Old Man Sam
Spiderbait Lyrics


Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴  Line by Line Meaning ↴

A johnny was a man
A bad bad man
Yeah
A badder he was
Than ol' man sam
Ah
We're all having fun child
A smoking the plunger
We can't find the blond
So we may have to run child
We may have to run
I saw the peter tosh
And he was sloshed
I saw the peter tosh and he was sloshed
He was sloshed he was so much off his face
Jabba was big and fat
But don't tell him that
He ate the cat, he ate the rat
And then he ate, then he ate, then he ate the cricket bat
Oh ? yeah
? yeah
Now it's time for us to go
So don't be slow
It's time for us to go




So don't be slow, don't be slow, don't you be slow
Go!

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Spiderbait's "Old Man Sam" are a bit nonsensical and disjointed, but it seems to be about a group of people having a wild time with drugs and alcohol. The first verse compares a man named Johnny to an "old man Sam," implying that Johnny is worse or more dangerous than whoever Sam is. The chorus is a bit harder to decipher, but it seems to be about the group of people having fun and feeling the effects of whatever they are smoking or taking. The line "We can't find the blond" could refer to a missing person or to drugs that they can't locate. The next verse mentions seeing reggae artist Peter Tosh, who was apparently highly intoxicated. The following lines are more absurd, mentioning a character named Jabba who ate a variety of animals, as well as a cricket bat.


Overall, the song seems to be capturing a chaotic party atmosphere, with random characters and events popping up throughout the lyrics. The driving rhythm and energetic vocals match the frenzied tone of the lyrics, creating a sense of reckless abandon.


Line by Line Meaning

A johnny was a man
There was a man named Johnny


A bad bad man
Johnny was a really bad person


Yeah
Yes, it's true


A badder he was
Johnny was even worse than


Than ol' man sam
An old man called Sam


Ah
Expressing realization or understanding


We're all having fun child
Everyone is enjoying themselves


A smoking the plunger
Using drugs


We can't find the blond
We can't locate someone with blonde hair


So we may have to run child
We might have to leave quickly


We may have to run
We might have to escape


I saw the peter tosh
I saw the musician Peter Tosh


And he was sloshed
He was very drunk


He was sloshed he was so much off his face
He was extremely inebriated


Jabba was big and fat
A person or thing called Jabba was large and overweight


But don't tell him that
But we shouldn't say that to him


He ate the cat, he ate the rat
Jabba consumed a cat and a rat


And then he ate, then he ate, then he ate the cricket bat
He also ate a cricket bat


Oh ? yeah
Expressing agreement or excitement


? yeah
Affirmative response


Now it's time for us to go
It's time for us to leave


So don't be slow
We shouldn't waste any time


Don't be slow, don't be slow, don't you be slow
We need to hurry up and leave


Go!
Let's go!




Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: ENGLISH, MAHER, WHITTY

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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Comments from YouTube:

sally king

you can tell these guys are inventive in their style of music, so much variety, a lot of the time i think they must be smoking some good stuff to come up with the versatility. Awesome 

Joel Peacock

seen spiderbait at least 5 times, every time....this was the first song of every gig!!!! BDO was the best when this was cranking

Nellie Silvers

Still pissed off BDO got canned. Just like Claremont Speedway and everything else the poxy buzzkills have fucked up for us😒.

orange avocado

RIP BDO. Spiderbait to me, were the epitome of the BDO

Nellie Silvers

Taught myself this on guitar first time I heard it..loved it straight away. Spiderbait kick arse🤘🏻👌🏻. I'm a Ford chic but fuck that GTS is hot asf😍

chainmatrix

I never thought I would see a flawless amalgam of Primus, Nirvana and Aussie freetime quirkies, but this is it.

deita551

God this film clip makes me bloody proud to be an AUSSIE!!! Thankyou Spiderbait!!!!

Dead End Lane

So glad this is out there, I think my VHS copy would be dead by now. Thanks for the memories.

jacinta

I'm 13. I know someone two months older than me and they know ALL the lyrics to this. Classic girl and classic song

D Taylor

LOL, LOL, LOL what a song!!! Love it love it. Everything was funny about this from the lyrics to the people in the film clip. I miss Spider bait :-(

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