The Blackwater Fever are an Australian blues guitar-drums band, formed in B… Read Full Bio ↴The Blackwater Fever are an Australian blues guitar-drums band, formed in Brisbane, Queensland in 2005. They were awarded Best Blues & Roots Act at the 2006 Sunshine Coast Music Festival. They issued their debut five-track extended play, Abused Blues, in January 2006 by the founding duo of Shane Hicks on vocals and guitar; and Rick DeMarco on drums.[1] The tracks had been recorded live-in-the-studio at OPM Studios, Brisbane. Hicks and DeMarco co-wrote "Blackwater", which provided the band's name, Hicks later recalled "[we were] brain storming for a band name we were having a hell of a time trying to come up with something. One of the first guitar/drums songs we wrote together was called ‘Blackwater’ and it’s about people catching a fever from drinking tainted water. Put all that together and you have our band name! We found out later that it was a term for severe malaria…. And because we were going for a dark swampy bluesy sound, we thought…. Perfect!"
By 2008 The Blackwater Fever had gained national radio exposure from youth radio station Triple J, on the Home & Hosed (October) and Roots 'n' All (November) segments,and from that station's Unearthed competition for new unsigned bands. In November 2008 they released their debut studio album, Sweet Misery, where DeMarco had been replaced by Andrew Walter on drums.

By late 2010 the line-up was a trio with Hicks and Walter joined by Jed A. Walters on bass guitar and keyboards. However their second album, In Stereo (June 2011), had been recorded before Walters had joined, "[Jed] didn't contribute to this album but he'll definitely be making a big contribution to the next one." Their third album, The Depths, appeared in March 2013 Luke Saunders of Reverb Street Press compared it with the previous two albums "[its] another intriguing step forward following the solid foundations the band laid on their dark and gritty debut, Sweet Misery (2009) and its more refined, equally accomplished follow-up, In Stereo (2011).

Lovesick
The Blackwater Fever Lyrics

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Baby i′m earning, can i come over
This ravenous feeling, taking me over
The smell of you takes me away, i didn't want you to know
All it took was just a taste, to lose all self control

You got me lovesick

Darling i′m longing, you cannot control lust

Eve and the apple, urge and the weakness
Eyes dilate out in the dark, i didn't want you to see
All i need is just a trace, with this hunger inside of me

You got me lovesick

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Lovesick by The Blackwater Fever depict a person who is hopelessly in love with someone else, to the point where they feel overwhelmed by their desire for them. The opening lines, "Baby I'm earning, can I come over / This ravenous feeling, taking me over," suggest that the singer is consumed by their desire for the person they are addressing, and that this feeling has become all-consuming. They can't resist the pull of their attraction despite knowing it's not the right thing to do.

The song continues with the singer confessing that the other person's very scent takes them away and that all it took was a taste to lose all self-control. They are metaphorically lovesick and can't escape the object of their desire. The addition of "Eve and the apple, urge and the weakness" suggests that the singer sees themselves as being in a similar situation to Adam and Eve, where they are tempted by something they know they shouldn't have, but can't resist the temptation.

As the song continues, the singer admits that they are fully aware of their own weakness and of their inability to control their lust - "Darling I'm longing, you cannot control lust." Their passion is too great, and even in the dark, their eyes dilate with desire. They know that they shouldn't be feeling this way and that others might judge them for it, but they can't help themselves. All they need is just a trace of the person they are longing for, and their hunger takes over.

Overall, Lovesick is a powerful song that explores the depths of desire and the all-consuming nature of love. The lyrics are evocative and well-crafted, and the music perfectly complements the emotions expressed in the words.

Line by Line Meaning

Baby i'm earning, can i come over
I have some money now, can I visit you?

This ravenous feeling, taking me over
I am consumed by an insatiable desire

The smell of you takes me away, i didn't want you to know
Your scent overwhelms me, but I didn't want to reveal it

All it took was just a taste, to lose all self control
One sample was enough to obliterate any restraint I had

You got me lovesick
You have made me smitten and ill with love

Darling i'm longing, you cannot control lust
My dearest, I am yearning, and lust cannot be restrained

Eve and the apple, urge and the weakness
Just as Eve and the apple led to temptation and a fall, desire and vulnerability can lead to my own undoing

Eyes dilate out in the dark, i didn't want you to see
In the dimness, my pupils enlarge, but I did not intend for you to notice

All i need is just a trace, with this hunger inside of me
All I require is a small indication in order to feed my insatiable appetite

You got me lovesick
You have smitten me and made me ill with passion

Writer(s): Shane Warren Hicks, Andrew James Walter

Contributed by Jack D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.