It's apparently about a man who is obsessed with a woman who won't sleep with him, and it torments him so much he decides to have his way with her (It's been long enough now so let's make a mess lioness)...
...but anyone who has read Leopold von Sacher-Masoch's "Venus in Furs" would know the song also describes a sadomasochistic relationship. In fact, it shares common elements with the story. Venus in Furs is about a man called Severin who loved a beautiful widow called Wanda, but she didn't want to marry him so he asked her to make him her servant so he could stay with her. There are themes of obsession, cruelty and sexual frustration in both the song and the story.
Been fighting with my sheets
And nearly crying in my sleep
Yes, I'm battling that well taught gripe
The most restraining type
You should have racing stripes
As mentioned before, the man constantly thinks and dreams of the woman, much like how Severin thought of Wanda, "the beautiful woman who is sleeping in regal comfort among her soft furs", every night before he went to sleep.
The way you keep me in pursuit
Sharpen the heel of your boot
And you press it to my chest and you make me wheeze
Then to my knees you do promote me
This stanza can be interpreted both figuratively and literally. It may describe how the man's pursuit and the woman's constant rejection pained him, and it may also describe the woman pressing her foot on the man who is lying on the floor, then letting him kneel in front of her. This is how Wanda treated Severin as her slave.
I'm pinned down by the dark
A-N-I-M-A-L
Makes my head pirouette
More than I won't be willing to confess
D-A-N-G-E-R-O-U-S
The man is "pinned down" like an animal on a leash. He is confused and overwhelmed by feelings of love, obsession and humiliation at the way he is being treated. He doesn't know how to deal with what's happening to him but he is aware that he's gotten into a dangerous situation. In Venus in Furs, Wanda repeatedly called Severin an animal and treated him like one.
The light it fidgets through, the thoughts will soon revert to you
About as bashful as a tribal dance
the first and final chance
And of course the audience of frighteners and fiends,
divided up into two teams
When the acrobat fell off the beam she broke everyone's heart.
The man thinks about the woman as soon as he wakes up and his thoughts are "as bashful as a tribal dance" which is sarcastic because tribal dances are more wild than shy. He wants to do something to her, to be more aggressive perhaps, but he is afraid of the possible consequence of his actions. He can't find his center so he remains under the woman's control.
D-A-N-G-E-R-O-U-S
The most unsuitable pet
It's been long enough now so let's
Make a mess lioness
Finally the man can't take it anymore so he refuses to bow down to the woman's whims. The "unsuitable pet" could either be the man who has become disobedient or the woman who can't be tamed because she's as fierce as a lioness. Coincidentally, Wanda is compared to both Venus and a lioness in the story.
Pinned down by the dark
I'm pinned down by the dark
Who is the dangerous animal? The woman, of course. It wouldn't be surprising if Venus in Furs inspired Arctic Monkeys to write this song, just as it did Velvet Underground. It's a pretty interesting story.
"I feel how her extraordinary, really divine beauty is gradually winding magic snares about me. It isn't any spiritual sympathy which is growing in me; it is a physical subjection,
coming on slowly, but for that reason more absolutely. I suffer under it more and more each day, and she–she merely smiles." - Severin
This song is actually darker than it sounds.
It's apparently about a man who is obsessed with a woman who won't sleep with him, and it torments him so much he decides to have his way with her (It's been long enough now so let's make a mess lioness)...
...but anyone who has read Leopold von Sacher-Masoch's "Venus in Furs" would know the song also describes a sadomasochistic relationship. In fact, it shares common elements with the story. Venus in Furs is about a man called Severin who loved a beautiful widow called Wanda, but she didn't want to marry him so he asked her to make him her servant so he could stay with her. There are themes of obsession, cruelty and sexual frustration in both the song and the story.
Been fighting with my sheets And nearly crying in my sleep Yes, I'm battling that well taught gripe The most restraining type You should have racing stripes
As mentioned before, the man constantly thinks and dreams of the woman, much like how Severin thought of Wanda, "the beautiful woman who is sleeping in regal comfort among her soft furs", every night before he went to sleep.
The way you keep me in pursuit Sharpen the heel of your boot And you press it to my chest and you make me wheeze Then to my knees you do promote me
This stanza can be interpreted both figuratively and literally. It may describe how the man's pursuit and the woman's constant rejection pained him, and it may also describe the woman pressing her foot on the man who is lying on the floor, then letting him kneel in front of her. This is how Wanda treated Severin as her slave.
I'm pinned down by the dark A-N-I-M-A-L Makes my head pirouette More than I won't be willing to confess D-A-N-G-E-R-O-U-S
The man is "pinned down" like an animal on a leash. He is confused and overwhelmed by feelings of love, obsession and humiliation at the way he is being treated. He doesn't know how to deal with what's happening to him but he is aware that he's gotten into a dangerous situation. In Venus in Furs, Wanda repeatedly called Severin an animal and treated him like one.
The light it fidgets through, the thoughts will soon revert to you About as bashful as a tribal dance the first and final chance And of course the audience of frighteners and fiends, divided up into two teams When the acrobat fell off the beam she broke everyone's heart.
The man thinks about the woman as soon as he wakes up and his thoughts are "as bashful as a tribal dance" which is sarcastic because tribal dances are more wild than shy. He wants to do something to her, to be more aggressive perhaps, but he is afraid of the possible consequence of his actions. He can't find his center so he remains under the woman's control.
D-A-N-G-E-R-O-U-S The most unsuitable pet It's been long enough now so let's Make a mess lioness
Finally the man can't take it anymore so he refuses to bow down to the woman's whims. The "unsuitable pet" could either be the man who has become disobedient or the woman who can't be tamed because she's as fierce as a lioness. Coincidentally, Wanda is compared to both Venus and a lioness in the story.
Pinned down by the dark I'm pinned down by the dark
D-A-N-G-E-R-O-U-S A-N-I-M-A-L D-A-N-G-E-R-O-U-S A-N-I-M-A-L
Who is the dangerous animal? The woman, of course. It wouldn't be surprising if Venus in Furs inspired Arctic Monkeys to write this song, just as it did Velvet Underground. It's a pretty interesting story.
"I feel how her extraordinary, really divine beauty is gradually winding magic snares about me. It isn't any spiritual sympathy which is growing in me; it is a physical subjection, coming on slowly, but for that reason more absolutely. I suffer under it more and more each day, and she–she merely smiles." - Severin