Swamp Lyrics

[Intro]
[Unintelligible mumbling]
That was all
Heh heh

[Verse 1]
Now let me tell you a story
The devil, he has a plan
A bag of bones in his pocket
Get anything you want
No dust and no rocks
The whole thing is over
All those beauties in solid motion
All those beauties, gonna swallow you up
Let's go

[Chorus]
Hi, hi, hi, hi, hi, hi
Hi, hi, hi, hi, hi, hi
Hi

One time too many, too far to go
I, we come to take you home
Woo hoo

[Verse 2]
And when they split those atoms
It's hotter than the sun
Blood is a special substance
And they gonna pray for that man
So wake up, young lovers
The whole thing is over
Watch out, touch monkeys
All that blood is gonna swallow you whole
Let's go
[Chorus]
Hi, hi, hi, hi, hi, hi
Hi, hi, hi, hi, hi, hi
Hi

What's that? Who's driving?
Where we goin'? Who knows?
I, we come to take you home
Woo hoo

[Bridge]
How many people do you think I am?
Pretend I am somebody else
You can pretend I'm an old millionaire
A millionaire washing his hands

Rattle them bones, dreams that stick out
A medical chart on the wall
Soft violins, hands touch your throat
Everyone wants to explode

[Verse 3]
Now when your hands get dirty
Nobody knows you at all
Don't have a window to slip out of
Lights on, nobody home
Click click, see you later
Beta beta, no time to rest
Pika pika, risky business
All that blood will never cover that mess
Let's go
[Chorus]
Hi, hi, hi, hi, hi, hi
Hi, hi, hi, hi, hi, hi
Hi

So soft, hard feelings
No tricks, let's go
I, we come to take you home

Hi, hi, hi, hi, hi, hi
Hi, hi, hi, hi, hi, hi
Hi

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About

Genius Annotation

Kicking off side two of Speaking in Tongues, “Swamp” follows a slightly different structure than the other songs on the album. Songs such as “Making Flippy Floppy”, “Girlfriend is Better”, and “Pull Up the Roots”, for example, are lyrically loose and impressionistic. Their words seem to exist only as components of the songs themselves instead of as a story or moral on top of the song; everything is given the same treatment and the song itself becomes the message. On the other hand, “Swamp” is oddly narrative, and while lyrical non-sequiturs feature in the song, they are written in as part of the story.

An outtake from Speaking in Tongues, “Popsicle”, is tacked onto the 1992 Talking Heads compilation Sand in the Vaseline. This song resembles “Swamp” because of its recognizable narrative feel. According to the liner notes of the CD, “Popsicle” is one of Jerry Harrison’s favorites that the band recorded. If Jerry was so fond of this outtake, then it should make sense that the song wouldn’t just be forgotten, but in the DIY spirit of Talking Heads be reused somehow.

The verses of “Popsicle” are structured in an almost identical way to those on “Walk It Down”, a song that appears on their next album, Little Creatures. This is one of the only concrete examples of how one Talking Heads song became reworked into another one.

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

Credits
Produced By
Synthesizer
Guitar, Keyboards, Backing Vocals
Bass, Keyboards
Recorded At
Blank Tape Studios, New York City, New York; Sigma Sound Studios, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Compass Point Studios, Nassau, New Providence, the Bahamas
Release Date
June 1, 1983
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