Arizona
Pedro The Lion (Original Masters) Lyrics


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Arizona curled up with California
Then she tried to hide the whole thing from new Mexico
Who knew before he saw them making out in yuma
That she was loving someone new

But California not California how could you
The bully loved her cactus
The underdog her pine
But she would only love one at a time

New Mexico had always hated California
And though he knew that Arizona wore the pants
He got loaded then he started throwing punches
The poor Injun never had a chance

Scissors cut paper
Paper covers rock




Rock crushes scissors
Scissors break apart

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Pedro The Lion’s Arizona tells a story of love triangles, jealousy and violence. Arizona and California are seeing each other, while Arizona is in a relationship with New Mexico. Arizona tries to keep her affair a secret from New Mexico, but he eventually finds out when he sees them kissing in Yuma. New Mexico is angry and hurt by Arizona's betrayal, he starts to fight with California but ends up losing to California. The lyrics seem to imply that Arizona is uncertain of what she wants and is only capable of loving one person at a time. In the end, the lyrics use the metaphor of the game “rock, paper, scissors,” showing how the relationships between the three states are constantly shifting and influencing each other, and no one will ultimately come out as a winner.


Line by Line Meaning

Arizona curled up with California
Arizona got together with California


Then she tried to hide the whole thing from new Mexico
Arizona wanted to keep her new relationship secret from New Mexico


Who knew before he saw them making out in yuma
New Mexico was surprised to see Arizona and California together


That she was loving someone new
Arizona had moved on from her previous relationship and found love with someone else


But California not California how could you
The persona is talking to California but raised a question, as to how could he do that to him


The bully loved her cactus
California, the aggressive one, loves the desert plants that grows in Arizona


The underdog her pine
The persona who is not as aggressive as California, who is the underdog, loved Arizona's pine


But she would only love one at a time
Arizona could only love one person at a time, and not both California and the persona


New Mexico had always hated California
New Mexico never liked California and is probably jealous


And though he knew that Arizona wore the pants
New Mexico knew that Arizona was in control of the relationship


He got loaded then he started throwing punches
Due to his jealousy, he drank himself to a point where he got aggressive and started a fight with California


The poor Injun never had a chance
Arizona was left in a difficult situation due to the fight


Scissors cut paper
This is a reference to the game rock, paper, scissors and talks about the idea of one thing being stronger than the other


Paper covers rock
This is another reference to the game rock, paper, scissors and talks about the idea of one thing being able to protect itself from another


Rock crushes scissors
This is another reference to the game rock, paper, scissors and talks about the idea of one thing being able to overpower another


Scissors break apart
This is another reference to the game rock, paper, scissors and talks about the idea of one thing being weakened or destroyed by another




Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: DAVID SHANNON BAZAN

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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