Hands All Over
Hands All Over: Unraveling Cultural Chaos Through Soundgarden's Lyrics
Lyrics
Don't touch me
Expression of a desire not to be touched.
Hands all over the eastern border
Hands causing trouble or interference near the border.
You know what I think we're falling
Suspecting a loss of control or stability, possibly falling apart.
From composure
Losing composure or self-control.
Hands all over western culture
Similar interference or disturbance in western culture.
Ruffling feathers and turning eagles into vultures
Causing chaos, turning powerful figures into destructive ones.
Into vultures
Reiteration of the transformation into destructive figures.
Got my arms around baby brother
Protecting a younger sibling.
Put your hands away
Request to stop or remove hands from action.
Your gonna kill your mother, gonna kill your mother
A warning about causing harm to one's mother.
Kill your mother
Reiteration of the warning about harming one's mother.
And I love her, yeah
Expressing love for the mother despite the warning.
I love her
Reaffirmation of love for the mother.
Hands all over the coastal waters
Interference or trouble in the coastal waters.
The crew men thank her
People showing gratitude to the sea but polluting it.
Then lay down their oily blanket
Spreading pollution over nature.
Hands all over the inland forest
Interference or disturbance in the inland forest.
In a striking motion trees fall down like dying soldiers
Causing destruction in nature, likened to soldiers dying in battle.
Yeah like dying soldiers
Reiteration of the destruction and its resemblance to war.
Got my arms around baby brother
Protecting a younger sibling, repetition from earlier lines.
Put your hands away
Request to stop or remove hands from action, repetition from earlier lines.
Your gonna kill your mother, gonna kill your mother
Reiteration of the warning about harming one's mother, repetition from earlier lines.
Kill your mother
-And I love her, yeah
Expressing love for the mother despite the warning, repetition from earlier lines.
I love her
Reaffirmation of love for the mother, repetition from earlier lines.
I love her
Further reaffirmation of love for the mother, repetition from earlier lines.
Hands all over the peasants daughter
Interference or disturbance in the life of a commoner's daughter.
She's our bride she'll never make it out alive
Fearing for the safety of someone considered precious.
Hands all over words I utter
Manipulating words to serve personal desires.
Change them into things you want to
Changing words into forms that benefit the speaker.
Like balls of clay
Comparison of words to malleable clay.
Put your hands away
Request to stop or remove hands from action, repetition from earlier lines.
Yeah, put your hands away
Reiteration of the request to put hands away.
Put your hands away
Repetition of the request to put hands away.
Gonna kill your mother
Reiteration of the warning about harming one's mother, repetition from earlier lines.
Gonna kill your mother
-Gonna kill your mother
-And I love her
Expressing love for the mother despite the warning, repetition from earlier lines.
I love her
Reaffirmation of love for the mother, repetition from earlier lines.
I love her
Further reaffirmation of love for the mother, repetition from earlier lines.
I love her
Continued reaffirmation of love for the mother, repetition from earlier lines.
And she loves me, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Reciprocal expression of love from the mother to the speaker.
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