THE KICK INSIDE, was Kate’s first ‘child’ (artists often refer to their creative outputs as children, etc.). TKI naturally reflects many influences and origins.

When the album TKI came out, Kate was shot into stardom (itself a potential killer storm - Joplin, Hendrix, Cobain, etc.).
The old Kate was lost and Kate the star was born. A very scary (suicide/rebirth) transition…
And by the time WE as fans read these lyrics, Kate had gone global (well in touch) and was working and learning among the Zeuses of Rock’s Hall of Fame.

From the start, Kate was determined to ‘be well in touch’ (creatively sensational) and to ‘give it all’ in her work… Her creative urges (This kicking here inside…) gave her no choice but to leave ‘her old self’ behind…

The song, The Kick Inside, can thus be seen as a goodbye thank you to the creative genius/influences that made a star… It is the birthing song of a star… About realising destiny and hitting the charts!

Log in to reply
daferdaty
06-03-2007

Rated 0 
this song is so sad, i cried when i first heard it, i performed it in front of my class and most of the girls and even some of the boys definately felt for the song

i agree that it is a suicide note from a girl who is pregnant with her brothers baby, and even though she loves her brother, she feels that suicide is the only way out

Log in to reply
Theresa_Gionoffrio
11-07-2007

Rated 0 
Tragedy depicts the downfall of a basically good person through some fatal error or misjudgement, producing suffering and insight on the part of the protagonist and arousing pity and fear/horror on the part of the audience. Sometimes the audience only get the horror and do not see the pity. But THE KICK INSIDE emphasises the pity over the horror.

Maybe the two opening lines remember the night of the tragic union. Her heavy belly brings insight, lucidity and shame. Driven by an heroic sense of responsibility, and by the now lucid horror of events, she elects to kill herself. She is forced now to suffer mythic horror, where once before she felt only tearful pity at that old mythology.

This tender song is not about adding horror to horror. KB makes us feel the pity and cry at their tragic mythic tale.

Log in to reply
Theresa_Gionoffrio
06-01-2008

Rated 0 
"Oh, do you know you have the face of a genius?..."
Apollo was the great Olympian god of prophecy, music, song, poetry, archery, etc. He is considered the ideal of manly beauty. To be 'Apollonian' is to be serenely high-minded, noble and bright, etc.

"I'll send your love to Zeus..."
Artemis was the sister of Apollo. They were the twin offspring of Zeus and Leto.

"You must lose me like an arrow
Shot into the killer storm..."
Apollo and Artemis were two great Olympian Archers. In old mythology, they are often shown equipped with hunting bow and quiver of arrows.

"The sun and the moon meet on yon hill...
Apollo was a Sun God and Artemis was a Moon Goddess.

Log in to reply




  • Add Your Comments
What does this song mean to you?

You must be logged in to post your comments.

Feel free to create an account with us, or log in with your existing account, to start adding your comments to songs.





Popular
Top:   Lyrics, Artists, Albums
Random:   Lyric, Artist, Album

Your Ad Here