Lambchop is an American alt-country band from Nashville, Tennessee, the cap… Read Full Bio ↴Lambchop is an American alt-country band from Nashville, Tennessee, the capital of country music. Originally called Posterchild, the band (which formed in 1986) cannot easily be classified into a genre and certainly not into that of traditional country music. The collective around frontman Kurt Wagner has a fluid membership, at times including as many 18 musicians, and is frequently associated with alternative country. Lambchop’s music combines wryly ironic lyrics that are complex in form and content with harmonious tunes and soulful background vocals. It is indebted to folk and country as much as to the smooth soul of Barry White, Curtis Mayfield or Marvin Gaye and can be seen as a fine exemplification of Kris Kristofferson’s famous line: “country music is the white man’s soul”.

caterpillar
Lambchop Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I have walked your sorry streets
And lived amongst your people
And I'm sure we must have heard
The same birds singing

You have stepped in hardened footprints
Down where my shoes were muddied
And I know we must have heard

The same dogs barking

When the ground was rumbling
And the bathroom walls were bending
I lay there wet and naked
Oh I know your heard me yelling
Out a name that you never used for me, till then
Out a name that you never used for me, till then
Out a name that you never used

I have shat upon the hillside
Neck deep in cushion clover
Up where I'm sure you're braided
Those necklaces and bracelets

You have lost your socks and panties
Out by the caterpillar
That grades the road I walk on
While I'm dreading English

When the ground was shaking
And your jewel tea was a falling
There's a cracking in your kitchen
Oh I know you heard me calling
Out a name that I never used for you, till then

Out a name that I never used for you, till then
Out a name that I never used

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Lambchop's Caterpillar present a powerful contemplation on the universality of human experience. They illustrate that despite coming from different walks of life, people are united by shared occurrences and emotions. The opening lines suggest a sort of familiarity between the singer and the listener, establishing that they may have walked the same streets and heard similar things. They then go on to paint vivid images of moments when their paths have crossed and the shared sensations that they experienced. One of the most striking examples of this is when the singer describes the earthquake that occurred and how it affected them both in different ways. Although they were yelling out different names, the situation and its impact were the same.

The imagery utilized in the lyrics is strong and evocative. The act of shitting on a hillside is a crude image, but it is juxtaposed with the delicate phrasing of necklaces and bracelets. The caterpillar that grades the road is a potent symbol of progress, while the mention of jewel tea hints at a nostalgia and a sense of preciousness. The final lines of the song convey the depth of the impact that these moments have had on the singer, which is only heightened by the use of a repeated refrain, "Out a name that you never used."

Line by Line Meaning

I have walked your sorry streets
I have roamed around your gloomy and pathetic streets

And lived amongst your people
I dwelled amongst the locals there

And I'm sure we must have heard
I'm positive that we both heard

The same birds singing
The melodious tunes of the same birds

You have stepped in hardened footprints
You have treaded upon solid footprints

Down where my shoes were muddied
Down at the place where my shoes got covered in mud

And I know we must have heard
And I'm quite convinced we listened to

The same dogs barking
The identical dogs barking

When the ground was rumbling
During the tremors of the earth

And the bathroom walls were bending
As the toilet walls started to wobble

I lay there wet and naked
I was lying there completely bare and drenched

Oh I know your heard me yelling
Oh I'm certain you heard me shout

Out a name that you never used for me, till then
I screamed a name that you had never used for me before

I have shat upon the hillside
I've defecated on the slope of a hill

Neck deep in cushion clover
Surrounded by a lot of soft clovers, up to my neck

Up where I'm sure you're braided
Up above, where I believe you are braiding something

Those necklaces and bracelets
Creating those necklaces and bracelets

You have lost your socks and panties
You've misplaced your socks and underwear

Out by the caterpillar
Located close to the caterpillar

That grades the road I walk on
Which grades the path I take

While I'm dreading English
As I'm anxious and ill at ease about the English language

When the ground was shaking
During the earthquake

And your jewel tea was a falling
When your precious tea set was falling apart

There's a cracking in your kitchen
There's a crack in your kitchen

Oh I know you heard me calling
Oh I'm certain you heard me calling out

Out a name that I never used for you, till then
I called out a name that I had never used for you before

Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it

TRACKS

No Related Genres

More Genres

No Artists Found

More Artists Load All

No Albums Found

More Albums Load All

No Tracks Found

01The Daily Growl6:36

02The New Cobweb Summer6:57

03My Blue Wave7:52

04I Can Hardly Spell My Name3:24

PT6M19S

08D. Scott Parsley5:57

09Bugs5:43

10The Old Matchbook Trick4:41

11Is A Woman4:39

Genre not found

Artist not found

Album not found

Search results not found

Song not found

Most interesting comment from YouTube:

@aleksatorbica2890

45w↑2

Caterpillar

I have walked your sorry streets
And lived amongst your people
And I'm sure we must have heard
The same birds singing
You have stepped in hardened footprints
Down where my shoes were muddied
And I know we must have heard
The same dogs barking
When the ground was rumbling
And the bathroom walls were bending
I lay there wet and naked
Oh I know your heard me yelling
Out a name that you never used for me, till then
Out a name that you never used for me, till then
Out a name that you never used
I have shat upon the hillside
Neck deep in cushion clover
Up where I'm sure you're braided
Those necklaces and bracelets
You have lost your socks and panties
Out by the caterpillar
That grades the road I walk on
While I'm dreading English
When the ground was shaking
And your jewel tea was a falling
There's a cracking in your kitchen
Oh I know you heard me calling
Out a name that I never used for you, till then
Out a name that I never used for you, till then
Out a name that I never used