Nurse With Wound is a London, UK based music band, formed in 1978 by Steven… Read Full Bio ↴Nurse With Wound is a London, UK based music band, formed in 1978 by Steven Stapleton, John Fothergill and Heeman Pathak. Their early recordings, all made quickly, were heavily influenced by free jazz and krautrock and were generally considered industrial music, despite the objections of the group.

By 1981, only Stapleton was left from the original trio and he now regards 1982's "Homotopy To Marie", as being the first proper Nurse With Wound release. There are now over 30 full length NWW titles.
Many early albums have been reissued by the french label Rotorelief.

Stapleton's fondness for dada, surrealism and absurdist humor are demonstrated in much of NWW's output, which, though it draws directly on nearly every musical genre imaginable (from cabaret music to nursery rhymes to John Cage to The Beach Boys to krautrock to pop music to ambient music and Captain Beefheart) retains a distinctive and recognizable aura.

Musique concrete may be the most prominent touchstone, due to Stapleton's frequent – and often humorous – use of creative tape loops and editing. Athough NWW has a long and illustrious list of collaborators (most notably David Tibet of Current 93), at time of writing, NWW is effectively a duo of Stapleton and Colin Potter, the latter having first worked with NWW on 1992's "Thunder Perfect Mind" when it was recorded at Potter's ICR studio.

Those interested in learning more should research the 'infamous' Nurse With Wound list" (see also the Nurse With Wound list tag on Last.fm). It is a list of band names of NWW's obscure influences and it has become a kind of guide for those seeking fringe music of all kinds.

Official website: nursewithwound.co.uk
Expanded reissues of essential opuses by the french label Rotorelief (rotorelief.com)

Stereolab: Animal Or Vegetable
Nurse With Wound Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

All the world's insanity
Oh the tragic empire
Oh an animal

I am an animal
I am out of control
I am out of control
It is terrible responsibility

I am an animal
I am in a spiral
I am vegetable
It is the sound

It is the sound of ?delusion

I am an animal

I am ultra-simple
Animal inestimable

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to "Animal Or Vegetable" are enigmatic and open to interpretation. The song seems to be exploring the idea of human nature and our place in the natural world. The opening lines suggest that the world is full of madness and chaos, and that humanity is responsible for this tragic state of affairs. The reference to an "animal" could be interpreted as a nod to the primal, instinctive nature that lies within us all. Perhaps we are all "animals" in some sense, driven by base desires and impulses.

Line by Line Meaning

All the world's insanity
The chaos and madness that exists globally

Oh the tragic empire
The sorrowful and doomed reign of power

Oh an animal
A creature with primal instincts and behavior

I am an animal
I also possess these primal instincts and behavior

I am out of control
I can't manage my emotions or actions

I am out of control
I lack the ability to regulate myself

It is terrible responsibility
The burden of being animalistic is overwhelming

I am an animal
Reinforcing the fact that I possess animal-like qualities

I am in a spiral
I am caught in a repeating cycle of behaviors

I am vegetable
I am lifeless and unresponsive

It is the sound
The noise, possibly from within or outside, that triggers or accompanies these states

It is the sound of delusion
The noise aligns with my distorted perception of reality

I am an animal
Repeating and reaffirming that I possess animal-like qualities

I am ultra-simple
Despite being human, I have reduced myself to basic, uncomplicated behavior

Animal inestimable
The animalistic parts of me are so vast and immeasurable

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: LAETITIA SADIER, STEVEN PETER STAPLETON, TIMOTHY JOHN GANE

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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