Verbatim by Mother Mother Lyrics Meaning – Unpacking the Layers of Identity and Societal Norms
Lyrics
Oh, oh, yeah, yeah, oh
Oh, oh, yeah, yeah
Oh, oh
I wear women’s underwear
And then I go to strike a pose in my full length mirror
I cross my legs just like a queer
But my libido is strong when a lady is near, yeah
What defines a straight man’s straight?
Is it the boxer in the briefs or a twelve ounce steak? Nah
I tell you what a women loves most
It’s a man who can slap but can also stroke
Goin’ in the wind is an eddy of the truth and it’s naked
It’s verbatim and it’s shakin’
No, no, no, no, no, no
No, no, no more gettin’ elated
No more listless invitations
I live by a hospital
And every day, I go out walking past its sickly windows
I see people dying there
But my tender age makes it hard to care
The incinerator and a big smoke stack
It’s a phallic symbol and it makes me laugh
All I need is a heart attack
Come on, humble my bones with a cardiac
Goin’ in the wind is an eddy of the truth and it’s naked
It’s verbatim and it’s shakin’
No, no, no, no, no, no
No, no, no more gettin’ elated
No more listless invitations
For the love of fuck
For the sake of Pete
Oh, did you ever really think you’d love a guy like me?
I am the rooster in the morning
I’m the cock of the day
I’m the boxer in the briefs
I’m a twelve ounce steak
Ayy-oh
Ayy-oh
Ayy-oh
Hey-oh
Yeah-bo
Yeah-bo
Yeah-bo
Yeah-bo
Yeah-bo
It’s verbatim
And yeah, and it’s naked
And yeah, and it’s shakin’
It shakes, shakes, shakes
Oh, oh, yeah, yeah
Oh, oh, yeah, yeah, oh
Oh, oh, yeah, yeah
Oh, oh, yeah, yeah, oh
Oh, oh, yeah, yeah
Oh, oh, yeah, yeah, oh
Oh, oh, yeah, yeah
In a world where music often skims the surface, Mother Mother’s ‘Verbatim’ plunges into the depths of gender norms and personal identity. This track serves up a frank and eccentric commentary on masculinity and society’s expectations, wrapped in an infectious indie rock melody that defies you not to listen.
The song’s playful yet poignant lyrics serve as a mirror reflecting the absurdity of rigid stereotypes, set amidst the backdrop of our own collective fragility—exemplified by the hospital scenes. ‘Verbatim’ is not just a track; it’s a cultural probe, a question wrapped in a riddle, danced in indie rock attire.
Cross-Dressing and the Queering of Masculinity
‘I wear women’s underwear / And then I go to strike a pose in my full length mirror.’ With these opening lines, the song confronts the listener with an image that breaks conventional molds of masculinity. Frontman Ryan Guldemond’s delivery of these lyrics challenges us to consider what it truly means to be ‘straight’ in a world saturated with gendered expectations
The song, rather than proposing a definitive answer, winks at the absurdity of the tight boxes in which society places gender and sexual orientation. It’s a statement on the freedom of self-expression, a permission slip to cast aside the ‘boxer’ or the ‘brief’ in favor of a more genuine self-portrayal.
Peeling Back the Curtain on Intimacy
Breaking taboos even further, ‘Verbatim’ dives into the dual nature of love and sexual desire. The band cleverly uses innuendo and subversion by contrasting the act of slapping with stroking. This juxtaposition serves to question what women truly desire, poking fun at the traditional tropes of the aggressive male while acknowledging the complexities of attraction and intimacy.
These sharp, swinging shifts between aggression and tenderness suggest that the nature of true intimacy is not a one-dimensional portrait but a multifaceted, sometimes contradictory puzzle that each individual must piece together for themselves.
A Dance with Morbidity: Life’s Fleeting Fragility
‘I live by a hospital / And every day, I go out walking past its sickly windows.’ In these lines, ‘Verbatim’ suddenly takes a darker turn, confronting the inescapability of mortality with a stark backdrop of the mundane. By juxtaposing the routine of a daily walk with encounters of death and disease beyond the windows, the song reflects the alienation that can arise from witnessing suffering.
Moreover, the line ‘All I need is a heart attack’ resonates with a raw irony. It’s a candid acknowledgment of the inevitable, delivered with a razor-sharp smirk, suggesting one might as well have a sense of humor in the face of life’s ultimate certainty.
The Hidden Layers Beneath ‘Verbatim’s’ Surface
What does it mean to go ‘Goin’ in the wind is an eddy of the truth and it’s naked / It’s verbatim and it’s shakin”? Mother Mother seems to be grappling with the elusive nature of truth itself. The lyrics imply that authenticity isn’t static; like a naked eddy in the wind, it’s in constant motion, unable to be pinned down or fully covered up.
The repetition of ‘no more’ indicates a rejection of false pretenses and superficial engagements. It seems to herald a call for stark honesty and a disdain for the ‘listless invitations’ of a society that can’t keep pace with the truth’s dance.
Iconic Lines that Cement ‘Verbatim’s’ Cult Status
‘For the love of fuck / For the sake of Pete.’ It’s provocative lines like these that make ‘Verbatim’ an anthem for those fatigued by societal constraints. Guldemond’s irreverent lyrical choice here invokes both a religious and colloquial exasperation, melding the sacred and profane in a cry for authenticity in love and identity.
Ending the song as the ‘rooster in the morning’ and the ‘boxer in the briefs,’ the band comes full circle, embodying the very stereotypes they’ve spent the song dissecting, but doing so on their terms. It is an act of reclamation: embracing the facets of one’s identity, however contradictory they might appear when penned down ‘verbatim’.
