By the time of their debut album, 1980's Crocodiles - a moderate UK hit - the drum machine had been replaced by Pete de Freitas. Their next, the critically-acclaimed Heaven Up Here, reached the Top Ten in 1981, as did 1983's Porcupine and '84's Ocean Rain. Singles like "The Killing Moon" (later used in the soundtrack to Donnie Darko, a film whose imagery owed much to the artwork of the band's early records.), "Silver," "Bring on the Dancing Horses," and "The Cutter" helped keep the group in the public eye as they took a brief hiatus in the late 1980s. Their 1987 self-titled LP was a small American hit, their only LP to have significant sales there.
McCulloch quit the band in 1988. De Freitas was killed in a motorcycle accident one year later. The others decided to continue, recruiting Noel Burke to replace McCulloch on vocals in Reverberation (1990), which did not generate much excitement among fans or critics. Burke, Sargeant and Pattinson split after that, but the surviving three fourths of the original band reformed in 1997 and released Evergreen (1997), What are You Going to Do with Your Life? (1999), Flowers (2001) , Siberia (2005), and the latest addition, The Fountain (2009). The group's old audience liked the return to their classic sound, and they also managed to gain a number of new, younger listeners.
Echo and the Bunnymen were managed early on by Bill Drummond, who went on to be a founder member of The KLF.
06-Lips Like Sugar
Echo & the Bunnymen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Grace on the water
Lips like sugar
Lips like sugar
Just when you think you've caught her
She glides across the water
She calls for you tonight
To share this moonlight
You'll flow down her river
She'll ask you and you'll give her
Lips like sugar
Sugar kisses
Lips like sugar
Sugar kisses
She knows what she knows
I know what she's thinking
Sugar kisses
Sugar kisses
Just when you think she's yours
She's flown to other shores
To laugh at how you break
And melt into this lake
You'll flow down her river
But you'll never give her
Lips like sugar
Sugar kisses
Lips like sugar
Sugar kisses
She'll be my mirror
Reflect what I am
A loser and a winner
The king of Siam
And my Siamese twin
Alone on the river
Mirror kisses
Mirror kisses
Lips like sugar
Sugar kisses
Lips like sugar
Sugar kisses
Lips like sugar
Sugar kisses
Lips like sugar
Sugar kisses
Lips like sugar
Sugar kisses
Lips like sugar
Sugar kisses
In "Lips Like A Sugar," Echo & the Bunnymen utilizes gorgeous and poetic language to describe a mysterious woman who glides across the water. She is described as swan-like and graceful, with lips that are sweet as sugar. The singer asserts that she floats in and out of his life at her leisure, just when he thinks he has caught her. The lyrics aurally embody the metaphor of water as an ephemeral and ever-changing element, much like the woman in question. The song has an almost dreamlike quality, and its lyrics evoke a sense of longing and desire for something that is both bittersweet and fleeting.
The lyrics of "Lips Like A Sugar" have been interpreted in different ways over the years. Some see the woman as a symbol of unattainable beauty, while others interpret her as a modern-day siren, luring the singer towards an unknown fate. Regardless of the interpretation, "Lips Like A Sugar" is a song that celebrates the beauty of transient moments and the desire for more.
Line by Line Meaning
She floats like a swan
She moves with grace and elegance
Grace on the water
Her movements are like a ballet dancer on the water
Lips like sugar
Her lips are as irresistible to taste as sugar
Just when you think you've caught her
As soon as you think you have her attention, she disappears
She glides across the water
She moves on the water effortlessly
She calls for you tonight
She invites you to share the night with her
To share this moonlight
To enjoy the romantic atmosphere under the moonlight
You'll flow down her river
You'll follow her wherever she goes
She'll ask you and you'll give her
She knows what she wants and you'll give it to her
Sugar kisses
Her kisses are as sweet as sugar
She knows what she knows
She's confident in herself and her desires
I know what she's thinking
I understand her thoughts and desires
Just when you think she's yours
As soon as you think you have her, she slips away
She's flown to other shores
She's moved on to other things and other people
To laugh at how you break
To mock how you fall apart when she's gone
And melt into this lake
To sink into despair and hopelessness
She'll be my mirror
She reflects who I am as a person
Reflect what I am
Shows me my true self
A loser and a winner
I have moments of triumph and moments of failure
The king of Siam
I am the leader of my own personal kingdom
And my Siamese twin
She is a part of me, inseparable and always present
Alone on the river
Despite our connection, we both go our own ways
Mirror kisses
Receiving my own love and affection
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: IAN STEPHEN MCCULLOCH, LESLIE THOMAS PATTINSON, PETE DE FREITAS, WILLIAM SERGEANT
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@CynthiaInBloom
my dad raised me at a very young age with so many great 80's bands like
Echo and tje Bunny Men
The Psychedelic Furs
OMD
Simple Minds
A Flock of Seagulls
Thompson Twins
The Cure
Toto
When in Rome
Pet Shop Boys
A-ha
and at my age, many of my friends dont even know who these all are. and it's so great when i play all of my favorite bands/songs bc they are all basically just amazed and shocked at what they are listening to.
i like ro think i was raised right
💕👌
@MrFightinghellfish
All I wanted to do in the 80’s was get to the future. Now that I’m here, I just want to go back.
@garywalton3482
Yeah, but its too late now I'm afraid. There is still a future. What it will be the choice is ours.
@shonhurt4520
So true.
@djtoman6875
Great comment, and probably a sentiment shared by many many millions. Back then all we worried about was mutual nuclear annihilation, which turned out to be a hyped up threat. Now it seems that innocence is so rare it's all but gone.
@arturodelagarza3213
@Brendon Walker I WOULD LIKE TO GO BACK MYSELF, BUT WITH WHAT I KNOW KNOW. CAN YOU IMAGINE? I LOVE SCIENCE. WHAT A BEAUTIFUL TRIP. I WOULD PLAY THE LOTTERY AND GIVE MONEY TO ALL KINDA OF CHARITIES. STOP AND GIVE MONEY TO THE PEOPLE THAT WERE HURTING. TO VETERANS JUST HAVE A BLAST HELPING PEOPLE.
@uncleruckus3149
We all wanted to grow up and have better technology... But now we wish we were kids... One thing about the 80s that nobody mentions thats different from now would be that in the 80s if you were a broke kid(like I was) life really sucked... These days lower class kids can afford all types of shit, youtube, video games they're never bored... In the 80s if you were broke you get nothing, the most boring life you could imagine, if you couldn't afford cable and video games you were really fucked in the 80s, it was more expensive and hard to make money with such low minimum wage, things have become more socialistic now with more govmnt programs to help, free phones etc...
@metaldog88
I'm 60 and I'm going to see them live in Sept 2023 - decades after seeing them in 1986! Long live the Bunnymen!
@BachataKnight
Funny we just planned a trip to see them a couple hours ago, then I read this. I'm 45
@judykarey8150
Thats Awesome. Should be A Fun Night.
@ryanhenry7425
excited to see ya?ll there!