However you feel,
Whatever it takes,
Whenever it's real,
Whatever awaits,
Whatever you need,
However so slight,
Whenever it's real,
Whenever it's right.

I've been thinking long and hard
About the things you said to me,
Like a bitter stranger,
And now I see the long,
The short, the middle and what's inbetween,
I could spit on a stranger,
(Pour/pull me out)
You're a bitter stranger.
(Pour me out)

Whatever you feel,
Whatever it takes,
Whenever it's real,
Whatever awaits me,
Whatever you need,
However so slight,
Whenever it leads,
Whenever it's right.

Honey I'm a prize and you're a catch
And we're a perfect match,
Like two bitter strangers,
And now I see the long,
The short of it and I can make it last,
I could spit on a stranger,
(Pour me out)
You're a bitter stranger,
(Pour me out)
I could spit on a stranger,
(Pour me out)
You're a bitter stranger.
(Pour me out)

I see the sunshine in your eyes,
I'll try the things you'll never try,
I'll be the one that leaves
You high...high...high


Lyrics submitted by Racazip

Spit on a Stranger Lyrics as written by Stephen Malkmus

Lyrics © Hipgnosis Songs Group

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Spit On A Stranger song meanings
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37 Comments

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  • +7
    General Comment

    What if your crush put this on a mixed tape for you? WOuld you fall in love with him or the band? I fell in love with the band and we'll see how it goes with the crush. I really like this song, two strangers, two different people but both beautiful...

    LikenoOtheron May 01, 2003   Link
  • +6
    My Interpretation

    To me this is about having the first thought about beginning a relationship - whether it is a friendship or romantic relationship - with someone. There are people we are around everyday but don't take the moment to acknowledge our perceptions of each other. This song is about that moment.

    Everyone we will meet in our lives was a stranger to us at some point. We pass strangers on the street and disregard them, we drive by strangers in traffic, we often observe others lives' or criticize them from a distance. When he says "I could spit on a stranger/you're a bitter stranger" he's referencing that perspective - most strangers we will pass by in life and never think twice about. But then there's the conflicting emotion - "pour me out." Every now and then someone will make their way into our lives unexpectedly and we pour out our emotions to them. We let them in. We allow them to know us. This song is about the beautiful possibility of taking a moment in your life to consider if a stranger has become someone worthwhile to you.

    lightningwarson December 27, 2014   Link
  • +4
    General Comment

    hey now, some people, like myself, never grow up, and hand out mix tapes to crushes well into their 30s. so please, just leave us be.

    sharksandwich999on December 10, 2004   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    Um, You definitely got it backwards. Nickel Creek covered Pavement.

    Electric_quipon December 21, 2004   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    I have a different interpretation...

    I think the song is about a breakup...he looks back on the breakup and what the other person said and did, and realizes that they are now just strangers again. And bitter strangers. They no longer know eachother.

    Strangers don't care for eachother....so he feels like he could just 'spit on a stranger' and it wouldn't even matter to him.

    So two people that were once close are now nothing to eachother. There is alot of sarcasm in the glee with which he sings that chorus.

    guitaradcliffon December 19, 2008   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    am i the only one who sees this song as anything but hopeful?

    boomerstyleon February 20, 2005   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    i always got the feeling spitting on a stranger was akin to making out with someone for the first time.

    warsaw_350125on January 07, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I've always thought of this as a love song. He kinda knows the girl, hence the stranger part. He doesn't get the girl but is sure that they're a perfect match. They're both bitter and that's what makes them perfect for each other. I never thought of being bitter as any kind of bad relationship indicator. Weirdly enough.

    RobertaCon November 14, 2011   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Pretty song, but you can really feel the narcissist in Malkmus come out in this lyric. It's simple: he thinks he's right for a girl, because they're both assholes :-P He really digs that bitterness of humanity, and that is what he desires in another person. Those are relationships that are hard as hell to maintain, but he feels very confident that he can pull it off (after all, he has the confidence to spin on someone he doesn't even know).

    bernlin2000on January 14, 2012   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I guess Elusine and Bernlin2000 are on to something here.

    "It has a nice ring when you laugh at the low life opinions" anyone?

    Isaakon August 25, 2013   Link

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