Ed Harcourt, born on August 14, 1977, is a British singer-songwriter from L… Read Full Bio ↴Ed Harcourt, born on August 14, 1977, is a British singer-songwriter from Lewes, East Sussex. Before he went solo, he played the bass and keyboards in a band called Snug.

Signed to Heavenly Recordings, he debuted in 2000 with the 6-track EP Maplewood. His full length effort, Here Be Monsters followed in 2001.

He has since released From Every Sphere (2003), Strangers (2004), The Beautiful Lie (2006, his last for Heavenly), Lustre (2010), Back Into The Woods (2013), Time Of Dust (2014), and Furnaces (2016).

His first instrument is the piano, but he also uses several less common keyboard instruments as well as the guitar. Live, he is accompanied by a band typically comprising a drummer, guitarist, violinist and trumpeter. His work is sometimes reminiscent of Tom Waits but still entirely his own, varied and passionate style.

caterpillar
Ed Harcourt Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Here you are
Cata-cata-cata caterpillar girl
Flowing in
And filling up my hopeless heart
Oh never never go

Dust my lemon lies
With powder pink and sweet

The day I stop is the day you change
And fly away from me

You flicker
And you're beautiful
You glow inside my head
You hold me hypnotized

I'm mesmerized
Your flames

The flames that kiss me dead
Cure the caterpillar

Overall Meaning

The song ‘Caterpillar’ by Ed Harcourt talks about a girl who is described as a caterpillar slowly making her way to the singer’s heart. The metaphor of a caterpillar is used to depict personal growth and transformation. The song talks about the singer’s hopeless heart that has been filled up by the caterpillar girl. The singer begs the caterpillar girl to never go away from him as he is afraid that he will change as a person if she does. He then talks about the girl who flickers and is so beautiful, that she holds him hypnotized. Her flames are so intense that they kiss him dead but also have the power to cure the caterpillar.

The song is a commentary on how love can make people feel vulnerable and how it has the power to transform individuals. The caterpillar girl represents a new chapter in the singer’s life, and the song talks about how her presence has changed him. The line ‘Dust my lemon lies with powder pink and sweet’ represents how the singer’s lies have been washed away by the girl’s presence, and he has been reformed into a better person.

Line by Line Meaning

Here you are
The singer is stating that the caterpillar girl is present before him.

Cata-cata-cata caterpillar girl
The girl is referred to as a caterpillar in a repetitive, musical manner.

Flowing in
The girl is entering the singer's life in a fluid, natural way.

And filling up my hopeless heart
The girl is filling the singer's heart, which was previously empty and without hope.

Oh never never go
The singer pleads with the girl to never leave him, indicating how important she is to him.

Dust my lemon lies
The singer is admitting to telling lies, but is asking that they be coated in a sweet, appealing manner.

With powder pink and sweet
The singer is specifying the color and flavor he desires his lies to be coated in.

The day I stop is the day you change
The singer is asserting that should he cease to tell lies, the girl will no longer be the same person he fell in love with.

And fly away from me
Should the girl change, she will depart from the singer's life.

You flicker
The girl's presence in the singer's life is fleeting and unstable.

And you're beautiful
Despite her transience, the girl is still viewed as beautiful and desirable by the singer.

You glow inside my head
The girl has made a lasting impression on the singer, even after she is gone.

You hold me hypnotized
The girl has such a strong effect on the singer that he feels hypnotized by her presence and actions.

I'm mesmerized
The singer is so captivated by the girl that he is unable to focus on anything else.

Your flames
The girl's passion and energy are being compared to a flame.

The flames that kiss me dead
The girl's passion is so intense that it is metaphorically killing the singer, but he still craves it.

Cure the caterpillar
The girl's passion and energy are transformative, and have the power to turn the singer from a caterpillar into a butterfly.

Contributed by Jasmine G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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