Fuckin' Up

this song was written when young had a fever of like 105 i think...i think parts of it are incoherent

I think that if you listen to the live virson on year of the horse I think that you can get a good idea what this song is about

Why? All that happens is they get busted for shoplifting?

I've never thought it was about shoplifting. Video clips don't always reflect the topic of songs.

Verse 2 seems to be about how the main character has accidentally gotten someone pregant ("curves beneath her flowing gown": the bulge and lose clothing of pregancy). She thinks her life is ruined ("comatose but walking still"). The main character is amazed that only he could ruin her life.

I'm not really sure what verse 3 is about. Maybe the main character didn't secure his dog properly and the leash broke and someone got bitten badly. Not too sure about they keys though.

grandpa of Grunge, c'mon man.. Neil kicks ass & takes names.

These are the songs he wrote when he was sick were, "Down by the River" "Cinnamon Girl" and " Cowgirl in the Sand". This song was written to express what it is like to be a "Fuck up" in live. He depcits one as a mindless drifter who has no love or anyone who loves him. This final verse is just a scene that portreys a possible feeling of failure and self-loathing that the drifter feels. Neil often describes people who are helpless put themselves there with the assistance of drugs, especialy heroin. It's just what I think.

It's how you look, and how you feel You must have a heart of steel

Can picture a disheveled drifter w/o a care in the world for anyone except his own survival, angry at the world, hence needing a heart of steel to not have any compassion for anyone or anything except himself.

I can see you on a hill Comatose but walking still Curves beneath your flowing gown Only I could bring you down

Getting someone hooked/addicted into drug use that led a clean life before, "curves beneath your flowing gown".

Dogs that lick and dogs that bite Hounds that howl through the night

Possible comparison to relationships with other women/people in the past?

Broken leashes are all over the floor Keys left hanging in a swinging door.

Never able, or not wanting to, keep a lasting relationship of any kind....."broken leashes", keys left behind never planning to return.

To me, this is the white man talking to native Americans with remorse over his treatment of them:

"Mindless drifter on the road Carry such an easy load It's how you look, and how you feel You must have a heart of steel Why do I keep fuckin' up?"

First stanza, a vision of the native American with no where to get to, or searching for a new home now that the US government has forced him out. The "easy load" is no belongings or job, possibly just a bottle and little else. "You must have a heart of steel," would relate to one who has repeatedly been betrayed and mistreated.

"I can see you on a hill Comatose but walking still Curves beneath your flowing gown Only I could bring you down Why do I keep fuckin' up?"

On a hill overlooking futile times walks the native American in her flowing gown, comatose from a lack of purpose, bewildered by loss.

"Dogs that lick and dogs that bite Hounds that howl through the night Broken leashes are all over the floor Keys left hanging in a swinging door. Why do I keep fuckin' up?"

The dogs are the Indians, some that are "good injuns," some that fight back. Hounds through the night are the cries of them that we try to block out. Broken leashes, and keys left hanging in the swinging door, would refer to them being forced off their territory time after time, often with little notice. The white man had the chance to do right by them time after time, but still keeps fucking it up.

I can see you on the hill Comatose but walking still Curves beneath your flowing gown Only I could bring you down

Why do I keep fucking up?

----I see my Love up high, far away from me, I've pushed her away. She's far away but she's not happy alone She's so beautiful.... ...,and somehow, I know that no one else could love her as I do.... So- WHY DO I KEEP FUCKING UP??????? I try so hard but I always hurt her, Me, us.

It’s fxxxing obvious to me It’s about what many of Neil’s (recent) sings seem to be about

The struggles of marriage

Who doesn’t f up in their marriage Dogs howling all night are late night discussions not negotiations - that may not be the prettiest Between you- or him and the spouse Curves beneath the nightgown …well nuff said F ing up Whosever been married to a woman knows the meaning

No drifters no fxxing Indians Etc Sorry This is as Jackie mason says when a husband ( ok a certain ethnicity husband) gets up in the morning- he turns to his wife Did I do anything wrong yet?

Enjoy Life Enjoy Your wife It’s ups and downs like Ramada Inn